Clean & lube your chain every 600 miles

[Nessism]

Best to forget about the swingarm marks when judging chain wear. Measure the distance between pins over a convenient length, like 12", and then judge elongation as a % of total - wear beyond 2.5% is bad.

Regarding chain lube, I've recently started using dry lube and like it because it doesn't attract dirt like wet lubes do. There are pros and cons either way but just saying...

Good luck

[earlfor]

Best to forget about the swingarm marks when judging chain wear. Measure the distance between pins over a convenient length, like 12", and then judge elongation as a % of total - wear beyond 2.5% is bad.

Regarding chain lube, I've recently started using dry lube and like it because it doesn't attract dirt like wet lubes do. There are pros and cons either way but just saying...

Good luck

I was curious, so I ran a couple of quick numbers to see how close we were to being in agreement about chain stretch. 110 links of #530 chain is 68.25 inches long. Considering an upper and lower run the chain is doubled on itself and 34.125" long. My suggested 3/8" of adjustment at the swing arm would stretch the chain by that amount on both runs for a total of .75 inches. A 2 1/2% stretch on a 68.25" chain is 1.7 inches and divided by 2 to get movement of the axle for that amount of stretch, the adjustment would be .85 inches. Close enough to say we agree.

[sedelen]

hmmmm...... that's not what the owner's manual states. according to suzuki, the chain is worn out "excessively" if you get to the final notch on the swingarm. and i'm assuming that applies to the stock chain & sprocket setup. suzuki also states to check & adjust the tension every 4k miles. that tells me that a certain amount of stretch in the chain is acceptable. notches on swingarm are about 1/16" apart so if what you're saying is accurate, a chain is trashed if it stretches by more than 1/16". sorry but that doesn't make sense.

Don't really know what bike were talking about, but my 1000 & 1100 are both in agreement with what's in the manuals. That being said there's TWO sets of marks, one set for the chain adjustment, and the other for the chain replacement. One "set" is on on top of the swingarm both sides, those are "alignment" marks, just to align the rear wheel. The other mark is no more than a "decal" on the left side swingarm adjuster, it's one decal with two marks, one mark for NEW, and the other mark for REPLACE.
Unfortunately, that decal gets lost, either through cleaning, swapping of adjusters, whatever. Luckily I still have both of mine.
You can find this covered in the GS1000E service manual, pages 3-10 & 3-11 with pic's. This may clear up some of the confusion about what marks we're talking about.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

[7981GS]

What sedelen is referring to is part number 25 here: http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche...1978&fveh=2146

Or after 30+ years, they look like these:









Not sure where the reference point is though. End of swing-arm? Back of the adjuster wedge?
And if, like me, you change the original link count/sprockets/chain size (630 to 530), etc., just how useful the sticker might be.

Eric

[sedelen]

What sedelen is referring to is part number 25 here: http://www.boulevardsuzuki.com/fiche...1978&fveh=2146

Not sure where the reference point is though. End of swing-arm? Back of the adjuster wedge?
And if, like me, you change the original link count/sprockets/chain size (630 to 530), etc., just how useful the sticker might be.

Eric

The reference point is the end of the swingarm according to the note on page 3-11.

http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf