A couple of questions:

a)I've had bad luck in the past adjusting my chain (Honda Shadow VT600).
The difficulty I had is that when retightening the rear axle bolt, the axle
tends to shift (away for the little adjustable stops on the swingarm that
help you get left-right symmetry).

Is there any trick to preventing this? I'm assuming I'd want to restrain
the rear axle somehow -- what is the best way?

b)After I'm done, I'm assuming I'd want to retighten those little stops
against the axle with a small amount of snugness? Am I right? How tight
for them and the locking nuts? Any special tricks?

Thanks.
--
David T. Ashley (dta@e3ft.com)
http://www.e3ft.com (Consulting Home Page)
http://www.dtashley.com (Personal Home Page)
http://gpl.e3ft.com (GPL Publications and Projects)

On Feb 29, 11:32*pm, "David T. Ashley" <d...@e3ft.com> wrote:
> A couple of questions:
>
> a)I've had bad luck in the past adjusting my chain (Honda Shadow VT600).
> The difficulty I had is that when retightening the rear axle bolt, the axle
> tends to shift (away for the little adjustable stops on the swingarm that
> help you get left-right symmetry).
>
> Is there any trick to preventing this? *I'm assuming I'd want to restrain
> the rear axle somehow -- what is the best way?

Bring the axle nut up snug before making the final adjustment.

> b)After I'm done, I'm assuming I'd want to retighten those little stops
> against the axle with a small amount of snugness? *Am I right? *How tight
> for them and the locking nuts? *Any special tricks?

Tighten till you feel it give then back off 1/8 turn. Seriously the
adjusters shouldn't need any additional tightening if you snuged the
axle nut before making the final adjustment. Tighten the lock nut
enough so it doesn't come loose. Doesn't need to be super tight. If
you want something more precise look up the torque spec and then do
the math to figure the force for the length wrench you have. It
doesn't need to be all that precise.

> Thanks.
> --
> David T. Ashley * * * * * * *(d...@e3ft.com)http://www.e3ft.com* * * * *(Consulting Home Page)http://www.dtashley.com* * *(Personal Home Page)http://gpl.e3ft.com* * * * *(GPL Publications and Projects)

Bruce Richmond wrote:
> On Feb 29, 11:32 pm, "David T. Ashley" <d...@e3ft.com> wrote:
>> A couple of questions:
>>
>> a)I've had bad luck in the past adjusting my chain (Honda Shadow VT600).
>> The difficulty I had is that when retightening the rear axle bolt, the axle
>> tends to shift (away for the little adjustable stops on the swingarm that
>> help you get left-right symmetry).
>>
>> Is there any trick to preventing this? I'm assuming I'd want to restrain
>> the rear axle somehow -- what is the best way?
>
> Bring the axle nut up snug before making the final adjustment.

Also, you can kick the rear wheel forward while sitting behind
the bike to make sure the axle is all the way tight against the
adjusters.

--
'01 SV650S '99 EX250-F13 '98 ZG1000-A13
OMF #7

In article <BNidnWHqbcAmQVXanZ2dnUVZ_v2pnZ2d@giganews.com>,
"David T. Ashley" <dta@e3ft.com> wrote:

> A couple of questions:
>
> a)I've had bad luck in the past adjusting my chain (Honda Shadow VT600).
> The difficulty I had is that when retightening the rear axle bolt, the axle
> tends to shift (away for the little adjustable stops on the swingarm that
> help you get left-right symmetry).
>
> Is there any trick to preventing this? I'm assuming I'd want to restrain
> the rear axle somehow -- what is the best way?
>
> b)After I'm done, I'm assuming I'd want to retighten those little stops
> against the axle with a small amount of snugness? Am I right? How tight
> for them and the locking nuts? Any special tricks?
>
> Thanks.
> --
> David T. Ashley

My pal Glen Galimore at the local Honda place taught me this one.

Once the chain tension is set to your liking on both sides, insert a
medium to large (disposable/damageable/indestructible) screwdriver
between the chain and sprocket where they meet at the top or bottom and
rotate the wheel until the shaft of the driver is caught between them 45
degrees into the rotation.

Chain tension should now be increased, the axle will be pulled tight
against the adjusters on both sides, and you can tighten the axle
without losing the adjustment.

Once the axle is torqued down (30-35 ft-lb usually), rotate the wheel
back the other way and release the screwdriver.

If you have adjusters with locking nuts, bring them in snug against the
stops enough to keep them from loosening. Torquing them heavily isn't
necessary or recommended (you're supposed to be able to do this on the
side of the road with the on-board tool kit).

That help?

Mike G.
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