buckybuk Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I noticed I have a tight spot in my chain..... I adjusted my chain about an 1 & 1/4 inch play on the center stand. When Sitting on the bike most my weight on it I have about 1/2 inch play as I move the bike that 1/2 inch turns into snug. My Yam mechanic says that's very common. To just adjust the chain from the "tight" point......Do I need to worry ?.........That seem right to u guys ? 2016 R1 2015 FJ-09-------SOLD 2002 Wr250F 2014 Concours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckybuk Posted July 2, 2015 Author Share Posted July 2, 2015 Anyone ? I planning a trip this weekend and don't want to kill myself on the way. 2016 R1 2015 FJ-09-------SOLD 2002 Wr250F 2014 Concours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toast Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Every chain will have a tight spot, when adjusting the chain you are supposed to tighten to spec on the tightest spot. I would adjust the chain so that it was .8 inches on the tight spot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fj09wildman Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Every chain will have a tight spot, when adjusting the chain you are supposed to tighten to spec on the tightest spot. I would adjust the chain so that it was .8 inches on the tight spot...Toast, I agree to some extent, but it's a very slight tolerance thing that is hardly noticeable with a chain that's well within spec. It becomes more noticeable with stretch and sprocket wear. The rear wheel should spin freely and not be slowed by the developed tight spot or take the looser part of the chain to far out of specification limits. I guess I should have posted this sooner. My chain has also developed a tight spot. I noticed some rolling noise and could feel the tight spot, so I adjusted accordingly like you suggested, kinda split the difference. Bucky didn't mention mileage or his lube/adjustment schedule. I noticed mine started about 10K mi.s. and a lot of those are trip miles of 200 to 1000 mile one ways, along with my 40 mile round trip daily commute. I religiously clean and lube my chain about every 500 mi.s and adjust when necessary even on the road. I now have 13.8K on mine and have noticed the rear sprocket has started to wear. Need to check the front. I am a pretty aggressive rider so I expect this kind of stuff to wear out sooner. But I also have a 130 hp 540 lb. ZRX1100 Kawasaki, that I ride just as hard and it's aftermarket EK 530 chain and good steel sprockets lasted approximately 20K with very little tight spot until towards it's end of life due to stretch and sprocket wear. I measured my chain stretch and it's still in spec. at 238 mm. So that's close to the 239.3 limit showing the chain is done. I think the problem is that most all stock Japanese chains and sprockets are mid grade parts and Yamaha may have went a little too light on the chain tensile strength and hardness for the sprockets on our 100 hp bike. Thus we get a less expensive, buy in, on a great bike. Never did like Japanese DAIDO chains anyway, so I buy a good aftermarket chain of a higher tensile strength because to me it is a pain in the butt to replace a chain and sprockets. Sprocket wear can also be a big contributor to the chain tight spot problem. So I think it's a combination of both, most of the time. That's why it's recommended to always change both chain and sprocket at the same time because they wear in & out together. Sprockets may not look that bad to the eye but like with my oil changes, I always change both oil and filter. Bucky look up the spec.s and do the numbers and inspect your sprockets for signs of wear. Mine is what I consider worn out. So now I check it about every other ride and lube and adjust more often. Like my tires I use them till the wear bars are gone, which is to me, end of it's specified life and then I replace them. Just have to be careful and lighten up on components that are close to end of it's spec. life. Steve Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckybuk Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Every chain will have a tight spot, when adjusting the chain you are supposed to tighten to spec on the tightest spot. I would adjust the chain so that it was .8 inches on the tight spot...Toast, I agree to some extent, but it's a very slight tolerance thing that is hardly noticeable with a chain that's well within spec. It becomes more noticeable with stretch and sprocket wear. The rear wheel should spin freely and not be slowed by the developed tight spot or take the looser part of the chain to far out of specification limits. I guess I should