Been riding motorcycles most of my life. Never realized that the upper chain was not supposed to move when you were checking adjustment. I've been adjusting my chain too tight for years apparently. Thank you for this video!

"I need more coffee" Another great video, thanks Dave :-)

I've just watched dozens of videos on how to adjust the chain, and none of them gave this specific important information. Thank you. I noticed the harder I push up and down on the chain it keeps changing my measurement. This video just told me what I was doing wrong and explain the correct way to do it. 👍

Most informative video I have ever watched on chain slack and it was 3minutes long. Excellent work

Another gem of a video. Thanks Dave. 👍🏼

Excellent guideline. The manufacturers never bother with these nuances in the manuals! Thank you!

I did not know about watching the chain on top. Thanks Dave !

Great vid Sir! I have been struggling to get my chain just right cause I wasnt sure how to check the tension. I'm may be overthinking it, but I like things perfect. Thanks again

Funny, just did this the other day, but didn't even notice the top part of the chain... Guess I'll be checking it again 👍😁

G`day Dave,thanks do much for giving us all your wonderful knowledge.Great videos,excellent knowledge,thanks again Mate.

Thanks for the video Davo!

You the best Dave, god bless you

I forget where I was tought it first, but a reoccurring tip is to check the chain at it's "longest". - When the wheel axle, the swing axle and the front sprocket axis align. As long as there is noticeable play, at least the chain wont be stressed from the suspension motion. I only did this on my dirtbikes (soft suspension and critical failure if it is wrong). The road bikes are too busy to get to on my own. Don't want to drop it - again. I just follow the manual and try to visualize if I'm safe for the swingarm movement.

Nice advice Dave! I already watched many videos on adjusting chain slack---most of them did not looked unto top chain slack (also in Manual). They tend to measure the below chain---now that's additional info on my part. Thanks a lot!

First time I've ever heard someone mention the tight spot. Should have shown it with this video. Don't try to adjust your chain without turning the back wheel to find the tightest spot on the chain. You'll fuck up something.

Thank you for sharing this info.

Thank you for sharing your idea 💡

Still learning shit from you Dave hahaha. I was always told have the slack take up until the top chain does go taught and then thats your slack.

This has always bothered me.. huge thanks Dave !

Good video about Chain Tension and adjustment. Learned something today

As a new rider that plans on doing his own maintenance I felt this video was a crucial step I was missing.

UK steve . Very good video 👍👍

This is gold, they don't tell you that in the manual. Thanks Dave!

The best! Thank you for the video and this hint! :)

Brill. Thanks Dave.

great info sir..

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perfectly explained ! think you excellent point bout affecting upper chain movement when testing slack !

After 45 yrs of riding I’ve finally learnt how to adjust properly, just done it. Also set my front and rear preload from your previous video. Transformed my Katana 1000 no longer fights me, especially the front end. Are you coming to the UK Dave?

You are a life saver for motorcyclist. Keep up the great work. Appreciate ur help.

Wow I think I've been doing it wrong. Thanks. Going to check it tomorrow.

Thank you. I tought my chain was too loose.

Thanks for the great tip. How do you know where to lift the chain up And by lifting the bottom chain up with a screw driver how do you know what is tight/loose? Also how do you find the tight spot in the chain?

I followed my manual word for word. The chain was set exactly as described, but when Dave checked it at Buttonwillow, it was indeed way too tight when I was sitting on the bike. I was risking damage to my bike and interfering with the suspension and I didn't know it.

Very informative

My manual says to do it with the bike on the ground on its stand. I've always done my chain slack adjustments on the rear stand. It's there a huge difference from doing it either way? Good tip for looking at the top chain. Never knew that.

Awesome advice. Thank you

When the shock is out for maintenance you could check and set the chain so you have free movement through the range. Then you know once its back together you have correct tension. Cut a chock of wood with a step in it and use that as a tension gauge.

Things your manual doesn't tell you about how to actually check the slack. I didnt know the top of the chain shouldn't move. I would tension it as much as it would go. Glad I watched this. Good info.

Interesting. The manual for my KTM 990 acutally states that the upper part of the chain must be taut when checking the slack.

Thank Dave 👍🏾

Cheers Dave!

