Two questions:Chain is loose AND tight, front wheel is crooked

[Tazman001]

chain loose and tight

I hope no one takes it wrong, I'm not trying to be a know it all, but every chain has a "high" spot and a "low" spot. Even a brand new set of sprockets and chain. When adjusting a chain, it must be adjusted on the "high" spot. Easy to find, just spin the rear wheel, and find the most tight spot, that's it.

[MrZig]

I hope no one takes it wrong, I'm not trying to be a know it all, but every chain has a "high" spot and a "low" spot. Even a brand new set of sprockets and chain. When adjusting a chain, it must be adjusted on the "high" spot. Easy to find, just spin the rear wheel, and find the most tight spot, that's it.

I've heard of this, but I think mine is excessive. The loose spot has so much slack, when I push up on the bottom chain, the top part moves almost in unison.

Also at low speeds you can really feel it loosening and tightening, and it makes low speed manouvers difficult.

[Smokinapankake]

Consider the possibility too that the rear sprocket may not be exactly centered. This will give what appears to be a tight spot on the chain. Probably not enough to worry about, though.

[GS750GUY]

I also do not want to come across as an expert by any means regarding this subject but would like to interject what I had learned regarding chains and spockets.
At about 12,000 miles I experienced the exact same situation with my 78 GS750EC.
The bike was horribly neglected by its previous owner and the chain probably never taken care of.
I did a lot of study on chains and spockets and found that the sprockets themselves were showing absoulutely none of the wear signs that articles said to look for. However the chain was very rusty with several stiff and kinky links and with more than one tight spot.
One article I read said that some people recommend that you should always replace the sprockets any time you replace the chain and the writer of this article said this is typically the people that sell sprockets and chains that are telling you this and he went on to say that this was not necessary and could be a total waste of money. He recommended that you only need to replace sprockets when they show the typical signs of being worn out. If under norman riding conditions the sprockets are showing none of the signs of being worn out you should be able to use two chains (and he said sometimes maybe more than 2) for every one set of sprockets.
Since the sprockets on my GS looked great I just replaced the chain with a high quality "O" ring sealed chain and noticed an immediate improvement in performance.
Now, am I shortening the life of my new chain by not intalling new sprockets as well?? Could be..... but who knows for sure......and is the additional cost of new sprockets each time you replace a chain really worth the exta money spent?
Just some thoughts.
GS750GUY

[MrZig]

Just as small victory update, I loosened up both clamps on the forks and bumped the wheel against a wall - it's now straightened out as far as I can eyeball it! Thanks for the tips.