Chain Adjustment woes

[NewMon]

So, I decided to adjust the chain to take up a little of the slack. This is the original chain with 14K miles on. Did the deed and started to tighten the wheel nuts when the adjustment indicator plates (?) just bent and twisted round with the nut. Usual Italian cheese I suppose. However, this made it very difficult to continue. I hammered out the lips and tried to tighten. Everything seemed ok by eye but running on idle caused the chain to jump and catch.

Question is, did the chain snatch and jump because the bike was up on the paddock stand or because I had it too loose/tight. As I said, it all looked good and straight.

Also, can anyone recommend a good replacement for the adjustment plates (for what they are worth) or are some washers just as useful.

[uksurfer]

my bike use to snatch on the stand, i think it because theres no weight on it :scratch:

[dunlop0_1]

I have seen s/steel plates on fleabay. They can start to twist if over tightened. At 14k I would say the chain is goosed and poss the sprockets. How many tight/slack spots are there in the chain? and if you go to approx 3 oclock position on the rear sprocket how far can you pull the chain away from the teeth.

[NewMon]

I'll check on that when I get the chance later this week. I was thinking of changing the chain but I need to get those plates sorted anyway.

[crust]

you'll be wanting a pair of these, or the ones appropriate to your particular rear spindle.

top stuff and a very helpfull guy to boot

http://corsair-industries.com/parts/Ducati%20Billet%20Parts/Ducati%20Axle%20Adjusting%20Plate%2017mm%20Steel/

:) crust

[BluprintZ]

I fitted a thin washer between the spindle nuts and adjusters, that seemed to do the trick ok.
The alloy ones look good, i would probably have bought some of those if i still had the Monster...sob!

G ; )

[snakey]

[QUOTE=dunlop0_1;330645] At 14k I would say the chain is goosed and poss the sprockets.

28000 on original chain and sprockets , scott oiler fitted !

[NewMon]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I have inspected the chain and sprockets again and I have to say they look just fine and dandy - I have a scottoiler. I have ordered some of those alloy plates as the existing ones are pretty much trash. I am going to properly adjust the chain again at the weekend. I think the skipping was caused by the swing arm being off the ground so I will test (carefully) on the road this time after checking for tension and tight spots manually.

Wish me luck.

[pharaoh]

I looked at the CNC adjusters, but they are a bit pricey.

In the end I bought two stainless washers from 'Stig Fasteners' (54mm OD, 18mm ID, 3.6mm thick) . These are slightly large on the Inside Diameter, but do the job just fine.

There is of course no adjustment marks visible on the swing arm now, but you should never rely on these marks anyway. A straight egde from one sprocket to the other, or one from front to back wheel is the only way to adjust properly! :thumbsup:

[utopia]

I pretty much agree with that, with one slight exception.......
As the spindle nut is tightened, the washer can slip and turn on the swingarm. This could chew your paint, and might become significant over a longer period.
I quite like George's trick of simply adding a plain washer on top of the plates.
Another thing which might help is greasing the mating faces of the nut/washer/plate, so that the nut is free to turn when its tightened, rather than grabbing the plate/washer and trying to twist that. Similary, a generous lubing before undoing the spindle may help.