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Yamaha's Chain Slack Specification


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After reading the thread on whining, I had the chain slack set to 25 mm on the center stand. This made no noticeable difference in the whine which I hear at a variety of speeds. Is there any consensus on increasing the slack to 30 mm as a solution?
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My FJ whines between 45-70mph (increasing in frequency) but only if I'm on the gas. Nature of the beast. Is yours whining even with the clutch pulled in at speed? I wouldn't think going from 25mm to 30mm would make much of a difference.
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After reading the thread on whining, I had the chain slack set to 25 mm on the center stand. This made no noticeable difference in the whine which I hear at a variety of speeds. Is there any consensus on increasing the slack to 30 mm as a solution?
Your best bet is to disconnect rear shock mount and move the swing arm up/down by hand where the rear axle moves through the line drawn by center of front pulley and swing arm pivot bolts.  If you have some chain slack at that point and still get gear whine, the chain tension is not the problem. 
How many miles on the bike?  An over-tightened chain may have already caused damage to tranny.
 
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I have 2800 miles on the clock.  All service and adjustment has been made by the dealer.  I just upgraded the front forks and rear shock with products supplied by Traxxion Dynamics, a supporting vendor.  At that time the chain was adjusted to 25mm slack.
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I have 13K on the clock, and had some misfortune with flat on a new tire. Getting that replaced, my buddy(who does the work) told me that my chain has worn out and the front sprocket is almost polished(sic).
 
This is very unusual for me. I usually do my first sprockets and chain swap at 20K on my bikes. I do lube the chain after every wet ride and also weekly that is about 500 miles for me. The chain slack is 'not tight' but not loose either, have never really measured it. Could be the culprit right there in that I was causing some extra wear with winging it. But I didn't have much of a whining noise or anything. Then couple of weeks ago, putting the bike on the stand and spinning the rear while spraying the chain, I could here 'grrnnnk....grrrnnnnk' noise. On a different bike, similar noise ended up being gunk built up on the front sprocket - my fault with using a very sticky lube that was accumulating everything!
 
Anyways, I am replacing chain and sprockets as well at 13K :o. I am just wondering what I should be doing different with the new chain to avoid this quick wear.
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I have 13K on the clock, and had some misfortune with flat on a new tire. Getting that replaced, my buddy(who does the work) told me that my chain has worn out and the front sprocket is almost polished(sic). 
This is very unusual for me. I usually do my first sprockets and chain swap at 20K on my bikes.
13K miles? I go through chains on most of my bikes in 20K km, so 12K miles.
 
FJ-09, 690 Enduro R.
Back Roads. Period.
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33k (miles NOT kms) from my TDM900 (and probably could have been good for another 5k). During that time I made slight adjustments just three times.
 
That includes 3 winters, wet weather riding, salt and grit on the roads and no chicken strips on the tyres. No off road
 
Secret is to have a scottoiler (or similar - I have an electric chain oiler on the Tracer) and use enough lube to keep a slippery surface on the chain, and of thin enough viscosity so that grit just gets chucked off and can't stick at all at all.
 
Thick lube and grit equals grinding paste!
 
 
Honda SS50, Kawasaki Z200, Honda 400/4, Yamaha TDM900, Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, KTM 990 Adventure, BMW R1200GS, Mr Stevens, and my favourite of all: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer...a bit like FJ-09 only properly named :¬P
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That includes 3 winters, wet weather riding, salt and grit on the roads and no chicken strips on the tyres. No off road
 

You are probably right. I did ride through all winter on the FJ, but with regular chain care. Apparently not enough in this case, or it just happened to be unusually mushy and salty this winter. Though on past bikes, I have done similar...eh who knows.  
A constant chain oiler is an option like you said. Thats one more thing to keep of track off...even though the idea is turn on and forget.
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When visiting my dealer earlier today to get the handlebars straightened ( tilted to the right, like many others ), I asked about the chain.  He checked it and stated it was way too tight.  He indicated that you should be lightly moving to check the sag ( not forcing it ) and he said it was set with, essentially, zero sag.   I know the guy and I suspect he didn't setup the bike and it was set with the "stock" sag.
 
I came home and slowly loosened it, 2 "sides" at a time, until the noise went away.  That was 8 sides. Incredibly easy on this bike with the center stand and no nut cotter pin to replace every time.  That left me with about an inch and a half ( approximately 35-40mm ) of slack.  For full disclosure here, I am about 230lbs with full gear and bags and I've adjusted the suspension ( the best I can ) accordingly.  Now there is no noise and the rear seems a lot looser and smoother.  The sixth gear whine at 50mph is significantly less noticeable. 
 
I've decided I will live with the risk of burning off the plastic swingarm guard ( BTW, at rest the chain isn't even close to touching it ) rather than deal with a new chain/sprockets and any potential strain on the drivetrain.  Better loose than tight, as everyone says. 
 
I still plan on doing my usual setup for this ( once I get some new tie-down straps ) even if it is to confirm this setting.  For those that are on the fence, try it, it will transform the bike and, worse case, you move it back to "stock" if you are worried about warranty stuff.  It's easy to set.
 
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When you think about it, this really has to be the most absurd thread on this forum.  For something this fundamental, should it be causing so much consternation to users??
 
[ul type=disc][*]I've got my Yam Dealer saying Yamaha are correct, and the chain loosens under compression
 
[*]Other Yam Dealers (According to this thread, as I understand it) saying it's too tight
 
[span style=background-color:transparent][/span][*][span style=background-color:transparent]I've got the laws of Geometry and mathematics that prove it needs to be slacker
 
[/span][*]Another forum user saying that the chain slackens under compression
 
[*]Conflicting and other views from Forum members
 
[*]And Yamaha neither confirming or denying other than through dealers (see comments 1 and 2)
[/ul]
 
 
 
 
 
 
HOW HARD CAN THIS BE TO RESOLVE and TIDY AWAY.  Its insane!!
Honda SS50, Kawasaki Z200, Honda 400/4, Yamaha TDM900, Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, KTM 990 Adventure, BMW R1200GS, Mr Stevens, and my favourite of all: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer...a bit like FJ-09 only properly named :¬P
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The difference in opinion is between those who have taken the shock off to check chain tension and clearance as they move the swing arm through its range of travel and those who haven't. Those who have seen many errors in factory recommendations over the years, and those who believe what they read and never verify it for themselves.
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I agree, and I pose that not for myself - It can be calculated using basic maths (Pythagoras) without need to take things apart. I concluded 25-30mm would be sensible.
 
I didn't need to do that BTW, 25mm is what I had set it to by experience and feel, it was just anorak behaviour.
 
But so many are just happy to be sheeple and follow blindly...including my local Yam dealer.
 
I just hate standing by and watching bikes get knackered for no real reason.
Honda SS50, Kawasaki Z200, Honda 400/4, Yamaha TDM900, Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, KTM 990 Adventure, BMW R1200GS, Mr Stevens, and my favourite of all: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer...a bit like FJ-09 only properly named :¬P
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  • 3 weeks later...
I took my shock off because I am still working on setting up aftermarket suspension. I adjusted chain tension with the shock off and rear axle in line with the center of front pulley and swing arm pivot bolt, simply making sure there was a minimum slack in the chain where the chain is tightest. With the shock back on, and resting on the kickstand, 25 mm chain slack is about the minimum. So chain slack should be 25 mm or more. I also put the transmission in gear and rolled the bike backwards to make sure all the slack was in the bottom run of the chain.
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