• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

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Why do i have to keep adjusting my chain?

justintendo said:
you ensure your chain is at the correct tension, you need to compress the suspension so the countershaft, swingarm pivot, and rear axle are in line with each other. this is when your chain is at its tightest. here is where you set your tension, ensuring its not too tight or too loose.
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DirtyKid said:
when i get a new chain, im going to check the bike manual to make sure i do it right.
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Here is the '06 610 manual: http://www.husqvarnamotorcycles.com.au/files/editor_upload/File/Manual/manual_2006_te_sm_610.pdf.
On pages 102-103 (i.e. pages 114-115 of the .pdf file) it states: "The chain is adjusted correctly when the motorcycle is in vertical position and unloaded, as shown on figure.". That's what I've always done.
IMO they want us to unload the bike only because having the rear end of the bike lifted is an unmistakable common reference. Actually, it doesn't contradicts what justintendo's written, because they say that in that condition there must be a considerable slack, so, when the countershaft, swingarm pivot, and rear axle are in line with each other, the chain should be properly tight.
 
1lunger said:
I'm off road only on the 610 and I leave my chain on the loose side. I can make it touch the swing arm where the plastic chain guide ends at the bottom. I also had a 50 t rear sprocket, with a smaller one ( 45 t ) it would touch easy. If your pulling the chain tight, that's no good!
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I dont pull it tight. i always make sure that there is the amount of slack that the manual says to have. i just find i have to keep adjusting it all the time.
 
DirtyKid said:
I dont pull it tight. i always make sure that there is the amount of slack that the manual says to have. i just find i have to keep adjusting it all the time.
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Do you have a friend? Try sitting back on the tail of the bike to compress the suspension as much as you can with your weight and have him see how tight the chain is then. If it's super tight, there's your problem.
 
its weird it tells you to check it unloaded..all my manuals for the bikes in my signature say to check it when the chain is at its tightest, that way you know if its too tight or not...i just thought it was odd it tells you to maintain a certain clearance when the bike is unloaded, which is something the bike doesnt experience when its actually ridden...but hey, if the manual states that, there must be a reason
 
justintendo said:
its weird it tells you to check it unloaded..all my manuals for the bikes in my signature say to check it when the chain is at its tightest, that way you know if its too tight or not...i just thought it was odd it tells you to maintain a certain clearance when the bike is unloaded, which is something the bike doesnt experience when its actually ridden...but hey, if the manual states that, there must be a reason
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Hmmmm. well its my first bike so i dont no any different.
 
no offense to you dirty kid, its good you are asking about it, instead of ignoring it like many seem to do...

when and if you replace your chain, buy good quality and you will have a better experience. imho, a chain is not the place to skimp. my oem chain on my 88 xc250 stretched every good ride..i put a good tsubaki om it and never regretted the 120 dollars
 
justintendo said:
no offense to you dirty kid, its good you are asking about it, instead of ignoring it like many seem to do...

when and if you replace your chain, buy good quality and you will have a better experience. imho, a chain is not the place to skimp. my oem chain on my 88 xc250 stretched every good ride..i put a good tsubaki om it and never regretted the 120 dollars
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Non taken. the chain i have is really old. i plan on getting a new one ASAP. i was going to pick one up today but i completely forgot about it. i was speaking to my brother (the previous owner of my bike) and he said it's probably because the chain is "ancient".
 
It's likely a OEM CZ chain and they aren't that good. Get a Renthal, D.I.D or the like 520 chain and you'll be all set. Make sure to put the clip on the right way if you use a clip master link.
 
1lunger said:
It's likely a OEM CZ chain and they aren't that good. Get a Renthal, D.I.D or the like 520 chain and you'll be all set. Make sure to put the clip on the right way if you use a clip master link.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the recommendations, ill look into those.
 
justintendo said:
its weird it tells you to check it unloaded..all my manuals for the bikes in my signature say to check it when the chain is at its tightest, that way you know if its too tight or not...
Click to expand...

The reason is just ease of checking and adjustment.

To put the chain in its tightest position, you have to compress the rear suspension quite a bit, more than you can by hand. So, you need to set up some kind of ratchet strap or something, and then you have to get it perfectly lined up, which isn't straightforward unless you carry a 3-foot straightedge around with you. This is a pain to do, and lots of "novice" mechanics would have trouble doing this.

Instead, you just put the bike on a stand (or the sidestand, or lean it over to unloead the rear, whatever the manual requires) and see how much play it has vs. the spec. It's easy and it takes about 10 seconds, and you don't need any tools to do it. Way faster and easier.

It's not any less accurate to check the play with the suspension unloaded, you just need to know how much longer the chain run gets when everything is lined up (which the factory presumably knows).

i just thought it was odd it tells you to maintain a certain clearance when the bike is unloaded, which is something the bike doesnt experience when its actually ridden...
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:confused: My chain gets unloaded and my rear suspension is fully sagged out many, many times on the average ride. On an SM this might not be quite as common, the it's still going to happen over bump, under hard braking, etc.
 
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