enfro

Adjusting the slackness of the chain is as important an aspect of chain care as lubricating is. Over a certain kms done, the chain tends to get loose. Of course, your owner's manual will have exact requirements for your bike, but the rule of thumb is about 1 to 1.5 inches of slack.
Why we need to adjust slackness of the chain?
You need slack because as your swingarm moves up to compress for a bump, the chain gets tighter. When a chain is too tight, it will bind on the sprockets, causing quicker wear of both chain and sprockets. A tight chain will also, over time, ruin your countershaft and your countershaft seal (the seal around the shaft that carries the front sprocket) and may even bend the countershaft. Also, a tight chain is more likely to develop tight spots. Tight spots are portions of the chain that stretch at different rates and cause binding between links.

So, why not just run the chain really loose?
Well, too loose and the chain runs the risk of flying off the sprockets. Bad news! Also, too loose causes a lot of slop in the driveline. Example: twist the throttle, short delay, then lurching as the chain snaps tight, then loose until you are under heavy acceleration. Chain adjustments are very important, even though it may not be something you need to do very often.


Explained in a tech jagron-free way, here is the method of tightening the chain on a Pulsar 220.

Put the bike on the center-stand. Move the wheel by hand through it's full travel and watch the chain.
Tools required-



First of all we have make this nut,as indicated in following picture, loose (just loose not remove) using the 22mm ring spanner (a normal spanner would also do) in a anti-clockwise manner






In the following picture (see the white arrow mark), there are two nuts together. Identify this nut which is bigger. It would be just next to the swingarm's end.



This is one of the nuts which actually tightens the chain. Use the 14mm spanner to tight the nut in clockwise manner-little bit and check the chain for the desired tightness. Readjust as per requirement.


Do the same on other side. This nut would already be bit free as it corrosponds to the similar nut on the other side. Again 14mm spanner.



The job is done. Chain would now be tight as you required it to be.
Now identify this smaller 12mm nut in the following picture. And tighten it against the bigger 14mm nut, using a 12mm spanner.



This is to be done on both sides. There is a glitch here which should be taken care of. When you tighten the 12mm nut against the 14mm nut, they tend to rotate together as a single unit. Following picutre depicts the way to check this-

Hold the 14mm nut with the help of 14mm spanner and the use the 12mm spanner on the smaller nut to tighten it against the bigger one (i.e. the 14mm nut)

Now refer to piture no. 3 where you made the nut loose. Its time now to tighten it to complete the job. See this picture-

(Do not forget to use the split pin if provided.)

Job done!
PS.1. DO NOT over-tighten the chain. You can tighten the chain with tools but it is not so if you want to increase the slackness (i.e. making it loose).
2. Do not run the chain dry. Lubricate it as required. O-Ring chains have, as you would guess, small O-Rings built into them. The O-Rings are used to keep grease and lube inside your chain (between all the moving parts). A chain that is ignored will eventually fail, typically by breaking. So keep lubricating it as and when required.

Caution:
1.Please do not forget to wear protective accessories while working with you bike, including gloves, shoes and a mandatory proper protection for eyes.
2.Do maintenance job in open with ample amount of light available. Sunlight is best for such purposes.

happy biking...

Aryan

DIY Thread Approved.

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pavanchirmade

Ideally how much slack should be maintained and how to check the slack?

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rdna

The service center guys tightened my chain and now there is a "tak-tak-tak" sound from the front. Did nearly 1000+ kms before realising that this was overtightening of the chain(and few articles read here ) How do we determine the exact slackness required?

Old Fox

The usual standard for all chain drives in motorcycles is an up and down slack of about 20-30mm in the middle of the chain run and on the lower side. As a reference, see where most bikes with full chain covers have their inspection holes located. Thats approximately the point where the slack needs to be measured. Rotate the wheel and check the slack at the point where the chain is the tightest. But please be very careful about not letting your fingers get anywhere close to either of the sprockets when rotating the wheel. I have personally seen a mechanic's finger get chopped off when caught between the chain and the sprocket.

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mithun

Is there any difference in adjusting the slackness b/w O-ring and normal chain ?

sniper

I would like to add to this excellent post of chain adjustment.

As a final check to see if the chain is adjusted right:

1. get the bike off the main stand.
2. have someone check for slack with you sitting on the bike with your feet on the pegs (get two friends to help).
3. if you intend to ride with a pillion get him to sit on it too.
4. the combined weight will compress the rear suspension & straighten the swingarm, which will lead to further tightening of the chain.
5. if its too tight/ loose, readjust.
6. make sure that the left & right adjustments are same or else the wheels will be out of line twisting the tyre out of shape(tread edges projecting upwards).

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prasad25

After every 1,000 kms i have to get chain tighten is that normal or any problem with that ?

How much kilometers v have to get change the chain set..

because i have done 11,000 + kms and the setting of chain tighten is been finished.

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Prasad......

Old Fox

Chain tightening every 1000 kms is fine though it indicates that you're not all that smooth with gear changes and when going on/off throttle.

11000 kms doesn't necessarily mean you need to change your bike's chain set but since your chain is at the limit of its adjustability range, it is time for you to change it. Just make sure you change both the sprockets too when you change the chain. And try and be smooth with your throttle inputs. That and regular lubrication of the chain will increase its life by a good margin.

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Prabhakar150

Please let me know. Cant we remove one link from chain and use the chain since 11000 kms seems to be too early for change?