Phooey Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Ok so there I was reading my Haynes manual for fun ... hay, the missus reads 50 shades, I read the Haynes! Anyway, I was looking at routine maintenance and in the section for adjusting the chain I saw that the first step after placing bike on centre stand was loosen both torque link nuts Now, I have adjusted my chain four or five times since buying the bike but I have never loosened these nuts. I am wondering;1 ... what effect this has on chain adjustment and 2 ... is there the slightest possibility that this may be the solution to my brand new chain and sprocket set having that crazy tight spot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzie Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Isn't the torque arm attached to the rear brake caliper mount?The torque arm is firstly there to help eliminate brake dive or in the back wheels case, stop it moving up increasing the tendency to skid. And also stabilise the bike under hard acceleration and deceleration. They've mostly been done away with as suspension is now more advanced and can do the job itself.When you undo it, all you really do is make the bike more floppy when ridden.The best thing to do is follow the haynes, loosen the chain right off AFTER you loosen the torque arm. Then reset the chain and then torque up the arm again so it's right. See what the result is.I wouldn't have thought it would throw off the alignment but you never know! Sounds like you have a bit of a duff chain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 The torque arm is purely there to stop the caliper moving and nothing to do with suspension travel Tightening the rear axle bolt is not enough to hold the caliper steady when braking There is many new and old bikes that don't have them due to the way the caliper and mount is designed You have to loosen the bolts to allow easy movement of the carrier/caliper when adjusting the chain and so you adjust the wheel evenly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phooey Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Oh thanks guys. Maybe I should loosen it next time I do a chain adjustment then. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzie Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 The torque arm is purely there to stop the caliper moving and nothing to do with suspension travel I know it doesn't affect suspension travel, but when I rebuilt an old FZR600 the mechanic I was helping said it holds the caliper, and also as the caliper mount is on the axle it adds more support to the swingarm and stops the axle trying to rise or squat with the torsional affect on the axle during acceleration/deceleration and that's why it's called torque arm?Otherwise wouldn't it be called "caliper mount" like all bikes without them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Otherwise wouldn't it be called "caliper mount" like all bikes without them? why would it be called a caliper mount when the caliper doesn't mount to it? there is a lot that dont even tighten up at the swingarm mount as the bolt is designed not to! the TL was like this as was my gsxr600 and zxr400 as I said its purely there to stop the caliper/caliper mount from moving how is the torque arm going to stop the axle from rising/twisting or generally moving? the support is in the totally wrong place for that your axle spacers stop the axle moving forward just take a look at the design your axle adjuster blocks stop the axle moving up/down again look at the design there is very little movement in the axle but there has to be some flex otherwise it would just shear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzie Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Not mount, but certainly I'd expect it to be called a support.It creates a triangle, or on BMW's a parallelogram which is a stronger structure easy to build onto a bike. And with the caliper mount usually on the inside of the swingarm on the axle it does seem to make sense. Mainly as where the axle passes through spacers it has added protection from flex, as well as where it passes through the wheel and wheel bearings. It would be a weak point without a support as the caliper would weigh down on it, and with the braking force directly above making the wheel want to move upwards on this point it seems to fit in my mind that you'd get additional flex there.So I think you're right in it being a caliper support, but I think it also stops the braking forces from being able to do anything to the axle.You find torque arms on a lot of cars, which are usually used for the same reason, and they're even on the massive gas/diesel generators some of our on land sites use at work.After I was told what I was told about the FZR, figured it was the same throughout bikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 it is just a support and thats all it is why its adopted the name of a torque arm I will never know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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