Chain tight spot and no its not tight links

So my 10' 800 has 4500k's on it my first chain adjustment at 1800km (800 ks after its first service done by Honda) i noticed that the chain had a tight spot in it. To give you an idea of how bad its is when i tighten the chain right up so there is the smallest amount of movement possible at the midway tight spot, if i then turn the wheel 180 degrees around there is over 1.5inches of slack easily enough for it to touch the swing arm. I spoke to the dealer ship they said it probably just because its new and might have a tight link let it bed in a bit. 4500ks now and the problem is still there i have been making sure i adjust it to the tight spot but it hasn't changed a bit. Tonight i did a test and as it is tight in the exact same spot even though the chain has been moved half a revolution and the sproket not moved i figure one of the sprockets is not true. The rear sprocket has such tight tolerances that i don't think that it could be adjusted. Any help would be great and what are the allowable tolerances???

To any dealers or Honda people in general what would be my chances of getting a warranty repair???

 

either a damaged sprocket, or one of them is out of round. it happens.

 

That's always been an indication to me that the chain is shot. The chain on my 250 is bent (long story) and does the same thing.

 

By moving the chain to different positions in relationship to the sprockets, i proved that it was not the chain.

 

It might be the setup. Is the sprocket mounted perfectly. Maybe there is a bur in the hub or sprocket. You might try loosening the bolts and see if it can be wriggled a bit to make it run more concentrically.

If it is a new bike you deserve to have it run better than that.

 

All chains have a tight spot.
Motorcycle shops have made thousands showing customers that they have a tight spot when spinning the wheel around. Then they put all new sprockets ,new chain on and the customer is satisfied even if they did not check it afterwards.
And if they DID check after wards, then the mechanics say wait till it breaks in.
Even a brand new chain with brand new sprockets can have a tight spot.

Here is what is gong on.

It is called tolerance stack up. If the countershaft is slightly crooked and the rear sprocket is not perfectly concentric and the chain is not perfect then it will have a tight spot. No spinning assembly is perfect. They are all off just a little and then when you put several systems together and add it all up you have something you can notice.

Think about this. Is the center of the axle in the center of the wheel?
Is the sprocket centered on the hub?
Are all of the cuts in the sprocket the exact same depth? NO


On some expensive cars they actually balance every part in relationship to each other and put marks on the parts to account for tolerance stack up.
Most cars do not do that.

I have built many bikes that had brand new sprockets, brand new chain, brand new wheel, and they still had a slight tight spot.

 

Fair enough i realize that no bikes are perfect but id say this is far from perfect it is to the point where i have to be careful to adjust the slack to the tight spot because i am worried ill damage something if i didn't. What would you consider a reasonable amount to be?

 

I think one of the most common mistakes is when people spray the chain with lubricant that they accidentally skip a small spot.

If you turn it slowly by hand and feel that tight spot try oiling THAT area, and see if will get any result.

Remember that the chain must be in adjustment with the rider sitting on the motorcycle. You should have about 3/4 inch up and down movement.

 

Like i say i know for sure its not the chain, what im trying to find out is what is normal and what is not.

3/4 of an inch of movement is that the difference between the tight spot and the loose spot?

 

When the rider is on the bike (sitting down), and you lift up the chain in the middle on the top of the chain, it should not move up more than 3/4 inch.

As far as loose and tight spots that is a different subject which I just addressed.

 

My 2011 VFR800 had a tight spot in the chain at 5,000km when i adjusted it. Piss poor for a new bike. I have been running the chain with slack set to the tight spot, not the ideal situation. Recently (at 32,000km) i finally got my sh#t together and properly looked into what was going on only to find that the tight spot coincided with a particular point on the rear sprocket (the 43 stamp incidentally) when it was at the most rearward position in its rotation. It appears the sprocket is the issue, not the chain. By the way, the chain & sprocket are not shot (confirmed by my Honda service manager) and if the wear rate says the same, it should do another 20,000km+.

I took off a couple of sprocket nuts and noticed there was some clearance remaining between the sprocket bolt and the sprocket bolt holes. With the high point of the sprocket most rearward (lined up with front sprocket, swing arm pivot and rear wheel axle, I tried to move the sprocket forward with some judicious whacks with a block of wood and a hammer. No go. The inner ring of the rear sprocket was bearing up against the rear wheel hub. Took the sprocket off and measured the distance between the inner sprocket ring and the valley between the sprocket tooth at the high spot and again directly opposite (180 degrees around). WTF, there was about 1mm difference. Got a half round file and took off some material from the inside ring section, max at the high point reducing to zero 90 degrees around both ways. Put the sprocket back on (same location it came off), part tightened the sprocket nuts, whacked the chain/sprocket forward and tightened up properly. Put some tension back onto the chain and the tight spot had all but gone. Adjusted the chain properly.

Went for a ride and what a transformation. The surging i had been putting up with at low speed/constant throttle setting for 32000km and 3.5 years was 95% gone. Since I got the bike, I have been sorting out the low speed fueling to reduce the surging/snatching but could not make it go away completely. Now with the sprocket tweak, the bike is a pleasure to ride in an urban/traffic environment.

Now when riding along, the bottom section of chain is now very 'quiet' between the sprockets.

One has to ask why the Honda service department did not suss this issue out at the 1,000 and 12,000km service. Another case for if you want it done right, do it yourself.

 

The only way you will be able to tell if a sprocket is out of round is to scribe a mark all the way around the sprocket with a set of dividers or something you can mark a line out from the bearing housing somehow then measure from the line to the teeth all the way around and also rotate the wheel with a pointer at the line you scribed to see if something is oscilating out of round. Probably have to do this with the countershaft sprocket as well. You are also going to have to remove the chain to do these checks as well. Not an easy job but if it was easy I guess you wouldn't need to ask

 

Chains DON'T have tight spots. They have a section that is still in original specification, the rest is worn out of spec, YMMV as to when any part of a chain reaches out of limit. The factory won't guarantee a chain, as every owner looks after them differently. Almost every bike manual I have ever read says "Check & Adjust if required, weekly" Some people only ride Sundays, some use everyday, hence the check & adjust if required, its down to you.

 

Hi NormK

Mindful of what you advise, what i have done has fixed the issue. I have no more tight spot in the chain and the tension for numerous rotations of the rear sprocket and full revolutions of the chain itself is now near 100% uniform. It was the rear sprocket which was out of round (confirmed by measurement) and now fixed with the tweaking i did. I am extremely happy with the outcome, I just wish I had sussed the problem out a long time ago.

As a crude test of roundness of the rear sprocket, before my tweaking, i fixed a steel rule to the bike just kissing the tip of the 'low' sprocket teeth. Spun the rear wheel and as it got to the 'high' point, the teeth fouled the rule. Following my tweaking, the clearance with the steel rule now remains constant, no interference for full rotations of the rear sprocket. Of course, this assumes the sprocket teeth are right.

New chain and sprockets (genuine Honda) are on the way to me and before i fit the sprockets i will be measuring them and looking to return them if not round. I would have thought Honda OEM stuff would be better than what ended up on my bike from the factory.

 

I'm having a similar issue to this as well I believe. 12,000 miles and chain has tight spots and makes a good little racket when riding. Ordered a new chain and sprockets to replace the factory ones and I'm hoping that fixes my issue....