Chain Woes

oh woe is me,

whilst giving the bike a general once over on sat i noticed that my chain was a bit slack, so tighten it , no probs easy peasy.

but no hang on , when ive set it i notice that chain has more or less play as i turn the back wheel, which means its got a tight spot, my chain is normally very well looked after, but i must have put it back wet and left the bike to stand for a few weeks, the chain must have gone stiff a bit around the front sprocket and hence my probs.

i even declined a nice run to brid yesterday as i had visions of my chain snapping at hugh speed and cutting me in half aka texas chainsaw masacre......

is the chain snafu now or will it clean up with some parafin, i normall clean it with parafin and relube every couple of weeks just to keep it nice, but has it gone too far this time.

the chain has done 11,000 not so easy miles towing my lardy frame around.

im not keen to replace the chain and sprockets if i can help it as its due a "big" 11k service now as well,

oh the sprockets look ok they arent all pointy or anything

Check every single link-pin is still movable. You might find one or two links stiff. A bit of WD40 MIGHT save them. Put bike on a padock stand if you have one and turn the back wheel bit by bit to check every link. If the chain has tight spots in it you probably have to replace it but try the above first.

Might not be a tight spot?

Every bike I have owned has been a little bit like that where the play varies ever so slightly as you turn the wheel but my SV is the worst of the lot and the difference is ridiculous. Its been like that since I bought the bike new in August and there are no tight spots.

I find it really hard to adjust because it is either too tight in one place or too slack in another. Someone said it could be because the rear sprocket isn't exactly dead centre on the wheel?

[northwind]

A wee bit of a tight spot's nothing to worry about- how much of a variation are you getting?

Originally Posted by northwind

A wee bit of a tight spot's nothing to worry about

What northwind says. But if you find you are adjusting it a lot or you can't sort the tight spot, stump up for a new chain and sprocket set. I've had a chain break on me. I was doing between 80 and 90 and I pulled off the motorway sliproad. Got to the roundabout and opened the throttle at about 15 - 20 and the chain went. Blardy lucky!!!! I would hate to have seen the mess at 90mph.

not sure really, it goes from the proper amount of slack to virtually none as you turn the back wheel, i rode it on sat for about 40 miles and i didnt notice anything whilst riding it.

it is very noticable though when turning the whell by hand, but when pushing the bike i cant feel it.

i started the bike and ran it in gear on the padock stand and you can see the deviation, but ive noticed the chain goes up and down any way even without tight spots, i could here it though as it went round, could deffianately tell when it was going roud the tight spot,

once the speed of the whel gets up it wsa difficult to tell wether there was a lot of play, im just worried that it will throw itself off.

ill take the back wheel out tonight and give the chain some bendy bendy and see if it gets better after a good clean and relube

It's important to adjust the chain so that the tightest spot is within the normal working parameters, i.e. approx 30mm of play. Okay this will make the rest of the chain slack but it's far better than having a tight spot that's like an iron bar as this is what will likely make it snap. A chain that's a bit loose is no great problem.

The bad news is that once you have a tight spot like this you'll never cure it as there will be at least one worn link. I'm afraid a new chain and sprockets are on the cards very shortly.

So keep it slack(ish), lube it religously and keep an eye on it - but it should be rideable (though use the throttle more smoothly so as not to induce huge strains on the chain).


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Originally Posted by jonboy

I'm afraid a new chain and sprockets are on the cards very shortly.

'least you can fit a 47 tooth sprocket on the back then... Who needs to do 130mph... Its all about acceleration isn't it

Originally Posted by Cloggsy

'least you can fit a 47 tooth sprocket on the back then... Who needs to do 130mph... Its all about acceleration isn't it

thats the plan, whats the standard one 45-46?

i thought that running with a loose chain would be likely to make it come off, or am i being too worried, i dont mean like loose loose, just on the loose side of tight.

Originally Posted by Cloggsy

'least you can fit a 47 tooth sprocket on the back then... Who needs to do 130mph... Its all about acceleration isn't it

Does that effect mpg?