How do I adjust the chain?!

[moppy]

FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK.

Been out for about 3 hours trying to adjust my chain on my 1999 E7 ZZR600 to absolutely no avail. Noticed that there was serious slack to the chain, making gear changes hideous and since I've already experienced what happens when you don't adjust your chain on my previous bike, decided to sort it out today.

Read the service manual, seems easy enough, loosen torque nuts, remove cotter pin and loosen axle nut, loosen chain adjusting bolts, then turn the axle nut on both sides to adjust chain.

https://s17.postimage.org/4g5j0peyl/Untitled.png

Except I keep turning the bloody axle nuts and nothing bloody happens! I loosened them all the way, then tightened them all the way, and it all had absolutely no effect on the chain. I did forget to turn them evenly, and now I seem to have tightened it so much, it wont fucking budge.

I'm trying to loosen them, but on the left side, if I try to loosen it, it just lifts the whole swing arm up, and on the right side, it just absolutely does not budge.

So, what do I do now? I'm gonna take it down to the mechanics tomorrow and sort it out if I don't get some magic fix here. I've left it soaking in WD40 for now to hopefully make things easier tomorrow.

Any tips on how to sort this? And was I doing the right thing (apart from not doing it evenly?) or should I have been turning something else to tighten the chain?

I am incredibly frustrated, sorry about the swearing, but will be much obliged if someone could give me a hand.

[Fizzer Thou]

Shame that the picture is not showing.

Have a look on here https://www.zzr-international.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=13 as I have no experience on ZZR600s apart from one that a friend had for a short time.
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[Mikey3]

loosening the axle nut will have no affect on the chain, it will simply loosen or tighten the rear wheel axle.
Loosen it, until its not tight, not as loose as can be, this allows the wheel to move back, the adjuster nuts, located on the very back of the swingarm - sticking out rearwards, are the ones which tighten the chain.
Like it says, loosen the locknuts (most rearward of the two), and back them off, out of the way of the adjuster nut (nut closest/touching the back of the arm) then turn the adjuster nuts clockwise to tighten the chain or anti clockwise to loosen the chain to the desired tension.
Do EXACTLY the same thing to each side to keep the wheel aligned.
so if its a nut, do 1 'flat' or 'point' of the nut at a time, generally works best.
Once this is done and the chain is correctly tensioned, tighten the axle up first, this will stop the wheel moving any more - torque settings in the book, but generally a good 'oomph' or two is enough. Then snug the locknuts up (hold the adjusters still with the spanner to stop the locknut turning the adjuster)
Then tighten the torque arm back up.
Chuck some chain lube on just for good measure and you should be done
HTH
Mike

P.S if you loosen the chain because you've tightened it too much, a kick of the back wheel will move it forward, loosening it will not move it forward itself, it will only create slack for it to be moved forward.
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'04 Yamaha WR450F
'99 SV650 Streetfighter Project - mid build
'Motorcycling is about what you do; not about what you own, or how much you spend on it'

[moppy]

[J4mes]

Longer bar, or shock it by smacking the ratchet handle with something heavy. Hammer if your aim is good, but I have blocks of wood and a housebrick in the garage for tasks like that.

[Mikey3]

[whitedevil]

A long hollow bar on the ratchet is the easiest way to undo the axle nut.
I might be free tomorrow (mrs depending) so i could pop round and have a look if you like as it looks like you live just down the road.
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GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[moppy]

Whitedevil, cheers for the offer, but don't put yourself out, I'm gonna deal with this if it kills me

Alright, pictures:

https://s17.postimage.org/m3t7npbtb/Fx_Cam_1326472635183.jpg
image upload

https://s17.postimage.org/42a2pwhsf/Fx_Cam_1326472647535.jpg
image hosting png

Right, as you can see, the axl adjusting bolt has been backed off in preparation for loosening the axle nut. Now, to tighten the chain, I just gotta keep turning it into the swingarm? Tightening more and more until the chain becomes tight?

[HD]

I think you are doing it wrong. You need to loosen the axle bolt then do it up til its hand tight. Then play with the adjusters. By slackening them out, you are giving the chain slack which can only be taken up, as someone said above, by booting the wheel forward.
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Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[Mikey3]

Dude the one going through the wheel is the one that needs to be backed off, the one you've backed off is the adjuster nut, which needs to be rouching the back of the arm - that does all the adjusting. All backing that doff does is create slack for the wheel to move forward (like i said above).
The nut youve done up over tight is the axle nut, this JUST holds the wheel tight in place once you've sorted the chain.
HTH
Mike
____________________
'04 Yamaha WR450F
'99 SV650 Streetfighter Project - mid build
'Motorcycling is about what you do; not about what you own, or how much you spend on it'

[moppy]

[Mikey3]

glad its all sorted out now, and a valuable lesson learnt for the future
Keep a regular eye on it now, a bit of preventive maintenance rather than fix it when its nearly too late

good luck mate
Mike
____________________
'04 Yamaha WR450F
'99 SV650 Streetfighter Project - mid build
'Motorcycling is about what you do; not about what you own, or how much you spend on it'

[whitedevil]

Glad you got it sorted mate, now go buy some proper tools and never pick up that adjustable spanner again.
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GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[djr]