Chain Alignment

[tone]

Sorry if you thought the purpose was to baffle or impress the unwary especially yourself. I truely am trying to speak at a level consistent with the forum.

It is however very apparent that any analytic approach to tolerance analysis is falling on deaf ears. I can only gather that in your many years of learning, and practicing the "art of motorcycle alignment" the very real issue of measurement uncertainty and mechanical tolerances has never become obvious to you.

Jim
i'm well versed in mechanical & engineering tolerances my friend the point i was trying to make unsucsessfully it seems is that with all the best intentions in the world you are getting too deep into it & it only serves to confuse or worry some members

I deliberately try to keep my posts simple & easy to understand so as not to confuse or mislead the less mechanical or engineering minded forum members

Talk of mechanical tolerences of bearings & the fit of said bearings, gears or spacers on a shaft is fine & correct for engine building but for the majority of members a wheel bearing will either be good or bad & there is enough play in a swingarm & rear wheel assembly to take up minor differances without affecting operation EG the sprocket carrier will only rotate in the plane it was designed to rotate in unless something it seriously wrong !

cheers for the input
tone

[Guest]

I would like to pick up an alignment tool too. Here are a couple....the Motion Pro one looks pretty simple, and should work well enough, IMHO. The laser one is cool, but fancier, and more $$. Anyone try one of these tools?

http://www.getgeared.co.uk/PROFI_CAT_Laser_Chain_Alignment_Tool

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/9/205/4876/ITEM/Motion-Pro-Chain-Alignment-Tool.aspx

Tony.

[posplayr]

I would like to pick up an alignment tool too. Here are a couple....the Motion Pro one looks pretty simple, and should work well enough, IMHO. The laser one is cool, but fancier, and more $$. Anyone try one of these tools?

http://www.getgeared.co.uk/PROFI_CAT_Laser_Chain_Alignment_Tool

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/9/205/4876/ITEM/Motion-Pro-Chain-Alignment-Tool.aspx

Tony.

Tony,
Katman, made a laser tool that clamps to the chain ring. I also bought a laser alignment tool from ebay that is supposed to clamp to the chain ring as well but with a chain installed mine doesn't work very well as there is not a good flatspot on the chain ring to refrence. The ebay laser had been factory calibrated and I had checked it with my string calibrated 8 ft straight edge. But it was not doing me much good due to uncertainty in where the chan ring really was v.s. truly aligned with the wheel.
For this reason as well as the concerns I described earlier , I was getting erroneous offsets from the chain ring measurements (0.120" or more). After putting a 4 foot construction level under the lower chain run but against the tire I could see that the chain and wheel were very well aligned (0.050"). So if sprocket carrier is where it is supposed to be then the sprocket is aligned with the chain.

If the chain ring run out is OK and there is a flatpot on the ring to use to align to, then that will work For me it wasnt working.
Jim

[mighty13d]

wtf happened to my post about that sprocket alignment tool? wtf...........




EDIT: NVM I posted on the wheel alignment thread with it, not this one.

[blakebird]

For chain alignment, for years I've used a steel tape measure and measured the distance from centerline of swingarm pivot to centerline of axle on each side, and get them to within 1/32" of each other (half 1/16" is about as good as I can eyeball my little 6' tape).

I've routinely gotten 25,000 miles or more out of a good D.I.D. ZVM or Tsubaki Sigma on bikes like my '99 Blackbird, and '06 ZX-14. The stampings on the swingarm adjusters are usually not very good indicators.

[posplayr]

For chain alignment, for years I've used a steel tape measure and measured the distance from centerline of swingarm pivot to centerline of axle on each side, and get them to within 1/32" of each other (half 1/16" is about as good as I can eyeball my little 6' tape).

I've routinely gotten 25,000 miles or more out of a good D.I.D. ZVM or Tsubaki Sigma on bikes like my '99 Blackbird, and '06 ZX-14. The stampings on the swingarm adjusters are usually not very good indicators.

If your bike is bone stock, then we would hope by design (from the manufacturer) that by making the rear axle and the pivot bolt parallel (in effect that is what you are doing), you are then aligning not only your chain but primarily your rear wheel in aligned with the frame and therefore with the front wheel (assuming no frame bending).

With these wheel and swing arm conversion mods, one of the big tricks is to figure out where to locate the wheel in the swing arm and what spacers to use at the rear axle to insure the rear wheel is centered in the frame. Then the job that remains is also how to adjust the counter sprocket offset so that the chain is still aligned after the wheel is finally centered in the frame.

In this circumstance (which is the context of the thread) simply getting the wheel centered doesn't guarantee anything about chain alignment. Most of the chain alignment techniques are based on running a straight edge or a laser or a string if you will that is parallel to the rear sprocket and projected forward to the counter sprocket. If the projected line is offset at the counter sprocket from where it left the rear sprocket the chain is not aligned.

Now to add fuel to the fire, I have suggested that the counter sprocket can have runnout errors as they are partially supported in a rubber mount with only a 30mm or so central spacer/bearing to keep the sprocket carrier square with the wheel.

A sufficient method (which is independent of this sprocket runout) of insuring chain alignment (and no worse than the sprocket method) is to make sure the chain is parallel to the rear wheel (assumes straight wheel). This avoids any issue that might exist with runout and is sometimes simpler to measure.