How do you tighten the chain on a single sided swingarm?

**Coyote** · 21st September 2007, 17:39

Originally Posted by riffer

Come over to my place and borrow my C-spanner Daniel. I'm home any time after 4.00 today.

Another time if that's ok, bit busy (already deviating enough being on KB). I'll PM you sometime, School holidays the next 2 weeks so I'll have time to tidy up the bike.

**merv** · 21st September 2007, 19:00

Originally Posted by Coyote

It does have a toolkit underneath the pillion seat with screwdriver, pliars, 17 and 19 mm spanners and some weird thing named R32.5, otherwise I see no spanners that'll fit the axle bolt (unless you use that R32.5 somehow)

Does the weird thing look like this http://www.hondaspares.com/newparts/...03150&mydep=99 because that is the C-spanner and you should have a tube handle to slip over it.

Don't touch any axle bolts.

As sAsLEX has said what you do have to do is loosen the bolt on the back of swing arm just in from where the sprocket is - they call it the bearing holder pinch bolt - you fit the handle onto the C-spanner and then use the C-spanner to rotate the big castle nut - you push the handle down to tighten the chain, upwards direction to loosen it. Simple as and no worries about keeping the wheel aligned. When you get your chain right, tighten the pinch bolt up.

**puddytat** · 21st September 2007, 23:37

Dunno if the swingarms exactly the same as on my Bros(rc30) , but tightening the chain on the singlesided Hondas is a bit of an art...from what Ive read on the net you should have a real fat bugger sit on it while you adjust it, as if you adjust it on its stand with no weight on it, then the swingarm is not at the longest point of its pivot arc,so that when its compressed under load (especially under harder cornering)it'll be too tight....
What Ive heard is that you crank the arse down so that if you put a string from the centre of the front sprocket thru the center of the swingarm bolt & thru to to centre of youre hub nut, then youre s/arm is at its longest point of the arc...& adjust youre chain to the right looking tension then. It'll look a bit sloppy when its on its stand (I always get folk saying my chains loose) but tightens up under load, & in the end I got an after market tensioner off the net.Im sure somewhere out there on the net there'll be "the" site for youre bike,I found out heaps 'bout me Bros as there are alot of folk out there who spend many hours & billions of dollars on these brilliant little Hondas.Good luck & give it shit!!

**Coyote** · 22nd September 2007, 09:45

Originally Posted by merv

Does the weird thing look like this http://www.hondaspares.com/newparts/...03150&mydep=99 because that is the C-spanner and you should have a tube handle to slip over it.

Don't touch any axle bolts.

As sAsLEX has said what you do have to do is loosen the bolt on the back of swing arm just in from where the sprocket is - they call it the bearing holder pinch bolt - you fit the handle onto the C-spanner and then use the C-spanner to rotate the big castle nut - you push the handle down to tighten the chain, upwards direction to loosen it. Simple as and no worries about keeping the wheel aligned. When you get your chain right, tighten the pinch bolt up.

That's the one. And I do have the metal sleeve

I'll give that a shot when I get the chance. Cheers

Originally Posted by puddytat

Dunno if the swingarms exactly the same as on my Bros(rc30) , but tightening the chain on the singlesided Hondas is a bit of an art...from what Ive read on the net you should have a real fat bugger sit on it while you adjust it, as if you adjust it on its stand with no weight on it, then the swingarm is not at the longest point of its pivot arc,so that when its compressed under load (especially under harder cornering)it'll be too tight....
What Ive heard is that you crank the arse down so that if you put a string from the centre of the front sprocket thru the center of the swingarm bolt & thru to to centre of youre hub nut, then youre s/arm is at its longest point of the arc...& adjust youre chain to the right looking tension then. It'll look a bit sloppy when its on its stand (I always get folk saying my chains loose) but tightens up under load, & in the end I got an after market tensioner off the net.Im sure somewhere out there on the net there'll be "the" site for youre bike,I found out heaps 'bout me Bros as there are alot of folk out there who spend many hours & billions of dollars on these brilliant little Hondas.Good luck & give it shit!!

All good, I understand some of this from my brother setting up his Motocross bike. I always have to sit on it when he tightens the chain (as I'm heavier than he is and the shock is set at his weight)

**merv** · 22nd September 2007, 09:49

Nah to puddytat if you've got a centrestand just do it on that and make sure you adjust the chain to the right tension which for my 750 is around 25mm slack and book says up to 40mm max. That still gives you plenty when the suspension is compressed and the guys at Honda know that when they specify the slack. Probably still the easiest adjustment there is in the biking world.

I gather the argument against single sided swingarms and this kind of eccentric adjustment is that it actually alters the axle position and hence ride height. For a git like me I'd never notice the difference for the small adjustments I've ever had to make.