Chain issues

[Aidanc80]

Okay my chain keeps popping off it was only tightened up a few weeks ago, but jumped a couple of times now. Think its done.

how easy is it change a chain by myself??

ohh a honda cg125 05.

cheers
Aidan

[Nixon]

Is it your chain or is it your sprockets? Worn sprockets can cause the chain to slip.

Changing a chain isn't hard but you need a chain riveting tool to do it. they ain't that cheep, head to your local independent bike garage and get a price, much easier than faffing about, and shouldn't be that much.

[Aidanc80]

I was thinking that myself theres a local motorbike shop not far away. go in and see the guy and ask him a price to do it.



cheers
Aidan

[.....]

Buy a chain tool and you'll have it for all future chain and sprocket changes not just this one. It will soon pay for itself.

Failing that, a split link will most definitely be fine on a CG if you put it on properly.

[BigGeeking]

i have a split link on my cg and also honda say its ok.

to change
from another post (cant take credit)

Take Chain Guard off
Undo rear wheel bolt
Undo chain adjusters
Get a screwdriver and remove the split link from the old chain
Remove chain
Undo LEFT hand side engine cover and undo the nuts on the front sprocket, take it off and put the new one on
Reinstall rear wheel at forwardmost position
Put new chain on and do up split link

GOT THIS OFF ANOTHER SITE SOME GOOD INFO DONT KNOW IF I CAN PUT A LINK TO IT SO JUST COPY IT FOR YOU .

Chain Tension
See Owner's Manual and the information below, if you don't have the Owner's Manual you can manage without it.


If bike has been used, let it cool down overnight.
Chain Tension should be 20 mm in the middle of the chain at the tightest spot.
To measure, put a ruler or stick (with marks on it) next to the middle of the chain (just in front of the rear passenger foot rest?).
(If you have a fully enclosed chain, you should find a small round cover that can be removed to inspect the chain around that point.)
Put your finger under the chain and try to push it up until you feel slight resistance.
Move the back wheel slightly and recheck the chain, keep doing this until you find the tightest spot.

All chains have or will develop tight spots along the length of the chain.
Sometimes tight spots will develop due to a lack of oil.
Putting excessive amounts of oil (see Chain Oiling above for what oil should be used) all around the tight spot (on top, underneath and on the sides),
then pushing the chain up and down and then putting more oil on again,
may remove the tight spot or reduce it.
But when the chain is used for a few miles, loads of the oil will fling off and the tight spot may return.

If the chain is excessively tight (much lower than 20 mm, maybe lower than 10 mm) at the tightest spot,
it can damage the gearbox (very bad idea and expensive, do not let it happen).
If it is excessively slack it can also cause trouble.

A chain that has just been oiled will be slacker than normal, after a few miles the chain will tighten up to normal as the excess oil is thrown off.
So if I have to check the chain tension after I have just oiled it, I personally wait for around 50 miles for the excess oil to be thrown off.

A chain that has been severely neglected with a lack of oiling will become tight along the entire length of the chain or have a very large amount of tight spots.
Even rust can develop (oiling may remove light rust over time).

How to adjust the chain tension
Slacken the right hand rear wheel axle nut (22mm ?).
The nut is normal type, anti clock wise to slacken, clockwise to tighten,
if your not strong enough to slacken it, tap / hit the spanner with a hammer several times quickly, if that fails get a longer spanner (to get more leverage).

There may (may not) be a small pin stopping the nut from being slackened, called a Cotter pin,
its basically a piece of metal folded in half, it goes through a hole near the end of the screw thread.
The 2 pieces that have gone though the hole are then separated and folded up and around in opposite directions around the nut.


There are 2 adjusters, one on each side of the axle, they both have 2 nuts (12 ? and 10mm ?, the one on the end is a locking nut).
Put a spanner on both nuts at the same time, and slacken the end one.
Repeat this on the other adjuster.
Tighten the nut (not the end one) by the same amount of turns on each adjuster (or wheel alignment will go out), recheck chain tension.
The adjusters should point to little marks (1 in diagram) on the frame, they should be the same on both sides or the wheel alignment will be wrong.
If your wheel alignment has been checked professionally (part of the MOT in the UK), you do not need to worry about the marks.
One of the adjusters should point to a label on the frame that has a wear indicator, when it says it's worn out replace the chain.
When you replace the chain also look at the gearbox and back wheel sprockets (they move the chain around) for wear, search internet for a universal guide.

