chain adjustment

[richard kersten]

Have an 12 te 310 and have never adjusted a chain before and don t want to pay someone to do what I am sure is an easy fix , could someone with this bike give me a quick lesson on this .... Thank you !

 

[Micfasto]

Page 40 in the manual show is well.

Sort version.
Put the bike in a stand with the wheel off the ground

27mm socket (1 and 1/16th is the same)

slid the socket onto the top of your of your chain slider and under your chain. (outside diameter of this socket is the required 35mm)

It goes 145mm from the center of the swing arm pivot bolt. This should make the bottom run of the chain pretty tight. It is to tight if you can not get the socket within 145 mm of the pivot bolt. It is to loose if you have a lot of free play left on the bottom run of the chain.

Now to adjust it.

Loosen the axle nut with the 27mm (1,1/16th) socket.

Loosen the locking nut on the adjustor with a 12mm wrench. Now use a 10mm wrench to tight or loosen the adjuster bolt. (If you have not done so yet take the wheel off and take the adjuster bolt all the way out and put anti seize on it, you will thank me in a few years)

This will slide the axle block forward or back wards as needed. do the same on the other side. There are hash marks on the axle blocks for reference. I use a dial caliper to make sure they are exactly even and the chain line is straight.

Tighten the rear axle down. put a rag between the sprocket and chain to take up slack while I tighten down the axle. Now relock the 12mm nut on the adjuster bolt and you are good to go.

The chain on the 310 likes to be loose.




FAST ADJUSTMENT (Fig. B)


In the point shown in the figure, fit a bush (a), 35 mm diameter

(or alternatively a shim in the same size) and make sure the

lower branch (C) of the chain is slightly taut.

If it is not, proceed as follows:

- on the right side, with a 27 mm Allen screwdriver, loosen the

locking nut (1) of the wheel pin;

- with a 12 mm screwdriver, loosen the check nuts (2) on both

chain stretchers and work on the screws (3) to achieve the

right tension;

- when the adjustment is over, tighten the check nuts (2) and

the wheel pin nut (1).

When the adjustment is over check the wheel for alignment

 

[Indorider]

This may help. Just remember to align the rear axle and swingarm bolt (as shown). This gives enough slack to allow the suspension full motion without the chain being stretched or broken. The best way to get proper alignment is probably to remove the lower shock bolt (after removing the linkage bolt) but I usually have a friend sit on the bike to compress the suspension.

 

[richard kersten]

This may help. Just remember to align the rear axle and swingarm bolt (as shown). This gives enough slack to allow the suspension full motion without the chain being stretched or broken. The best way to get proper alignment is probably to remove the lower shock bolt (after removing the linkage bolt) but I usually have a friend sit on the bike to compress the suspension.

Thank you !

 

[Mike-AK]

IMO the X-Lites run best with the chain a little looser than what the manual shows. Look at pics of the X-Lite race bikes. The chains are almost laying on top of the swingarm. The cases on the X-Lite engines are...well...extra light. Accordingly, there is not much beef around the countershaft. It would not take much for a tight chain to cause some expensive damage.

 

[Mike-AK]

Re: chain adjustment..... The manual for my 13 TC449 says the slack in the chain should not exceed .2 inches. The dealer adjusted it as part of the initial set-up and it is way more than that ...slack measures about a inch and the chain does lay on top of the swingarm. Any advice?

Thanks

449 has CTS. Follow the manual.

 

[Indorider]

IMO the X-Lites run best with the chain a little looser than what the manual shows. Look at pics of the X-Lite race bikes. The chains are almost laying on top of the swingarm. The cases on the X-Lite engines are...well...extra light. Accordingly, there is not much beef around the countershaft. It would not take much for a tight chain to cause some expensive damage.

That's a really good point Mike.
I've been running mine a bit tighter lately because I've been mainly riding it to work. There's about 5 miles of easy singletrack on my route so I wasn't worried about getting far into the suspension travel but probably better I play it safe and go back to recommended slack.