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Old Yesterday, 09:28 PM   #1
Hawks & Turkeys   Hawks & Turkeys is offline
 
Join Date: May 2024
Location: US Gulf Coast
Posts: 28
Nothing is as easy as it looks in the video



Hey my 2024 Hawk (with carb) is at 500 miles and my chain has stretched to the point that its pretty loose. Like probably not safe loose. So here I go, watching videos on chain tightening, ordering 17 and 19mm heavy duty sockets to work the axle bolt and nut, and...that damn axle bolt did not want to come loose. It had to be sealed up with Loctite. They may as well have used cement.

Ok, so after beating the socket wrench with a hammer (sorry - its the military guy in me) I get the axle nut loose and loosen the adjusting nuts on the swing arms. And I'm following the advice in the videos to set a tape measure alongside the chain and doing my best to line up the wheel with the measuring lines and keeping everything in alignment, and doing my best to pull the wheel back to tighten the chain to just the right tension and gently tighten the adjusting nuts...

And every time I tighten the axle bolt, it rides back on itself and tightens the chain to some impossibly tight tension.

It took a Google search and one obscure video to learn about the tension of tightening the rear wheel axle. Some videos recommended tightening the tension nuts in the swing arms first. Another video recommended tightening the axle bolt first, then adjusting the swing arm adjusters.

Well, I finally got it - I found a tension I could live with that wasn't super tight. I never did find the recommended tension of an inch and 1/4, but I found a tension that wasn't crazy tight and didn't look like it would snap the chain (there's videos of chain snaps out there. They don't look like something I want to have happen).

And guess what - I just completed the chain adjustment yesterday and took the bike for a gentle ride around the area to test it. And when I got back home after riding like a mile? The chain had already stretched out to: about an inch and a quarter. Go figure.

I'm out.


 
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Old Yesterday, 09:35 PM   #2
tknj99   tknj99 is online now
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Central VA
Posts: 1,301
buy a quality chain off Amazon/Ebay, ideally o-ring or x-ring (even better) and you wont have nearly as much stretching going on
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2024 Templar 250
2021 Beta 500 RRS
2018 VStrom 1000 XT

Former China Bikes: Tao DBX1, Brozz 250, CSC RX4, Titan DLX, Templar X, Storm DLX 150


 
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Old Today, 06:24 AM   #3
bigdano711   bigdano711 is online now
 
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Join Date: Jun 2023
Location: Big Piney, WY
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You watched the wrong video.


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2023 Hawk 250 from XPRO off of Amazon
MOUNTAIN MAN RC + MOTO on YouTube

"If there were more bloody noses, there would be less wars." - Hagbard Celine

John 2:15 So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.


 
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Old Today, 07:10 AM   #4
Crossbar   Crossbar is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2024
Posts: 82
I'll find on my Templar that the tension will change depending upon the rotational position of the sprockets. It may seem loose at first but, when rotating the wheel, the tension changes in certain spots. Not sure why it does that, sprockets seem clean, no binding links in chain, sprockets don't seem out of round... Just something to keep in mind.


 
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Old Today, 07:50 AM   #5
bigdano711   bigdano711 is online now
 
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Join Date: Jun 2023
Location: Big Piney, WY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Crossbar View Post
I'll find on my Templar that the tension will change depending upon the rotational position of the sprockets. It may seem loose at first but, when rotating the wheel, the tension changes in certain spots. Not sure why it does that, sprockets seem clean, no binding links in chain, sprockets don't seem out of round... Just something to keep in mind.
Replace your chain.
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2023 Hawk 250 from XPRO off of Amazon
MOUNTAIN MAN RC + MOTO on YouTube

"If there were more bloody noses, there would be less wars." - Hagbard Celine

John 2:15 So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.


 
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