How to Tighten a Motorcycle Chain
Occasionally tightening your motorcycle chain is an important part in motorcycle maintenance. Keep yourself safe and your motorcycle working in top condition using these steps. Read on for more.
Check your chain tension. At best, the loosest point in your motorcycle chain should range anywhere between .75 inch to one inch.
Look for tight spots or wearing on your motorcycle sprockets. Make sure that there are no “wasted” sprockets, or sprockets that have had their teeth broken.
Loosen your axle by using a single-sided swingarm, which makes the job easier.
motorcycle chain
Move onto the adjustment blocks on the rear axles and loosen it to by loosening the lock nuts on both sides of the rear axles. How wide they should be loosened depends on the type of motorcycle that you’re working with.
Get the adjustment screw and move it to move the bolt backwards if it’s too loose and forwards if it’s too tight. Feel the chain’s slackness or tightness to be guided accordingly.
Look for the tick marks on the sub frame. Align these tick marks with the adjustment blocks, or have them as markers, to ensure that they’re all aligned properly with the equivalent tick marks on the sub frame when the adjustment blocks are being moved about. Do the same for the other side, and that all tick marks are lined up equally away from each other on both sides.
Once you’ve gotten the slack in the chain and the tick marks have all lined up, tighten the lock nut down to a snug hold.
Re-tighten the axles. Use your hand to spin your tires, ensuring that there are no tight spots.
The next step is cleaning and lubing your motorcycle chain to make sure that it functions even better.
Make sure that you keep your motorcycle’s user’s manual away for reference. It’s an important tool to have and be guided with when you need to do maintenance jobs like this.