Chain Tension and weirdo noises!!

Saki · Post by **Saki** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:04 pm

g'day guys,

i tightened up the chain on the bike today for the first time, and i did as the manual says, but i am not sure if it did it 100% correctly and the manual is a little obscure in its description... anyway its a ZXR250 and hte manual says to tighten the chain between 7-15mm.. so i tried to follow this as closely as possible basicaly, now when u lift ht bottom of hte chain it will raise about the height of the thickness of the side of hte chain again... i think its a little tight but anyway, the other issue i have is it makes a bit of a clunky noise now, more so than when it was looser but its not a constant thing... any ideas

Strika · Post by **Strika** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:11 pm

Not sure on the exact tolerance on a ZXR250, but here is a guide for most bikes. The idea is you want it tight enough to keep it on the sprockets, and loose enough to allow a little stretch because as the suspension compresses, the axle moves a little further away from the front sprocket.

If you jump on the back and compress the rear suspension as far as you can, the chain should only just miss hitting the bottom of the swingarm when you push it up. HTH

chameleon · Post by **chameleon** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:05 am

I would go a little too loose rather than to tight. After all, it spends a lot of its time loosish anyway.

did you check the chain for tight spots by spinning the back wheel/ checking the tension, after you adjusted it? Might have a spot or two?

ty · Post by ty » Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:33 am

Sounds a little bit tight - but not too bad. I'd probably loosen it off a quarter turn.
I generally go for a raise of 20mm when it's on the side-stand - a little more if on a centre/race-stand.
ty

Mizz ZZR · Post by **Mizz ZZR** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:37 am

Going from my recent experience at the whole chain thing, its too tight. Back it off a little and the noise will stop.

Saki · Post by **Saki** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:07 pm

hmm ok, does that noise mean its time to replace chain and sprockets or its just a bit to tight...

i loosened it off this arvo and basically now when i lift the chain from the bottom about 10cm after it side stand and it seems to raise about 1 inch with a tiny bit of effort... sound alright ?

Damon Z1000 · Post by **Damon Z1000** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:44 pm

sneakypete · Post by **sneakypete** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:28 pm

about an inch is good.
if the noises are still there, you probably have a few tight spots, maybe time for replacement...

Mizz ZZR · Post by **Mizz ZZR** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:21 am

Saki wrote:hmm ok, does that noise mean its time to replace chain and sprockets or its just a bit to tight...

i loosened it off this arvo and basically now when i lift the chain from the bottom about 10cm after it side stand and it seems to raise about 1 inch with a tiny bit of effort... sound alright ?

That particular noise is just a too tight noise. About an inch give sounds right, but no more than that.

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 11:30 am

Saki wrote:hmm ok, does that noise mean its time to replace chain and sprockets or its just a bit to tight...

i loosened it off this arvo and basically now when i lift the chain from the bottom about 10cm after it side stand and it seems to raise about 1 inch with a tiny bit of effort... sound alright ?

Easy way to tell if your chain is poked..... Run it on the centre stand.... put the bike in first gear and let it run....

The chain will jump around a little bit....

if it jumps around A LOT it means its stuffed.... It means part of the chain is stretched.... and/or some of the links are not rotating correctly....

Saki · Post by **Saki** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:16 am

so if there are tight spots is there any cure or its just a chuck out job ?

Gosling1 · Post by **Gosling1** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 4:09 pm

toss it out, and both sprockets, and replace with new stuff........once your chain is stuffed, its stuffed......

Steve_TLS · Post by **Steve_TLS** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 5:37 pm

Just another couple of thoughts. What is the condition of the sprocket teeth? They aren't starting to bend are they? Wheel alignment is OK too?

Saki · Post by **Saki** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 8:34 am

the rear wheel sprockets actually looks fine, i have given it a good spin around and a close looking at and it seems fine from my judgement... the bike is 17 years old and only 35,000k's but i don't think thats given any previous owner justification to replace hte chain... but i reckon it is hte chain esp after 17 years!!!

thanks for your help tho guys... anyone else have any ideas or comments ?

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:53 pm

Saki wrote:the rear wheel sprockets actually looks fine, i have given it a good spin around and a close looking at and it seems fine from my judgement... the bike is 17 years old and only 35,000k's but i don't think thats given any previous owner justification to replace hte chain... but i reckon it is hte chain esp after 17 years!!!

thanks for your help tho guys... anyone else have any ideas or comments ?

A good idea is to replace the sprockets.... if not both then at least the front one since they wear much quicker....

Keep it lubed and the new chain will last you another 37,000 ks