Chain tension PITA

[grog]

Dumb question , good at them. If 14 was available chain or shaft drive, what would you choose. My old GS1000G was shaftie, never a problem. Not sure of my choice, chain never gives me much worry. Sure would give us less to post about. Just wondering.

[steve porter]

I'd go shaft, however these new fangled O/X ring jobbies are far, far better than the old ones I only have bad memories of, mines done 30 k now and reckon it might see 40

[steve porter]

Question for the brains trust, never having had one, what's the consensus on Scott oilers ? Or other auto oilers

[gsxbarmy]

Question for the brains trust, never having had one, what's the consensus on Scott oilers ? Or other auto oilers

I had the electronic Scott Oiler on my 14 - well worth the money and the nice thing about it was that you could alter the flow on the go, so if it started raining, you could slightly up th eoil flow. Plus being the electronic version, it didn't feed any oil through when stationary.

On mine it made quite a noticeable difference, chain needed much less adjustment, bike ran smoother - yes they are not cheap, but personally if I had a chain bike, I'd have one fitted every time.

[steve porter]

Sounds good, reckon I might get one

[Hooli]

Question for the brains trust, never having had one, what's the consensus on Scott oilers ? Or other auto oilers

I had the electronic Scott Oiler on my 14 - well worth the money and the nice thing about it was that you could alter the flow on the go, so if it started raining, you could slightly up th eoil flow. Plus being the electronic version, it didn't feed any oil through when stationary.

On mine it made quite a noticeable difference, chain needed much less adjustment, bike ran smoother - yes they are not cheap, but personally if I had a chain bike, I'd have one fitted every time.

I totally agree, they are brilliant if you do any decent mileages.

With the older vacuum ones the trick is to leave the damn thing alone. The people I've known who say the always need adjusting etc etc tweak them constantly, you need at least a 100miles between tweaks to decide if it's right or not. After a little while you'll just know how much to tweak it, the setting can be totally different to someone else's due to the pipe run etc.

Not much of that applies to the electronic version, as it's pumped so isn't affected by temp etc.

[Irish in Oz]

Dumb question , good at them. If 14 was available chain or shaft drive, what would you choose. My old GS1000G was shaftie, never a problem. Not sure of my choice, chain never gives me much worry. Sure would give us less to post about. Just wondering.

Shaft drive for me.

[Hooli]

I think I'd stick to chain, they aren't any hassle & the one shaftie I had (ST1100) felt odd as the rear used to rise under hard throttle.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Chain drive is better power transmission as its linear to the output drive shaft, i.e in the same plane.  But more maintenance due to being "open gearing"

Shaft drive is cleaner and quieter, but you need to counter the torque reaction from the drive  shaft running along the bike main axis (the imaginary line running front to back wheel).

Modern bike : shaft drive for me if properly sorted, e g BMW

GSX1402: quality x ring chain and forged steel sprockets for me

[numbskull]

Chain Monkey looks like a good idea, though maybe a little expensive: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chain-Monkey-Unisexs-Motorcycle-Setting/dp/B015YD9WJW

[Hooli]

Chain Monkey looks like a good idea, though maybe a little expensive: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chain-Monkey-Unisexs-Motorcycle-Setting/dp/B015YD9WJW

I can't see the point in that sort of thing.

Chain tension is given as a range of acceptable adjustment, it's not a precise measurement so doesn't need to be repeated exactly.

[DP1400]

Adjust your chain with the bike sitting on its side stand.
Adjust to +/-25mm play at the centre point of the bottom run of the chain.

After adjusting, if you feel tight spots while riding or when the bike is on its mainstand or paddock stand and manually rotating the wheel - replace it. Otherwise, it`ll wear sprockets big time.

Always err on the side of slack rather than tight.

Unusual to say the least, if your chain tension is causing you to stall the bike.....never known that

[steve porter]

A rear paddock stand is the way to go if you have one as it's easier to check for tight spots pre and post without being a contortionist

[Kiwifruit]

Had a shaft drive XJ750 so smooth, loved it. Shaft drive might behave differently with the 14's torque....... but would be my preference.

[Irish in Oz]

With a shaft drive you dont have to do any of that shite or clean it off the back wheel, I I've done plenty of miles on both.