CB500 - chains lost tension....

[Ninereeds]

someone more experienced than me can feel free to correct this, however this is how i tighten my chain (cbf500)

~put your bike up on the centre stand

~as you look at the bike from behind, loosen off the nut on the right hand side of the axle (the side with the brake caliper) dont take it off, just loosen it. as far as i know, it should be a 27mm socket job.

~now there should be two small threaded bolts sticking out the rear of the swingarm each side, with 2 nuts on (a 14 and a 12mm)

~place a spanner on each nut (on one side) and loosen the nut nearest to you off (furthest to the rear of the bike) repeat this on the other side

~you're now ready to add tension to the chain.

~place the spanner (think its the 14mm) on the nut nearest the swingarm. tighten it (clockwise) and count how many flats of the nut you go through! depending on how slack your chain is, it wont need much! so do 2 flats on the right, stop, then turn 2 flats on the left, this is to keep the wheel straight in the bike. start doing 1 flat each side once you get close to the right tension.

~every time you tighten both nuts, check the chain tension (it should have somewhere around 30mm of free play up and down - check your owners manual for actual figure)

~spin the wheel round and check tension again - this is to check that you arent adjusting it on a tight spot so even thought it has the right play where you had it, as soon as you turn the wheel it could go up to 50mm of play because of a tight spot in the drivechain.

~once youve got the right play more or less evenly through the chain, tighten the locking nuts back up. get both spanners on each nut one side again, make sure the nut at the back doesnt turn as you tighten the nut at the front tight up against it. doesnt have to be insanely tight, but make sure its snug so that it has nowehere to go. repeat on the other side.

~Ideally you should have a torque wrench for the final step - you can pick them up from halfords or amazon but they're a VERY important tool for bike mechanicing!

~tighten up the axle nut to the correct torque.

all done! you should notice a huge difference in how the bike rides once the chains been tensioned properly. gear changes are so much smoother!

hope that helps for future and saves you 6 quid!

[KD79]

Thanks for that ninereeds will come in handy when I do it myself