Alright, spent some time with my old Suzuki today. Task number two on my list, just some basic stuff really.
I noticed the drive chain was looking pretty loose the other day. You could see it sagging way more than it should. Not good, makes for jerky riding and wears things out faster. So, decided it was time to sort it out.
First thing, I wrestled the bike up onto its center stand. Makes life way easier when the back wheel can spin freely. Then I dug out the tools I thought I’d need. You know, the usual suspects: big socket wrench for the main axle nut, couple of smaller wrenches for the adjuster bolts, and a rag because, let’s face it, chains are messy business.
Getting Started
Okay, so I found the big nut on the rear axle. Sometimes that thing is really stuck on there, but today it wasn’t too bad. Gave it a good turn to loosen it up, just enough so the wheel could shift a bit. Didn’t take it all the way off, obviously.
Then, the fiddly part. At the back end of the swingarm, there are these little adjuster bolts, one on each side. These push the wheel back to tighten the chain. The trick is getting both sides adjusted the same amount, otherwise the wheel goes crooked.
- I started turning the right side bolt, maybe half a turn.
- Then I went over and did the same on the left side.
- Checked the chain tension by pushing down on it midway between the sprockets. Still too loose.
- Did another half turn on each side. Checked again. Getting closer.
It’s always a bit of back and forth. You adjust, check, adjust, check. Used the little marks on the swingarm as a rough guide to keep the wheel alignment sort of okay. Got some grease on my hands, of course. Always happens.
Wrapping Up
Finally got the slack about right. Not too tight, not too loose, just that little bit of up-and-down movement the manual talks about (well, roughly what I remember it saying). Then I made sure the adjuster nuts were snugged up against their stops.
Last step was tightening that big axle nut back up. Put some proper force into that, you don’t want the wheel coming loose! Gave the wheel a good spin by hand, made sure it turned smoothly, chain looked happy running over the sprockets. Checked the tension one last time just to be sure.
So yeah, that was the job. Didn’t take too long, maybe half an hour all told. Feels good knowing it’s done right, or at least, done by me. Much better than listening to a sloppy chain slapping around. On to the next thing.
