Don’t be a slacker…

Keep your chain properly adjusted and boost its lifespan

Are you a bit slack? 1

Over mileage, the combined wear of all the moving parts in a bike’s chain will cause it to become loose. Without adjustment, it would become so slack that it starts to run off the edge of the sprockets. The consequences are severe if this happens, because the chain is likely to get tangled up with the sprocket carrier and lock the back wheel.

2 Lift and look

The drive chain is entirely responsible for transmitting the power from the engine and gearbox to the back wheel. A good maintenance routine will make it last longer and feel smoother. Get into the habit of giving your chain a visual inspection each week. Put the bike on its main stand or a rear paddock stand, this will allow you to turn the wheel and examine the chain.

3 Do your research

Find out what the correct tension should be, either by looking in the manual, or often there’ll be a label stuck to the swingarm. Tension is usually assessed on the bottom run of the chain, midway between the front and rear sprockets. Measure the up and down ‘play’ at this point and refer it to the minimum and maximum values in the manual.

4 Loosen the nut

If adjustment is required, you need to loosen the rear wheel by undoing the spindle nut. This often fairly large and can vary in size from 22mm to 36mm, so you may need to purchase a specific socket. The rear wheel spindle nut requires high torque to tighten it properly, so you will need a breaker bar to gain extra leverage and a torque wrench to do it back up again.