Chain adj not that easy to figure out!

Dirt bikes have huge amount of swing arm movement. Adjust them wrong and land a hard jump........... whoops, that cost money.

The VFR owners manual says center stand so they must have taken into account the extra weight of bike and rider. I think I'm going to check the difference of loaded and unloaded swing arm and see how much of a difference it makes. One thought is that unloaded on the center stand adjustment might give you a tight chain in a 2 up with bags configuration.

 

Randy, 30+k on a set of sprockets and chains is good. You changed sprockets with every chain change? Was there a lot of wear on the sprockets?
Thanks.

 

I have always changed both. Have to admit, once they were absolutely disgusting though. Also, the vast majority of my miles was freeway commuting or long distance road trips, so I was not hounding the chain regularly. Not that anyone here does that you understand.

As far as how much wear on the sprockets, I probably could have gotten two chains to the set of sprockets....or maybe a chain and half's life, I really don't know. I just buy into the reasoning that to put a new chain on old sprockets, may lessen the life span of the chain. My opinion. I have always changed both front and rear tire at the same time too, even thought there may be another thou of life left on one of them.

If I have to worry about the small amount of cash I save by stretching the life out of a tire or whatever that much, maybe I should not be riding.

 

I started questioning myself on the number of sprockets and chains after your post so I went back and dug through my records (I am ooohhhh soooo anal with records) and yup. Put on my fourth set at 162,300 km on 2013-07-04. From sprocket Center shipped for $274.00. Ordered the wrong chain. (DID 530 ZVMX Ultra) This one is 1400cc rated but it fits and works on my bike anyways so went with it. Next time, I will get the right one because I probably paid more than I needed to. WHo knows, when the time comes, it may prove that this chain is better for me.

 

Has any body mentioned the reason you put your bike on the center stand? Its to find the tightest section of the chain from where the adjustment is made. It means rotating the rear wheel until you find it. Chains never stretch equally & you run the risk of over tightening if you don't do this. This biggest mistake is also not taking into account the weight of the rider/pillion & gear that can effect the tightness of the chain when the suspension is compressed.

 

You'll probably find that the chain will last a looong time and you're not going to have to adjust it as much. Provided good maintenance. I did that with my Bird. Instead of a 140hp chain which is on the edge of my power. I got the 200hp rated chain (Tsubaki) at a good price on ebay($156). When I saw you guys on my trip, I was only adjusting the chain between 2-3000 miles and still am. Hopefully it will be less wear on the sprockets also.

 

Thanks for the info. That is a good chain and as Grey said will last a long time with less adjustments needed. I run DID 520 on my track bike and I'm amazed I have I have around 12k on it and its still fine along with the sprockets. Rear is a AFAM with some sort of hard anodizing treatment on the teeth. These are not easy miles on it. I too am anal with records on all of my bikes, a good habit I believe.

 

I have 13,000 miles on my last chain adjustment....still good. Lube it every week (@ 200-300 miles) with 90W gear oil.