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EDIT: What I really want to know is if the chain slack should be measured with the bike on the centerstand, or with the bike on the side stand. Because the tension is higher with the bike resting on the side stand.
Chain slack...I've always measured in on the dual sports as follows: Put tape measure from the ground vertically so that it goes up past the side of the lower part of the chain, in the middle (between the front and rear sprocket centers), push the chain down from the resting point as far as it will go (with some force but not excessive force), measure where it is at that point, then pull the chain up as far as it will go, and measure. The difference between those two extreme points of travel is your chain slack, correct? Every other post on various internet forums swears that it is done either this way or the other way (starting from resting point and measuring how far up it goes only). I thought my method was correct; it makes sense to me. However when I measure it like this on my Ninja with it sitting on the center stand (as it says to do in the factory service manual - the other one doesn't f'ing say either way...which needless to say pisses me off a bit...), it tightens up a bit when you put the bike back to normal resting position on the kick stand. And then the chain seems too tight to me, like about 1 inch of slack, as per my measuring method. Does this sound too tight for a Ninja 500? From what I've read from a few sources, it seems like it should be fine. But to me it just FEELS too tight, like being that tight could cause problems...?
Chain slack...I've always measured in on the dual sports as follows: Put tape measure from the ground vertically so that it goes up past the side of the lower part of the chain, in the middle (between the front and rear sprocket centers), push the chain down from the resting point as far as it will go (with some force but not excessive force), measure where it is at that point, then pull the chain up as far as it will go, and measure. The difference between those two extreme points of travel is your chain slack, correct? Every other post on various internet forums swears that it is done either this way or the other way (starting from resting point and measuring how far up it goes only). I thought my method was correct; it makes sense to me. However when I measure it like this on my Ninja with it sitting on the center stand (as it says to do in the factory service manual - the other one doesn't f'ing say either way...which needless to say pisses me off a bit...), it tightens up a bit when you put the bike back to normal resting position on the kick stand. And then the chain seems too tight to me, like about 1 inch of slack, as per my measuring method. Does this sound too tight for a Ninja 500? From what I've read from a few sources, it seems like it should be fine. But to me it just FEELS too tight, like being that tight could cause problems...?