lorenzo Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 On my VFR I had a lovely bit on the chain guard that said something like 'in the middle of the chain you want about 20mm of play', so I knew how tight it should be. I also knew that it'd tighten up slightly when I sat on the bike. My ZX7R doesn't have any of this niceness (in fact it doesn't even have a chain guard, is that an MOT fail?) and as I had my back end out yesterday to fit a new sprocket and to clean it all up I'm left with a bit of a conundrum; the chain needs adjusting again, will it tighten when I sit on it, I guess it would. What sort of tension should I have in the chain with only the bikes weight on it? Answers on a postcard marked 'don't be so bloody thick, Lawrence' to the usual address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalracingsnake Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 20mm of free play when sat on it. Though how you measure it when you are sat on it is......... As for the chain guard, no problem, as long as you remove the pillion pegs for the MOT. None of my bikes have had chain guards, and none have failed the MOT. Remember, a loose chain, is a fast chain, but no so loose it slaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted April 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Well, pillion pegs shouldn't be a problem. I may have the inside of my leg tattoo'd with mm lines, like a ruler for ease of measurement. Just to suss out, 20mm free play is 10mm up and 10mm down, yes (20mm in total)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 bottom run of the chain, roundabout centre point, lift the chain up and then pull it down and the "20mm' should be the distance the chain can move from uppermost lift point to lowest sag point. Although I'd like to add 20mm seems pretty damn tight to me! My SV1000s range is 20-30 mm and I nearly always give a little more. My reasoning is that I'd rather my chain wears out a little quicker but at least it doesn't bugger the bearings on the drive shaft due to pulling caused by the chain being too tight. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted April 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Coolio, wheel'll be off for new tyres on thursday morning (with a bit of luck), then set-up with a beautifully tensioned chain afterwards. Cheers fellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strappy Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 Don't any of you people own a workshop manual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomfoolery Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 New tyres? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Pigdog Posted April 7, 2009 Report Share Posted April 7, 2009 If memory serves me correct ZX7R's can be awkward to check the tension as it runs soooo close to the fat swingarm-probs best to check it on the top of the chain run or guestimate it from just pulling it down on the bottom run(tee hee). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenzo Posted April 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 New tyres? Yeah well, the front's looking as if the middle's taken a bit of a hammering, although there's aenough tread left on it it's quite stepped as it gets over on its shoulders. I was going to just see how it goes, then Bikertiger wanted a new rear (which is virtually brand new on this), morepower was doing a deal on diablo corsas, one thing led to another. Bit by bit it seems I'm undoing all of your 'sorts commuter' work. Next thing you know it'll have a single seat and no pillion pegs on it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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