Thread: Bike Chain!

I have a question here! I'm new to biking i wanna know what causes the drive chain of a bike to go loose? Some say its due to revving hard at lower gears! some say its due to taking too much load on the bike. I wanna know the truth and how can you prevent it from happening? I saw an FZ on the street and noticed that the chain's loose really loose... it was 'clinkin' is it bad for the engine?

Thread Approved

Chain goes loose due to regular wear and tear.

Chain slack is to be adjusted at every service or whenever you find it to be too loose. This is the only way to avoid a loose chain.

Chain slack specification is typically mentioned in the bike's manual.
A loose chain is definitely not bad for the engine. But it is a sureshot sign of bad maintenance. A loose chain could break/come loose/snap and in effect cause a major incident. So it is prudent on the part of the rider to keep an eye on chain slack and adjust whenever required.

Chains get loose due to wear and tear on them, upto a limit where they start making more noises and get too loose to be used properly. Chain & Sprocket setups may last upto 30-40 thoudsand kms or even more in certain situations.

They depreciate faster when the bike is used for stunts, drag racing, in dusty conditions, etc.

Oh! Thanks i really thought it was due to revving hard! Will be keeping an eye on the chain when i get a bike

Originally Posted by Ash_win

Oh! Thanks i really thought it was due to revving hard! Will be keeping an eye on the chain when i get a bike

Yes. by rev hard you can open the throttle, even upto redline, but never do it suddenly, open the throttle slowly. The sudden jerks damage ur engine as well as the chain too.

Its simple logic why the chain slack increases when you put more load on the engine. As the transmission of motion from engine to rear wheel is via the chain, the more load you put, the chain tries to pull the rear wheel inwards and hence over a period of time the distance between the rear wheel and the engine side chain sproket decreases(hardly 1-1.5 cm) and the chain slack increases, Then again you will adjust the slack by sliding the rear wheel back to the required position by loosening the nuts.