have posted this sooner. My chain has also developed a tight spot. I noticed some rolling noise and could feel the tight spot, so I adjusted accordingly like you suggested, kinda split the difference. Bucky didn't mention mileage or his lube/adjustment schedule. I noticed mine started about 10K mi.s. and a lot of those are trip miles of 200 to 1000 mile one ways, along with my 40 mile round trip daily commute. I religiously clean and lube my chain about every 500 mi.s and adjust when necessary even on the road. I now have 13.8K on mine and have noticed the rear sprocket has started to wear. Need to check the front. I am a pretty aggressive rider so I expect this kind of stuff to wear out sooner. But I also have a 130 hp 540 lb. ZRX1100 Kawasaki, that I ride just as hard and it's aftermarket EK 530 chain and good steel sprockets lasted approximately 20K with very little tight spot until towards it's end of life due to stretch and sprocket wear. I measured my chain stretch and it's still in spec. at 238 mm. So that's close to the 239.3 limit showing the chain is done. I think the problem is that most all stock Japanese chains and sprockets are mid grade parts and Yamaha may have went a little too light on the chain tensile strength and hardness for the sprockets on our 100 hp bike. Thus we get a less expensive, buy in, on a great bike. Never did like Japanese DAIDO chains anyway, so I buy a good aftermarket chain of a higher tensile strength because to me it is a pain in the butt to replace a chain and sprockets. Sprocket wear can also be a big contributor to the chain tight spot problem. So I think it's a combination of both, most of the time. That's why it's recommended to always change both chain and sprocket at the same time because they wear in & out together. Sprockets may not look that bad to the eye but like with my oil changes, I always change both oil and filter. Bucky look up the spec.s and do the numbers and inspect your sprockets for signs of wear. Mine is what I consider worn out. So now I check it about every other ride and lube and adjust more often. Like my tires I use them till the wear bars are gone, which is to me, end of it's specified life and then I replace them. Just have to be careful and lighten up on components that are close to end of it's spec. life. Steve Thanks Steve....... I have since replaced the chain with DID Xring... I had an 1 1/4 inch tight spot in my chain. Actually I can say it was all my fault to begin with as I took my bike to car wash and sprayed the chain down to help get grime off. Even though I lubed it down good after I'm thinking I blew out all the lube within the o rings. I'm hoping that is what caused my tight spot. I will know within the next 3k miles. New chain on this baby ! It sure feels nice. 2016 R1 2015 FJ-09-------SOLD 2002 Wr250F 2014 Concours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fj09wildman Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Bucky, I just ordered a new EK MVXZ chain and JT steel sprockets from my guy Dave on the ZRXOA board. Cost came to $170.00 + Master Link + shipping. I'm guessing around $200.00 total. I like to replace mine as a set. What I like about EK chains is it comes with standard press type master link and they have a unique master link that has screw/nut pin/post which I ordered on the side. This eliminates the chance of over pressing tightness on the master link pins. Really slick. I've used this set up on my ZRX with good results. Glad you got it back on the road. Any skinny on the replacement? This will be my first time on the FJ. Any info about problems and short cuts is appreciated. I have a Factory Manual but those guys will have you going to 10 different sections and removing a lot unnecessary stuff. I was just looking a the maintenance chart and they say check plugs every 4K and replace every 8K. Opps, I got 13,800 mi.s on mine and haven't even checked them. I'm use to non FI bikes. Plug trouble was kinda felt through the performance of the bike. FI and new ECU's compensate for everything, so I guess if you wait to long it fails or kicks out an error code. I wonder if it's like the Throttle Body sync maintenance schedule, they say every 4K mi.s, my guy at the Yamaha shop said after he checked mine and cost me $125. He's never seen one go out sync and just wait for the performance to go down or error code. The tool to check it cost a couple grand. I wonder if there is any data from the gang here on this stuff. How well the stock plugs hold up? Guess I'll have to get off my butt and do the search thing again. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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