Motorcycle chain maintenance is a crucial part of riding, and if neglected it can cause serious injuries to you and damage your motorcycle. Lets cover a few tips and tricks to insure you never have to worry about a worn out chain snapping and leading to a broken engine case. It’s always nice to have reassurance that your bike is mechanically sound before you go rip your favorite trails.
How To Check Chain Tension
Start with placing your fingers vertically, underneath the chain, on the plastic rub plate on top of the swing arm. The chain should sit nicely across the top of your index finger without additional sagging. If the chain and sprocket appear in good health you will need to fine tune the chain tension.
Quick Chain Wear Test
I have learned from experience that you don’t always have to bust out the measuring tape and waste precious riding time every time you want to check your chain. I like to check my chain before every ride while I’m setting my tire pressures and lubing my chain.
While you’re at the rear wheel you can quickly grab the chain at the furthest back position of the rear sprocket. Grab a chain link in the 3:00 position and give it a good tug, if you can see daylight in between the chain and sprocket (about half a sprocket tooth or more) it might be time to replace your chain and sprocket.
The images below shows a used but still good chain on the top and a worn out chain that needs to be replaced on the bottom.
Stiff Motorcycle Chain
The chain should be fairly stiff when attempting to twist it side to side (from the top in between the sprockets). If the chain is very flexible and able to move side to side effortlessly then this is a sign of a worn out chain
Play In Chain Links
The motorcycle chain should not have any play between the links when pushing and pulling in line with the chain. You want everything to feel pretty firm but also have the correct amount of slack to prevent the chain from breaking.
Sprockets Wear
Look at the 11:00 O’clock position of the rear sprocket (where the chain isn’t on the sprocket) and check for wear. If you need to replace the chain you need to replace the sprocket and vice versa. If you put a new chain on a worn out sprocket it will wear the new chain out very fast. This is a good time to check the chain guides and rollers for wear so you can replace everything at the same time.
See the image below to compare a worn out sprocket to a brand new one. The worn out sprocket being on the left and the new one on the right (if that wasn’t obvious).
I Stretched My Motorcycle Chain
If your chain appears to be “stretched” It really isn’t. The chains pins and rollers over time will wear down, causing the chain to lengthen over time. I highly recommend measuring your motorcycle chain links to insure safety before riding on the chain anymore.
How to Measure Your Chain (measurements specific to a 520 size chain)
If you have a fair amount of daylight between your chain and sprocket the surest way to insure the chain is still safe to ride on is to measure the distance between the chain links.
In order to measure your chain to make sure it is safe, you must first put tension on the chain, and be sure that there are no kinked joints.
I usually put the bike in gear (with the engine off) and then roll the bike until the top or bottom of the chain is tight.
Next you will measure the tightest part of the chain in between the two sprockets. Count 17 pins and then measure center to center. If this distance exceeds 259 mm or 10.2″, your chain will need replaced.
Chain Maintenance
Lubing the chain
If you want to get a long life out of your chain then you need to spend a small amount of time maintaining it. You should always spray your chain with chain lube before and preferably after every ride. This will keep the chain spinning effortlessly along the sprockets, preventing wear.
There are many little metal pins that make up a chain (usually 120) and if they are dry and gunked up then they may bind the chain up and cause it to break. This is never a fun result and could leave you stranded deep on a trail.
Here is the chain lube that I use
I really like this chain lube because it has a light tack so it doesn’t collect dirt and sand. This is a great lube for all types of riding and I use it for all my bikes (including bicycles). This lube is compatible with o-ring and z-ring chains.
Cleaning the Chain
I recommend cleaning your chain with a plastic brush and degreaser this is the brush I use, I got it on Amazon.
There are many difference degreasers on the market. I have found good results using the WD-40 Bike Degreaser which is also available on Amazon
I think there are many different degreasers on the market that will work just as well but I just like going with what I know works.
You should clean your chain every few rides at the least. It is very important for you to lube the chain again thoroughly after you have cleaned it with a degreaser.
Conclusion
Lets just recap the most important things to take from this article.
- You should always ride on a lubed chain
- Check the chain tension before you ride
- Adjust tension as needed before riding
- Check for chain and sprocket wear
- Clean your chain every few rides or when washing your bike
Pretty simple stuff you need to do to maintain a healthy motorcycle chain but serious mechanical damage or injury to the rider can occur if neglected.
Please take your chains health seriously and don’t be afraid to ask a riding buddy who might have a little more experience than you about the proper tension and acceptable wear on the chain.
I hope you learned something about motorcycle chains! Please share below some of your tips and tricks!
Stay safe and BRAAAAAP!
Go check out our article about “how to fix a low or high idle on a motorcycle”