Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Chain Slack and other Chain questions Update

Hey All

I was long over due for new tires and pulled the wheels for my local shop to do the tire swap.

As always, nothing is that easy. My chain and sprockets are also do replacements as well as the cush drive that came out in worn pieces. Really no surprise because the bike has over 20k on it (10k of it mine). Many suggested on the site not to lube the chain so I never did and it held up pretty well.

Money being tight do to my Jaguar XK needing some parts love I went with the following.

Volar gold o ring chain and sprocket set from D2 Moto. I know their are better options out there but for $95 complete I went for it. I read some decent things about these sets and if I can get 10k out of this set that would be fine. Any thoughts or experiences?

For the cush drive I went with the Thunderbird replacement as many here have suggested.

So... while waiting for parts to arrive I have been researching all steps necessary to put things back together.

One item that's very confusing is chain slack adj. Just seems like a bunch of conflicting advice/specs out there.

Any advice for specs or tips for doing this adj would be greatly appreciated.

BTW... I have been a member here since I purchased this bike 4 years ago. I'm certain that this info is on this site somewhere but, for whatever reason I don't seem to get any results even close to what I'm looking for. Most times searches come up "No Results"?????

Cheers!

Andrew

Sorry, My bike is a 2007 BA

Just make sure your chain has enough slack when the suspension is as loaded down as you ever run it. Setting up your rear shock preloads correctly, is my first step to prevent the chain from intermittently hitting the tension limit and of course riding comfort/handling. I believe all the specs for this is covered in the Big Blue Shop Manual. Set up your shocks under load first, I go by 25-30% collapse of the shock s travel/stroke while under load (fine tune with the provided spanner while riding if necessary) then do the final chain alignment/tension per spec. Anyway, that's how I do it. If you have installed a new rear sprocket and chain, visually check for even wear on the chain/sprocket contact area after a hundred or so miles, any misalignment will show in the wear pattern on the sprocket, adjust as necessary. I suggest you make minute adjustments to alleviate the problem here, if it's indeed an issue. One more thing, the Laser sprocket to sprocket alignment tool I bought, is one of the best motorcycle tools, I have ever invested in.

The factory rear axle alignment marks on my 07 SM are spot on, FWIW.

I don't recall offhand what the factory chain deflection spec is.

Yeah, the chain deflection is what I'm scratching my head on.

Received my chain and sprockets today. was expecting Volar sprockets but, instead my kit came with JT sprockets. At $94 delivered with a quality chain I feel pretty good with my purchase.

D2 Moto

The factory "free play" vertical deflection spec is 20 - 30mm midway between the sprockets. Set it up for a total of 1" when the bike is on the sidestand it should be good to go.

Thanks BO264 thats all I needed to know!