When tightening the rear axle nut,
push the rear wheel in to the bike with your left hand while tightening with your right hand,
do not try to tighten the adjuster nuts, just lock the locking nuts in place (put a spanner on both nuts at the same time),
to check that the adjuster nuts are tight, try to put a piece of paper between them and the frame (if they are not tight slacken rear axle nut and this time push harder).
Recheck chain tension and repeat procedure if necessary.

Adjusting the chain (tightening the chain) will reduce the free play in the rear brake pedal (especially if you had to tighten the chain allot),
so check the free play and that the brake light comes on when it's used, see Rear Brake in the Brakes page.

The original chain on the front disc brake model is O ring type, this costs several times more money than a non O ring chain,
but it lasts several times longer and keeps the internal oil inside it due to the O rings (and stops water and other things getting inside it).
I advise you stick to the manufacturers choice. Of course a X ring is even better than a O ring but costs even more.

The original chain on the front drum brake model is probably not O ring type, it may use a much cheaper type of chain because the chain is fully enclosed.
The main advantage of a O ring chain is when you do not have a fully enclosed chain guard around it,
the O rings protect the chain from getting water and other things inside it.
I can not see any point in fitting a O ring chain on a bike with a fully enclosed chain guard all around it.

Honda CG125 Front Disc brake model, see last paragraph in the sprockets section below to make sure you get the right sprockets for it.

Sprockets


The sprockets are what the chain attaches to, you have a large sprocket on the back wheel and a small sprocket on the gearbox shaft.
Chains and sprockets wear due to each other.
So putting a new chain on heavily worn sprockets will excessively wear the chain and visa versa (so often people put new chain and sprockets on at the same time).
Search the internet to see what a worn out sprocket looks like, they start to turn in to hooks, pointy or even snap off in extreme cases.



The small sprocket on the gearbox shaft often wears out far quicker (picture above is quite worn) than the rear one and the chain.
Some people say the front sprocket may wear out twice as fast as rear, so you have to replace it twice as often.

The other thing that can happen is the front sprocket can wear out between it and the gearbox shaft,
this is only easy to see when you have the back wheel out of the bike (see How to remove and install the wheels in the Bike),
so most of the chain tension is off the sprocket.
If you find the sprocket excessively wobbles on the gearbox shaft, it is worn out.

Getting a good look at the front sprocket may be easy or a little bit harder.
On some models all you have to do is remove the Gear change lever and remove a little cover

... IT IS VERY EAST TO DO TAKE YOUR TIME AND ENJOY...

____________________
Bendy "Flip front. I can filter down the M4 while shoving a Twix in my face."
honda CG 125 2001 SOLD-- current Bandit 400--SOLD. current SV650s 2000
MOD 1 ON 20/7/2011**passed** MOD 2 ON 17/10/2011***passed***,,

[BigGeeking]

Aidanc80

WHERE ARE YOU IF YOU LIVE IN MANCHESTER AREA LET ME KNOW AND I WILL COME ROUND AND HELP IF YOU LIKE I JUST NEED COFFEE
____________________
Bendy "Flip front. I can filter down the M4 while shoving a Twix in my face."
honda CG 125 2001 SOLD-- current Bandit 400--SOLD. current SV650s 2000
MOD 1 ON 20/7/2011**passed** MOD 2 ON 17/10/2011***passed***,,

[Smiley]

an easy way which i found is if your chain is slack enough is just to completely loose the rear tyre, chain adjusters. and sometimes you can wriggle the chain off! i do warn u tho if the chain is not slack it wont work!
but it might be just my bike because my bike strechs chains for fun! no matter how much its oiled!

to fix it slipping all you can do is check if the sprockets are worn! unless you can get a full chain enclosure for your bike it works with the older cg's to keep the chain from bouncing off!

[Aidanc80]

Thanks for replys guys...

Still been using the bike it was fine today but it needs done like now only reason im still using it is i start at 5am and only way to work...

Not near manchester mate but thanks anyway divetime...

Should i be using it is more the question i guess??

[cb1rocket]

shouldn't ride with the chain slipping, last thing you want is the chain snapping and wrapping round your leg and ripping it off your body!