Noise after chain adjustment.

[RobH13]

Hi Peeps,

Yesterday, i had my chain tightened from 50mm to 30mm as the book shows, however I'm more aware of chain noise now than before, Is this normal ?

Also, I'm running 36/42psi and for the first time today, can say i could actually feel what was happening with the bike, would you say that this is me relaxing more or is it likely to be due the the chain being at the correct tension.

Cheers

Rob.

[svdaz]

Did you adjusted while someone was sitting on the bike ? this could be causing the chain noise cause if you didnt the chain will be too tight as you need to adjust with the back of the bike pushed down otherwise you can wreck your wheel and front sproket bearing . Been there done that :(

[yorkie_chris]

Did you adjusted while someone was sitting on the bike ?

You read the manual?

[svdaz]

yeah i did, spoken to 3 mechanics from 3 dif garages over the 9 years ive been riding and they recommend it, the reason is that the chain tightens when you have weight on the back and when the supension compresses over bumps, if the chain is too tight can cause more damage than a looser 1.

[yorkie_chris]

So you disagree that the slack recommended by the manual on the sidestand is sufficient to leave some slack when the suspension goes through its full arc?

I've taken the spring off a shock and worked the suspension through its full range and I can tell you that is not what caused your problems. I checked this at 35mm of free play on the sidestand. There would be more on the abba stand.

I adjust mine to have more slack than that with the rear wheel unloaded because it is repeatable.

[svdaz]

this happened when bike was about yr old ajdusted to the manual thought things were fine for couple of days untill a noise appeared took to garage and they showed me that the chain was way too tight while being sat on. other thing is too look out for tight spots and adjust the slack to the tightest part of the chain

[yorkie_chris]

It can be as tight as you want when it is being sat on... so long as there is not zero slack when the swingarm angle is zero.

[RobH13]

The chain was adjusted whilst on the side stand as per the Haynes, but i took it up to 30mm, so maybe slacken of 5mm.

Rob.

[yorkie_chris]

35mm is good. Better a little bit slack than tight.

[DarrenSV650S]

Haynes says 20mm doesn't it?

[RobH13]

Haynes says 20mm doesn't it?

To be honest, i didn't see it say a number, just went of what i could see on the rule, I'll go read now.

Cheers

Rob.

[dizzyblonde]

Well as a general rule my chains are adjusted to around an inch,,ish, of slack when on a sidestand. Never heard of you adjusting it when someones sat on it...bit of an odd one that.

YCs looked at how much in mine, its always been nigh on perfect.

Besides who the bleddy hell gets a ruler out to measure it anyway:rolleyes:

[DarrenSV650S]

Me

[madcockney]

Haynes says 20mm doesn't it?
Haynes Manual says 20-30 mm with the chain at it's stiffest point and the bike on the side stand. All of the youtube vids, etc. that I have seen relating to this, including those using a SV560, have said set it a rider sitting on it and that it is better slightly slacker.

[-Ralph-]

Never heard of you adjusting it when someones sat on it...bit of an odd one that.:

Depends on the bike, on my XT600 the manual tells you the slack measurement when sat on the bike, the workshop manual tells you the slack when on the sidestand. :rolleyes: Longer suspension travel and lots of static sag when the rider jumps on, means there's a big difference between on the side stand and being sat on the bike, especially when you are over 16 stone. On the side stand you'd think the chain when correctly adjusted was going to jump the sprocket (which happens on the XT if it gets too loose!). I have two blocks of wood, one with SV written on it, and one longer one with XT written on it, cut to length. If I can put the block of wood between swingarm and chain and it holds in place, it's correctly adjusted, it it falls out or I can't get it in, it's too loose or too tight, saves farting around with a ruler each time.

It doesn't matter if you do it sat on the bike, or on the sidestand, so long as you know how much play you should have at that point for your suspension setup and your weight, but obviously it's much easier to measure when on the sidestand and more accurate.

The curvy manual says 20-30mm on the sidestand, I have it in PDF on my PC. I can't be arsed going to get the pointy manual out of the drawer, but the pointy workshop manual says the same.

[Spanner Man]

Good morning all.


Chain adjustment is one of those fickle things that can be effected by many factors. The recommended amount of slack whether it's on the sidestand/centre stand/upright or whatever is only a guide.
Wear on the rear suspension linkages can make a difference to how much slack a chain requires on a given bike. As can a rider who's scoffed too many pies:D

Assuming the chain is in good condition, if you have somewhere around 25mm of slack at the tightest point of the chain whilst sitting on the bike, all will be well.


Cheers.

[yorkie_chris]

As can a rider who's scoffed too many pies:D

You have 2 points in space, the swingarm makes an arc from a point somewhere in the middle of these.
The chain tension will be the exact same with respect to travel whether you have a rider who ate all the pies just riding along, or one who ate all the salad who is hitting a bump.

Plus if you set sag then they both have same tension when sat on it ;-)

So if you have a really fat rider, like some seppo or something who ate all the pies, and the burgers... you set it to 25mm with it basically bottomed out... that means chain is so slack it might jump off when they go over a crest and unload the suspension. Extreme example.

[SVGrandad]

No-one has mentioned how much effort you put in to moving the chain up and down to get the required measurement. Is this not critical??

[barwel1992]

ok so would i have to do it differently because my bike is jacked up at the rear ?

at the moment i have about 1.5inch of play

or how much play sould there be when im on the bike ?

cheers

[beabert]

if the chain has a tight spot and you adjusted it from the loose section it may account for the noise, as now the tight spot maybe tighter and too tight.

[-Ralph-]

if the chain has a tight spot and you adjusted it from the loose section it may account for the noise, as now the tight spot maybe tighter and too tight.

Hmmm, funny you should say that. I don't get a noise, but I get a rhythmic vibration off the pegs at 3-4k revs, especially noticeable on the left, like somebody tapping the underside of the peg with a spanner every revolution of the chain, sprocket or wheel. It's not a sharp tap though, it's dull and accompanied by a slight vibration. Speed up and it goes away. It's only started doing it since I got the bike back on the road last month. It's the kind of thing where if the SV had rubber pegs you wouldn't feel it.

[beabert]

I had a similar experience on my 125, no noise just a tapping that was felt as i got up to speed, i had also been playing with the chain before hand. I had the alignment slightly out that didnt help lol.

Before i sold it i replaced the chain and it disappeared. It may or may not be the problem.