Adjusting your motorcycle chain without a stand is hard. It’s no secret that keeping your motorcycle in good condition requires regular maintenance, including adjusting the chain.
Many riders find it difficult to adjust the chain without a stand and often end up taking their bike to a mechanic.
With this guide, you’ll be able to adjust your motorcycle chain without using a stand-in for just a few minutes. You will be guided through the process step-by-step to make it as easy as possible.
Follow these instructions, and you’ll be on your way to a properly adjusted motorcycle chain in no time.
What happens if The Motorcycle Chain is not tight?
It is very important to keep your motorcycle chain tight. If the chain slips, it will wear out much faster and cause other problems as well.
This can be very dangerous if you are riding at higher speeds because the motorcycle may lose traction, and you could lose control. So let’s get started with how to tighten a motorcycle chain.
What do you need to adjust the Motorcycle Chain without a Stand?
In order to properly adjust your motorcycle chain, you will need a few simple items. These include:
- Adjustable Wrench – the wrench size should be determined by what kind of bolts are holding on your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket and brake caliper brackets. The bolts are usually 14mm or 15mm.
- Motorcycle chain tension gauge
- An assistant can operate the brakes while you tighten up the bolts holding your rear axle sprocket and brake caliper brackets.
- An adjustable wrench may be helpful to finish adjustments of your rear sprocket bolts, but it’s not required.
Step By Step Guide For How to Adjust Motorcycle Chain without Stand
If you want to know how to adjust motorcycle chain without stand, you will need to follow the steps below.
1 – Put your motorcycle on its center stand if you have one or the side kickstands if you don’t.
2 – Make sure that your rear brake is engaged securely so that the rear axle sprocket cannot move when you’re trying to loosen up the bolts on the brake caliper brackets.
3 – Loosen up the bolts on your motorcycle’s brake caliper bracket with an adjustable wrench or socket wrench. Make sure only to loosen them enough so that they are no longer tight against the rotor drum of your rear wheel.
Use a bit of common sense here, if you have to use an impact wrench to loosen the bolts, you will have to hold both brake levers in place while your assistant presses the brake pedals so that the rear axle sprocket does not move when you are removing or reinstalling these bolts.
4 – Loosen up your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket bolts with an adjustable wrench or socket wrench. You don’t have to remove these bolts all the way because you are only loosening them up enough so that they will not move when you try to adjust your motorcycle chain.
5 – Use a ruler or measuring tape to determine how much slack your motorcycle chain has. Please start with the front of the motorcycle and measure how far away it is from your rear axle sprocket.
Do the same thing on the other side of your motorcycle to measure how far away your rear axle sprocket is from your rear brake caliper bracket. Add these two measurements together, and that’s how much slack you have in your motorcycle chain at this point.
6 – Check your motorcycle’s owner’s manual or service manual for specifications regarding the proper amount of chain slack you should have. Most motorcycles will require a 1 – 2 finger gap between the motorcycle chain and the rear axle sprocket at this point.
7 – Remove your motorcycle’s rear wheel if it still has a rear drum brake system, or remove your motorcycle’s brake caliper assemblies if it has a disc brake system to ensure that they don’t get damaged. At the same time, you tighten up your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket bolts.
8 – Position your motorcycle so that the rear wheel is facing a wall if it still has a drum brake system, or face the front of the motorcycle towards a wall if it has a disc brake system to make adjustments.
9 – Tighten up your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket bolts again if they become loose when you were removing or reinstalling them earlier. You can tighten them with an adjustable wrench, socket wrench, or torque wrench to make sure that they are secure and won’t come loose while you’re riding your motorcycle.
10 – Use the motorcycle chain tension gauge on the motorcycle chain after you have tightened up the rear axle sprocket bolts to make sure that it has the correct amount of tension required by your owner’s manual or service manual.
11 – Tighten up your motorcycle chain adjuster bolts if needed, and then retighten them again with an adjustable wrench, socket wrench, or torque wrench. This is necessary if your motorcycle is equipped with a rear axle adjuster system.
12 – Ensure that your motorcycle chain has the same amount of slack as before. Otherwise, you may need to adjust your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket bolts all over again if they become loose during the initial adjustment process.
13 – Start your motorcycle after removing your motorcycle chain tension gauge so you can check everything is working properly before adjusting your motorcycle’s rear shock absorber and setting out some rubber!
The Importance of Regular Maintenance
It is not a good idea to ride your motorcycle for long periods of time while its chain is slack. It can cause excessive wear to your motorcycle’s rear axle sprocket, brake caliper bracket, and its chain.
To avoid this, you should make sure that your motorcycle’s chain is adjusted to the proper amount of slack when it needs an adjustment.
If you have a bad habit of riding your motorcycle for long periods of time with slack in its chain, then it would probably be best to have the proper tools and equipment on hand so that you can regularly maintain your motorcycle’s chain yourself.
Conclusion
A well-maintained bike will run smoothly and last for many years. If you don’t know how to adjust a motorcycle chain without a stand, it’s time to do some research!
An improperly maintained rear axle sprocket and brake caliper bracket can lead to premature wear and higher repair costs in the future. Hopefully, this article has provided you with useful information regarding motorcycle chain slack adjustment. Thanks for reading!