How to Adjust you Chain - Saving you money, it's easy

A Badly adjusted chain will make any bike more duffucult to ride and will wear itself, and your sprockets, out more quickly. A slack chain will grind away casings and swingarm, product a glitch in your power delikvery when you get back on the gas after gear chainges and make the bike considerably noiseier. A tight one, on the other hand will overload the engine and stop the rear suspension from working peroperly eventually it will snap.

1. Bikes with centrestands are easiest of all. If you haven't got a centrestand, it's worth spending £35 or so on a paddock stand as adjusting your chain is a more fiddly task on bikes that just rely on a sidestand.

2. One side of your chain will feel tighter than the other as your try to push it up. Spin the rear wheel (or walk the bike backwrds or forwards if your're using your sidestand) until the tight side is at the bottom, underneather the singarm

3. Slacken the rear spindle nut just enought to allow the chain adjuster screws/bolts to be turned with a spanner. Swingarms flex outward as the spindle is undone; when the spindle nut is re-tightened the flex lenghtens the swingarm, making the chain to tight.

4. Use the correct size spanner to slacken off the chain adjuster locknuts, being careful not to round them off. The easiest way to avoid rounding off nuts is not to over tighten them when your're finished.

5. With a mate sitting on the bike, turn the adjuster (chain side first) until you see the slack being taken up,, the chain is peroperly adjusted when it can be moved up and down 35 to 45mm, using one hand to PUSH up the bottom run at it's midpoint.

6. Make a note of where the adjuster marks are on the swingarm and adjust the other side of the swingarm to match the chain side. The adjuster needn't be bang on a mark' as long as both sides are the same, it will be OK.

7. Re-check the slack in the chain, Again, it should move by between 35 and 45mm at its midpoint with someone sat on the bike. If movement is still outside this range, re-adjust both sides accordingly.

8. Start re-tightening the spindle nut with a spanner, But finish off the proces by tightening it with a torque wrench that has been set to the correct torque figure ( you'll find this specified in your ownrs manual).

9. Now re-check the slack in the chain. Due to the swingarm flexing, it mayu be necessary to undo the spindle nut, slacken the adjusters slightly and re-tighten the spindle nut. Re tighten the adjuster locknuts.

10. Re-check the slack in the chain and spin the wheel to make sure everythigs ok and that you've adjusted the tight side and not mistagkenhly the slcake side. If you have done this wrong, then one side of the chain will be fiar too tight, like a bowstring.

11. Clean the chain, soak a rag in parafin and apply it to the chain while turning the wheel. Be careful not to get your fingers caught between the chain and sprocket do not do this with the engine running - you like having fingers, dont you?

12. Lube the chai, Ride the bike for five minutes first as this will warm the chain and help prevent the lube flinging off, Ensure lube covers borth sets of o rings and wipe off any that gets on the tyre, Turn the wheel and direct lube at the o rings as shown.

13. Finally, check wheel alignment. Have a mate sit astride the bike and point the front straight ahead; walk a few meters in frong of the bike and look down the length of it you should be able to see wuqal amounts of the rear tyre either side of the front tyre.