Chain wear with tire change

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iwantone

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I've had this problem with my current FZ and my KLR. It seems everytime I reinstall the rear tire, and place the chain slack to spec, my chain/sprocket combo wear out. Is this because the grooves in the sprocket teeth are now correspnding with a different part of the chain that it wasn't making contact with before?
 
That doesn't make any sense.

If the chain tension isn't adjusted properly you will either have chain slap if loose or increased friction and suspension issues if too tight and this may cause premature wear of the chain.

Also repeated hard accelerations like drag racing will stretch a chain and cause it to wear out.
 
What about wheel alignment? When you reinstall the rear wheel, are you sure the wheel is correctly aligned? This would cause excessive wear on the chain & sprockets
 
This

Dustin said:
What about wheel alignment? When you reinstall the rear wheel, are you sure the wheel is correctly aligned? This would cause excessive wear on the chain & sprockets
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Is far more likely the culprit. It is easy to get the alignment out just a little unless you are very careful. I use a set of digital calipers to make sure that the adjustment is spot on. Even if the chain is a bit on the loose side it should not cause unusual wear unless it is severe. Too tight is much harder on everything including the output shaft bearings and seal.
 
Oldschool,

It would be wonderful if you showed us a how to for using digital calipers as well as posting a link to something that you use.

I struggled tightening my chain this past weekend with the axle block. I went back and forth several times and of course you cant get it just right eye balling it.

Did you just use a micro meter with the tools point outward and expand from the axle block to the inner slot on the swing arm? That would make most sense to me. But the axle blocks are likely to shit .5-1.5mms forward if you do that... So maybe the outside of the swing arm?

Thanks for any information you give up to the lesser intelligent:stupidPC: here!
 
ballmead said:
You use the reverse end of the digital calipers, the bit that sticks out the back.
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What are you measuring from/to? I read somewhere that you should measure from the swing arm pivot shaft to the center of the axle bolt. That's a really long set of calipers! :justkidding:

To be honest, I picked up a chain alignment tool that clamps on to the rear sprocket and runs a straight rod toward the front of the bike along the top of the chain. From there I'm just eyeballing it.
 
Links

Clyde said:
What are you measuring from/to? I read somewhere that you should measure from the swing arm pivot shaft to the center of the axle bolt. That's a really long set of calipers! :justkidding:

To be honest, I picked up a chain alignment tool that clamps on to the rear sprocket and runs a straight rod toward the front of the bike along the top of the chain. From there I'm just eyeballing it.
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Here is a link that may be useful: Chain Alignment Tool | South Bay Riders

Or This: Chain Alignment Tool | Motion Pro

Homemade: Homemade Motorcycle Axle Alignment Tool

Store Bought: https://www.af1racing.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=2845

My axle adjustment tool, note the outward facing parts on top:



Here is what I do:



It is even easier on the FZ:



Same Idea as shown above, just make sure you tighten the bolt (That you are putting the caliper against) before measuring each time to keep it consistent. It really doesn't take long and you will be within a 1oth of a millimeter or better.
 
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That seems complicated. Don't you have marking points for adjusting the chain slack? Just count them down and make sure your on the same mark on each side (or maybe I'm missing something).
 
The measuring technique that Old School recommends only works if both sides of the swing arm were true and of equal length. Unfortunately this is not always the case. That is why the alignment marks don't always work. As stated earlier, the best measurement is from pivot bolt to axle. I usually do the string test on a new bike to see how close the alignment marks are. If it's close I use the alignment marks from then on. However I have had some bikes that the alignment marks are so far off they are useless. On these bikes pivot bolt to axle is the best way to measure.
 
Kpd1031 said:
The measuring technique that Old School recommends only works if both sides of the swing arm were true and of equal length. Unfortunately this is not always the case. That is why the alignment marks don't always work. As stated earlier, the best measurement is from pivot bolt to axle. I usually do the string test on a new bike to see how close the alignment marks are. If it's close I use the alignment marks from then on. However I have had some bikes that the alignment marks are so far off they are useless. On these bikes pivot bolt to axle is the best way to measure.
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I'll have to check mine out. I've never thought to check to see if it was off. I just assumed it would be true.
 
M.Martin said:
That seems complicated. Don't you have marking points for adjusting the chain slack? Just count them down and make sure your on the same mark on each side (or maybe I'm missing something).
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I agree with you M. You can certainly find many different ways to micro-adjust your chain, but the mfg. supplied alignment marks are plenty good enough assuming you are accurate in making sure both sides are the same. I use a magnifying glass as close up work like that ain't what it used to be.
 
Kpd1031 said:
The measuring technique that Old School recommends only works if both sides of the swing arm were true and of equal length. Unfortunately this is not always the case. That is why the alignment marks don't always work. As stated earlier, the best measurement is from pivot bolt to axle. I usually do the string test on a new bike to see how close the alignment marks are. If it's close I use the alignment marks from then on. However I have had some bikes that the alignment marks are so far off they are useless. On these bikes pivot bolt to axle is the best way to measure.
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You are correct about the possibility of the swing are being out of true. I know that my swing arm is true, having measured from the swing arm pivots the first time. Unlike the FZ and the easy to see markings, the KTM's are under the blocks and hard to see, making my method the easiest for me. I don't find it complicated, nor time consuming, and routinely get extremely high mileage out of my chain and sprockets.

I can imagine that some older bikes might have had poor quality control and swingarms out of true. It would surprise me to find that in a modern Yamaha.

I certainly agree that checking that once on any bike is a good idea, for piece of mind. There are tools available in the links in my original post, or, as suggested a simple string, or wire can do the same.

Bottom line though is for best performance and chain life, proper alignment is important.

Link: http://bultaco.proboards.com/thread/492
 
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Clyde said:
What are you measuring from/to? I read somewhere that you should measure from the swing arm pivot shaft to the center of the axle bolt. That's a really long set of calipers! :justkidding:

To be honest, I picked up a chain alignment tool that clamps on to the rear sprocket and runs a straight rod toward the front of the bike along the top of the chain. From there I'm just eyeballing it.
Click to expand...

The back of the swing arm and the aluminium axle block like this:

 
The alignment was pretty spot on. I bought a micrometer a while back and will use it next time I get a tire changed, which should be within the next few hundred miles
 
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