Drive Chain Issues
 

Hey all,

I bought my '02 F4i from a private seller in Dec. 08 and my drive chain had the appropriate slack. I got new tires about three months ago and about two months later I decided to check the slack in the drive chain again and there was about 3" of slack. Last week was bike week in OC, MD so I knew I had to get this taken care of by then so I had the drive chain adjusted to approx. 3/4" of slack. When I returned from bike week, approx. 600 miles later, I now have 3" of slack again. Any ideas?

The guy who I bought the bike from said that he put an oversized sprocket on it and I know that this will require more chain adjustments but every 600 miles, really?

actually you need to check it every time you ride and it could need adjustment approx every 300 miles ;)

No, bigger sprocket can't change the slack to 3" :icon_eek: !!

You should prolly check the rear adjusters on the swing arm, only this might cause such a problem, imo. The chain can't change its length (just a bit when gets warmed up), the sprockets can't move for sure (I hope they aren't :icon_wink:).

+1 it sounds like the axle bolt isnt been tightened enough.

Thanks for the insight. The chain wear indicator says 'Replace Chain' so hopefully a new chain will resolve the issue. I'll check the torque on the Axle bolt to make sure that the shop is doing their job correctly. I've questioned their expertise in the past.

I always do mine myself. Make sure to change the sprockets too ;)

Is that "replace chain" indicator really accurate? I have 14,000 miles on mine and it is not even near the replace area?

Ohhh that's a good point. What's the torque for those axle adjusters?

It always depends on your riding style and how much effort you put when doing chain maintenance.

But also look at the physical state. Mine isn't in the "replace" area, although I wanna change it. Some rust on the inside, looks like previous owner didn't take a good care.

its fairly accurate, the mileage estimated for how long a chain last is whats not accuate ;)
The adjusters dont have a torque but the axle itself does ;) Check your manual for the specs ;)