Great! Is there any difference between a "cold" chain & a "hot" chain i.e. measuring the slack before riding or just after a ride? Also, I bought a center stand for my Yam MT03 660cc & wonder if it makes any difference when measuring the chain slack whether the bike is on its side or center stand ??? Many thanks

never gets ridden. you were right the first time

I replaced my chain with a brand new chain and sprocket kit and the tick marks are equal on both sides.BUT my chain is on the loose side and the reading is not marking on the “new chain” or blue mark. It’s reading near the “replace chain” mark. WHY? It’s a brand new kit. Please help.

every 300miles...*hangs head in shame*

Good vid

Dear Dave Could You please help me with the tyre choice for 2011 Speed Triple R. My girlfriend just bought one second hand with BT S21R on it ( Rear tyre god profile front worn and squared). At present bike feels like effort is needed to maintain the lean and it doesn't go into lean very swiftly) In Your opinion should we try another set of S21 or would You recommend a different profile tyre. Thank You Jakub

Dave, is your preference to have the bike on a rear stand or the side stand?

thank you

Heads up Dave. Manuals are now pdf files on our phones. Specs and diagrams are seconds away as are your helpful videos.

the movement in your chain was not 30-40mm yet you said it was a little loose? what movement range are you looking for in a road bike?

Hi Dave what's your approach on KTM's measurement of chain slack? Apparently my user manual says to measure the distance betweeen 1.) a chain link and 2.) the bottom of the swing arm for chain tension. And so far I have had quite some chain slaps using the technique by them. Cheers

Thanks for sharing

Great videos , I always ride two's up with the wife and I'm just wondering what the best amount of chain slack would be , the manual states 20-30 mm and I set it at around 25mm , I just don't want to put to much stress on the front sprocket bearing if I can help it , I have set up preload front and rear to compensate for the extra weight at around 290 lbs with both of us on the bike , the rear static sag is 10mm and riders sag about 35mm , the reason that got me concerned about this is I'm in the process of replacing my front sprocket oil seal and I've check the sprocket shaft for moment and there isn't any so I think the bearing is ok but I'm worried that maybe 25mm wasn't enough slack and maybe caused the seal to fail prematurely , it's an mt10 with 13,000 miles on the clock. Any advice would be much appreciated and thank you for all the knowledge you bring us riders over the years with your videos

If I want spiritual enlightenment I will go and see a guru. If I want to learn anything about my bike I watch Dave Moss

All these different vids have different ways of checking chain tension. Are they all right?

Hi Dave, love watching you’re videos. I enjoy maintaining my bikes. I have a tuono factory 2015 I’ve recently cleaned and adjusted chain To spec on the side stand, I’ve always applied downward and upward pressure when taking measurement. Is this incorrect ? After watching you’re video I checked free play using you’re method with bike on a paddock stand I measured 15mm. Before the upper run of the chain started to rise off the runner, so if I add 15mm slack using you’re method I’ll have around 40/45mm on the side stand. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Leon.

I was #100 to 👍🏻... I don't know what that means,,, but I'm proud of it anyway lol

2016 MY Speed Triple R - can't actually see the upper part of the chain - hidden by single sided swing arm - assume gently lifting the chain (as you demonstrated) will be OK..?

Thanks!

So for 2 up riding. Should it be more loose? Or do both rider and pillion have to sit and then check the tension?

The top of the chain not moving does that stand for all motorbikes? Can’t see it documented anywhere and now I’m getting hung up about weather or not my Gixxer chain is right or not.

We've all seen the measurement diagrams...... Dave's got experience with thousands of bikes. My uneducated guess is that there's a certain swingarm angle "range" ..... no matter if a bike's angle is at the upper spec, or lower, it wouldn't affect slack much between the two until you surpass 70% shock travel- that's when the real stretch begins. Only factors i'm curious about is- shimming the rear height and/or running a smaller front sprocket? I'm assuming the same procedure taught here would still be applied?

Dave, my chain wobbles when it comes off the lower portion of the front sprocket. The sprockets and chain are new. Any advice? 🇬🇧

Wau hau Jeux de mots !

Elements 💯🙌🏽🙏

Wow, I thought that chain looked a little tight. Since hearing Josh Brooks (BSB rider from Australia) advise to set slack so that the lower chain run cannot quite touch the swing arm, Ive adopted the same approach. Your video would suggest that’s too loose.

Is it better to use the side stand or center stand to make the adjustment? Thanks for any help!

Clean a chain every three hundred miles..... well that'd be two or thee times a week in summer for me then..... but my bikes have belts which I leave a little loose as another thing to remember is that sprockets get warm when in use so the chain will tighten as they expand (belts are even worse for this as the wheel pulleys are ally which expands more) and this in turn will create excess loads on swingarm and wheel bearings and if left unchecked can cause them premature wear or to collapse - wheel bearing failure at speed is not much fun !!!

When I was tightening my chain I didnt loose the axle nut, is that wrong? I still managed to tightened it though.

Wish you could have shown how to find a tight spot while checking tension, this however was very informative something I'll definitely use when check my slack which will be real soon

I use to check the chain with the rider on it after checking with the bike on the stand. is it correct?

I can hear front sprocket click sound when spin the wheel. Is it too tight or loose?

