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Chain Slack Measurement

7K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  lexluther 
#1 ·
Greetings to All!!
It's been a while since I posted here. I've been enjoying my '04 Ninja 250. I've been doing ALL of the maintenance mysefl (valve adjustment/
carb sync/ oil change). Today I decided to check and adjust my chain.
It looked like there was an excessive amount of slack in the chain, so I followed the procedure and made the chain tighter. Now, I'm wondering if i'm measuring properly.
The owner's manual shows where to measure, and says that a slack of 1.4 to 1.6 inches is acceptable. It also shows a picture of a chain with a parallel line drawn in above the chain and another parallel line drawn in below the chain (which represents the measurement window??). My question:
When pushing up/down on my chain, should it ALL remain within this "window"
(top of chain not going above/bottom of chain not going below), or when pushing up/down on the chain, should the bottom of the chain not go above the top line/ top of the chain not go below the bottom line?
Sorry if this seems confusing!
 
#3 ·
ok
1. put the bike on the kick stand after rolling it FORWARD a bit (puts the slack at the TOP of the chain)
1a. rotate the wheel till you find the TIGHTEST SPOT that is where you set the slack
2. grab a tape measure and measure to a point on the chain from the middle/top of the swing arm (midway between the sprockets)
3. pull chain UP and hold
4. read measurement to the same point you started at (first measurement)
5. that final measurment should be in your spec from the book.
 
#5 ·
Let me elaborate on QKENUF4U's response because I didn't understand this at first. If you measure at the bottom of the chain when the chain is pushed down, then you should measure at the bottom of the chain when it's pushed up. In other words, whatever part of the chain (top, bottom, pin) you measure when the chain is pushed down, that is the same point you would measure when the chain is pushed up. HTH
 
#7 ·
Ninja 250 timing chain adjust

Is my timing chain self adjusting or will I have to adjust it myself?.. I have adjusted Bayou wheelers, and installed also... is the process similar? My engine runs like a top, but is noisy, doesnt sound much like a crotch rocket. aly help would be appreciated.
 
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