Aligned wheels but misaligned adjustment bolts

[JSF-5]

Hi all,

My bike started making a noticeable noise a couple weeks back, sort of a grinding noise as I move off from a standstill, turning into a clattering as I'm cruising. Performance doesn't seem to be impacted by it.

My wheel alignment was way out so I corrected it using the string method, which reduced the noise quite a bit, however now my swingarm adjustment bolts are out of alignment which has me thinking I did it wrong..is this normal? Here are pictures of the left and right adjustment bolts.

Thanks
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'13 CBF 125

[Evil Hans]

[Teflon-Mike]

Chan looks over tight; sprocket looks to be about 'beaked'; why is the back brake rod spring coil bound? Those adjusters are well out of line.

I would suggest, you start by cleaning the back end, so you can see what's what.

I would suggest you remove the back wheel, and undo the brake back-late torque arm which I suspect is causing some 'problems' in alignment, nipped up trying to pull brake side forwards, whilst you hammer other side 'back' to tension the chain... again from pics torque arm bolt is RaF and looks like its never been touched.... Apply Plus Gas to unsize it and leave to soak over night before you chew trying to undo!

Then I would inspect and over-haul the back brake FIRST.. an adjuster wacked that far up against the spring suggests that the shoes are way beyond service limit, or some numpty has kept tightening it up, in naive belief that quick take up is the same as brake power so now shoes are way beyond! ; I wouldn't be surprised if the horrble noises weren't the brake being grossly out of adjustment, and possibly near running metal on metal on the drum. I would also suspect that pulling the cam and cleaning and re-greasing the shaft in the back-plate will work 'wonders' for the way the brake works! Drum brakes are wonderful thgs, plenty powerful, loads of feel, and very very easy to self-servce... but also very easy for numpty mechanics to effupp! (New shoes, BTW are another £ 18.73 on wemoto check, and that is pretty much all there is n them!)

Over-tight chain..... will WRECK wheel bearings as well as chain and sprockets. And shagged bearings will mean the wheel wobbles about over the axle, you will never get the chain tension or brake adjustment anything like right.....

So, after brakes, check wheel bearings.... they are a common case of horrible rear end noises when they break down... if with the chain 'off' you can waggle the wheel when clamped in the swing arm, they be dead... if not? well, can be hard to tell how far gone they are... but new bearings from wemoto are probably only £15 or so, (actually £ 17.78 including dust seal, on check!) and they are not exactly a big job to swap; and given propensity for little bikes to get killed with kindness like this from over-tensioned chains, I'd probably swap as a matter of course....

Depending how bad chain & sprockets actually are / were when I stripped; again, probably be on the list to be swapped out as course; they are what, Aprox £40 depending what grade and alt sprox you select; CUSH DRIVE RUBBERS.. oft neglected, are £ 13.78 from that wemoto place again, and another very VERY useful precutionary replacement... they go hard with age and numpty gear-changes and add back-lash to the thransmission making the bike slap happy and harder than needs to change gear... they REALLY make a big difference to how a bike behaves itself, and how long your chain & sprokx last and last twixt adjustments... but C&S kits false eccoomy to try and eek out life 'cos expensive; they still die eventually, and longer they are left, more, like cush drives and rear wheel bearings they take with them when they go....

New chain adjuster bolts I dont se listed; but should be abut £3 a side; yours, curiousely dont look to be mangled, stripped, or bent, as s so often common, but they are RaF, that wont make life easy trying to tension and true... ft new to make life easy, and pull the axle, pull the adjustors and indicators clean strp and coppa-slip on re-assebly to make life easy in future..

SO.. armed with about what, £100 worth of service spares.... pull the lot, clean, service, and it back together LOOSE... do NOT try and tension the chain with the brake torque arm nipped up! Let it hag, sort chain tension DO NOT over tighten, and make sure that you have the correct free-play in the chain when the bike is sat on its wheels as well as on the stand; spin the wheel and check chain ;run' and alighnment, first... that is more critical than the wheel alignment to all practical pusposes.... folk ride around with bent frames, and the 'aligment' doesn't upset things that much or case horrible noises.... that WILL be i the nitty gritty of the mechanics...

When chain straight and true, and axle nipped up, attatch brake torque arm; THEN adjust the back brake... make sure you clean that brake rod up on a rotary wire brush before you start, and again, a new adjuster nut from we-moto may not be a bad precautionary replacement for a couple of quid; grease threads with coppa-slip before re-assebly; make sure that the wear indicator on the brake cam is fitted to the index marks, and again, clean rust free and greased so you can 'see' the adjustment marks and wear indicator warning! Then adjust p so that there is 'some' brake pedal travel before brake 'take up' to ensure they aren't always runnng close or binding..... THEN nip up the torque arm.. and the tension adjuster lock nuts..

Chain will need early adjustment if new after about 200 miles of 'bedding in'.. again, remember to slack the brake adjuster and torque arm BEFORE re-tesioning chain, do NOT over tighten chain, and then re-adjust brake after chain, tightening torque arm up.

Yes.. its that brake torque arm that is the so-oft-missed missng link.. that screws up proceedings....

But should sort the thing out once and for all and for long time to come... will likely be a different bike when done.

Worth noting that brake and chain adjustment HAVE to be done together.... and coil-bound brake rod spring is big concern to me... as chain stretches wheel has to be pulled back in the swing arm, that also pulls the brake drum back, the brake usually has to be 'backed off' on the adjuster to make the rod longer to account for chain adjustment, or every time you adjust chain you tighten up the back-brake, until its binding..... so that adjuster spring should be getting less compressed not more.... Hence start with the brakes... its a good moto... before you go, make sure you can stop!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[JSF-5]