Forum

[simon]

I'd say 15mm is rather a lot of slack. I tend to give mine about 5mm to 8mm at the tight spot.

[Robin]

Hi Simon bet you my guitar strumming fingers can push yours to 15mm.

[Jack]

I would put it down to experience and adjust it correctly as Simon has noted.Loose chains allow windup
between the different shafts when accelerating/decelerating casing excessive shock loading to the chain.
jack

[Robin]

Hi Jack. Well some force was obviously too excessive for the chain. It snapped right through at exactly the same place on all four plates. So what you're saying is that it gets pulled taught during acceleration, and goes slack upon deceleration, and that varying between the two causes a shock force, which can be minimized by keeping the chain relatively tight in the first place. Well, this definitely makes sense. Too be honest, I hadn't checked the chain for quite a while and am not certain how loose it may have been upon the incident. What do you mean with 'windup between the different shafts'? Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.

[Jack]

Well Robin i don't exactly know what i meant by windup,i was just trying to express the idea that with a loose chain the engine would be speeding up before the clutch sprocket took up.And you have the idea anyway about what i meant anyway.
Glad you didn't come a cropper,as these things have caused serious accidents.

[Dennis C]

Hi Robin sorry if this sounds harsh, but there is no easy way to say it. You don't know better than the designer of the bike if the chain needed to be slacker that's what the book would say, adjust it correctly.

[Robin]

Doesn't sound harsh at all, Dennis - note taken, reprimand received, humble pie digested and new chain tightened accordingly.

[Alan R]

That's the spirit, ROBIN !!! ------------ let's hope all's well now ??-----------Happy riding and do keep in touch with the forum (post some photos of your travels, maybe ??)---------

[Beezabryan]

No one seems to have mentioned a very important point when chain tensioning and that is non concentricity of sprockets caused the chain to have tight spots that are usually mistaken for either badly made or worn chains............Therefore when checking the tension it must be done at several different points in the chain run........doing it just once & you risk it being at its tightest or slackest..... there will inevitable have to be a compromise..........a good chain correctly adjusted & running in a closed casing with continual lubrication will last indefinitely.....Once correctly set leave well alone

[Alan R]

Hi guys----------- didn't someone post a thread about converting the Bullet primary adjuster to a sprung-type at one time ???