Ok, I got my Pit Bull rear foward stand in and decided I'd clean the chain again and thought I'd check the play in the chain. Can the chain play be measure while on the rear stand? How do I measure it and where do I measure it from? I know the bike is supposed to have 3/4 of a inch of free play. Well crap, just remembered all the crap has to be torqued to a certain weight and I don't have a torque wrench.
How to measure chain play?
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Yes, chain slack can be measured with the bike on the stand. The weight of the bike is still compressing the rear suspension.LittleTex said:
Easy to measure. Move about halfway down the chain between the front and rear sprockets. This should be at a point about a third of the way down the swingarm from the swingarm pivot point where the chain will be the loosest. To measure, hold a tape measure behind the lower section of the chain aligned with a mark on the tape with the top portion of a link (i.e. 1 inch or 10cm mark) and then lift the chain straight up in front of the tape measure. Read the mark the top of the link is over (i.e 3 inch or 42cm). Subtract the starting value from the ending value and this is the deflection. If the value is in range for chain slack, you're done. If not, loosen the rear axle and adjust the chain tension and re-measure from the same point until the chain is in spec.
Invest in a torque wrench. They aren't expensive (you don't need a fancy one) and you'll need one to do any kind of maintenance. Not a good idea to mess with axle torque values. I use a clicker-type torque wrench. Got my at Auto Zone for around $30.
Ok, went out with a wooden ruler, had it even with the swing arm. Top of bottom length was sitting at 2 1/8th, I can pull the chain down a little and it'll go to 2 1/4th, when I push up on the chain the top of the bottom length goes to 3/4th's. I think thats not too good :rolleyes Is Draper a good brand name of tools? Was trying to compare their torque wrench to the Craftsman one.
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Dont forget to rotate the back wheel. You will find a tight and loose spot. Move the wheel until you find the area with the least play and measure from there.
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the way my haynes tells me to do it is...
from the halfway point meaure the slack of the chain with the ruler like you did. Then rotate the tire some and check slack about 3-4 more times. Get an average and then figure out what u need to do with chain.
BTW u said ur chain has 2 inches of slack and ur supposed to have only 3/4 LittleTex. how does ur bike sound when ur in 1st or 2nd gear and going slow??? My chain is supposed to be 1-1.5 inches of slack but its at 2.3 inches and when im in a low gear or any gear and going slow. I believe i can hear it, the chain. I already have my new chains and new sprockets i just need chain press.
ALSO, are you checking your sprockets??? They say to check all of that stuff together. A bad chain can F up sprockets faster than normal and vice versa.
from the halfway point meaure the slack of the chain with the ruler like you did. Then rotate the tire some and check slack about 3-4 more times. Get an average and then figure out what u need to do with chain.
BTW u said ur chain has 2 inches of slack and ur supposed to have only 3/4 LittleTex. how does ur bike sound when ur in 1st or 2nd gear and going slow??? My chain is supposed to be 1-1.5 inches of slack but its at 2.3 inches and when im in a low gear or any gear and going slow. I believe i can hear it, the chain. I already have my new chains and new sprockets i just need chain press.
ALSO, are you checking your sprockets??? They say to check all of that stuff together. A bad chain can F up sprockets faster than normal and vice versa.
Oh god, so much to learn...Why is there a tight and a loose spot? What I meant with length was this. I got a 12 inch ruler, I put it even with the bottom of the swing arm, the top of the bottom chain is sitting on the 2 1/8th mark, I can pull down on the chain and it hits 2 1/4th. So when I push up on the chain the top of the bottom link is now at 3/4ths which means I have about a 1 1/2 inches or so I think. I think the sprockets are still in good shape, not sure, I need to find the picture I had found of a good and a bad one.Squid Killer said:
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There are tight and loos spots because the chainis shot get new sprockets with it or you will need to replace the chan soon again. If you have a lot of hills or like to ride fast sit on the bike and make sure you have travel you cant do it on the stand not enough weaght on the rear. You need to make sure when t is in use it does not over tighten and make you loose your suspension travel.LittleTex said:
There are tighter and looser spots because the chain "stretches" unevenly. If the sprocket is worn, it may also be worn unevenly.
To measure slack, put the ruler as you have been and position it such that the top of the lower run of chain is at a convenient mark (say at the 3" mark) in the middle of the chain between the sprockets. Then push the lower run of chain up until it stops and note where the top of the chain hits the ruler (say at the 1 3/4" mark). Subtract the two and you have the slack (1 1/4" in this case). Do this at a few places on the chain by rotating the rear wheel to see if it varies. If it varies, you've got some wear issues plus you need to set the slack to be within spec (3/4" to 1 1/4" on many bikes, but check your manual) at the tightest spot.
To measure slack, put the ruler as you have been and position it such that the top of the lower run of chain is at a convenient mark (say at the 3" mark) in the middle of the chain between the sprockets. Then push the lower run of chain up until it stops and note where the top of the chain hits the ruler (say at the 1 3/4" mark). Subtract the two and you have the slack (1 1/4" in this case). Do this at a few places on the chain by rotating the rear wheel to see if it varies. If it varies, you've got some wear issues plus you need to set the slack to be within spec (3/4" to 1 1/4" on many bikes, but check your manual) at the tightest spot.
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lil tex sounds like u need to do a full maintenance check. here is the manual for your bike .... http://www.diff.ru/manual/files/Honda_CBR_600_F3_95-96_Service_Manual.zip read it and it should explain about checking for sproket wear and tear. It should also describe what a bad chain looks like. I know my haynes book described it well. The teeth on my sprockets looked good. I bought new sprockets cause i bought a new chain and u can definently see the difference between good and bad sprokets.
Now how do you figure there isn't enough weight on the rear? The weight is still on the back suspension I'd have to believe.smokenjoe said:
Yeah, I really need to buy some tools so I can work on it since almost everything has to be torqued.SnookayDCC said:
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