How am I still alive? .. I haven't cleaned a chain in 20 years. I just put more spray lubricant on it and away I go. My chain right now is so loose on my bike that I bet it's at 2 inches of travel. I hate lubing my chain because it flings black oil droplests all over my white rims... but for 20 years, I have been driving my 99 GSXR 750 as fast as it will go every day .. and not once have I had a problem. I do wear out my chains often though, and when I need a new one, I tell the dealer to install the most expensive chain they got and the best sprockets they sell and put them on my bike.

I am noticing the alignment is exact and the wheel is wanting to be slightly off in the swing arm- this is corrected by the wheel bushings?

Quick precise information, thank you..

Sir, could you be more specific on how the chain tension affects tyre wear.

I don't see the point with adjusting the bottom chain while not having the top chain move. You have to have all the slack out ot the chain at the top when adjusting the slack at the bottom. When driving your bike, the top chain is tight when accelerating or constant speed cruising. Any slack at the top would transfer to the bottom causing the bottom chain measurement to increase. In other words, if there 15mm slack at the top and the bottom was adjusted to 35 mm bottom, you now have 50mm at the bottom and 0mm at the top when the chain is being driven. I've never seen a manufacturers manual address the "no movement at the top" when adjusting chain slack. It just makes sense to be looking for total slack within the entire chain.

Surely the chain should be loaded up....you have unmeasured slack on the chain top run otherwise using this method. .Put in first gear, wind wheel up then check total deflection on bottom chain run.

A chain lives and breathes!? Your bonkers! 👍

That's one I've seen way too many people that have ridden for decades get wrong... Just got to laugh when they ask me why my chain looks to tight. Then they'll start up on my tires and say I wouldn't run those tires, they're (Dunlop Track Tires) bad! *"They're really great tires, but wear out to fast! How many miles you got on them, 1k miles?"* Nope, about 6k... *"REALLY?!"* They ran so much slack that I was terrified following people who ran it so loose getting up in MPH... Some are clueless.

how it tends to tyre wear..please elaborate

I have a Tiger 900GT and 'chain slack' is something I have to admit being paranoid about. I've watched numerous videos and read the official manual - which IMHO is still ambiguous in some aspects. The manual says 'Place the motorcycle on a level surface and hold it in an upright position with no weight on it. Rotate the rear wheel by pushing the motorcycle to find the position where the drive chain is tightest and measure the vertical movement of the drive chain midway between the sprockets'. OK so in this video the bike is leaning on the kickstand - is that acceptable or just specific to the bike in the video? The Tiger manual doesn't say which way to push the bike (to tighten the chain) nor which part of the chain should be 'tightest' (top or bottom)? I'm guessing from this quote that placing the bike on a centre stand is not acceptable? Apologies for these noob questions, I've only been riding a year.

whats the risk of having it too tight?

Shouldn't you check chain slack with your weight on the bike?

One day you will look back at this video and feel a little bit silly - and then probably delete it... (Hope no one gets hurt in the mean time.)

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️💯

Cheeky...thanks

I don’t need any more information on chains or bikes because by the time I’ve finished digesting what I’ve read and seen on the internet! You know what ? I just want to ride the thing

انا من مصر كيف حالك ❤️

🙌🏽

Wow! cleaning after 300 miles! Better get to work now!

When the gearbox output shaft , swinging arm pivot and rear axel are all in line , that’s the tightest point ( unless there is wear - another issue all together ) . I’ve only been a professional motorcycle mechanic for 35 years and I’m calling bullshit on this video . If you are using the manufacturer recommended slack , it’s all on one side ,ie it’s on the bottom with the slack taken up on the top .

Chains Are difficult things because they are loose or appear to be loose but when you sit on them they are as tight as balls go figure can't never figure that out everyone always shows you the bottom tension no one tells you the tension of the chain when you're actually sitting on the bike and they are vastly different so who the hell really knows definitely not me I do my best but God knows if it's right what channel is about 10 mm slack to the swing arm on the bottom as per manual but when I sit on the bike it is tight as hell I need an answer man

my chain slack is waaaay too loose after watching this. My chain basically lifts up to the swingarm

I don't have a calibrated screw driver to acaccuratly measurecthe 20-30 mm as outlined in the owners manual. Everyone knows the basics of too loose and two tight...how about some quick, easy and accurate ways to measure the play. What tools, what process to go thru. Flipping a chain up and telling it's good doesn't help as I dont tune 4 thousand bikes a year. Thanks.

Wow... my chain is tight as fuck. Thank you

I think you meant to say, "if it is a track bike, you are going to use lLESS tension so you dont give up travel". More tension means restricting more travel, no? One of us has not had enough coffee; it very well might be me. Can someone keep me honest here?

So many other videos show dudes pulling the chain down with 2-10lbs or force the say and pulling it all the way up till the top of the chain goes completely straight, and even one on motorcycle magazine, so.... who's right?