What's the Best Way to Adjust a Motorcycle Chain?

Chain slack measurement is an important part of correctly adjusting the chain on a motorcycle. When one of our Live Q&A viewers asked for the best way to adjust a chain, our resident motorcycle expert John Talley suggested a very simple and handy tool.

John livestreams on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern, and in this edition, the best way to adjust a chain was addressed by suggesting the Slacksetter tool from Motion Pro. 

Chain Adjustment - Motion Pro Slacksetter

What's the best way to adjust my chain?

John Talley: We’ve got several videos on that, but the other thing that you won’t want to miss is, three episodes ago we gave away what they call a Slacksetter Pro from Motion Pro. And that’ll tell you, whether you have a street bike or dirt bike, just how much slack is in there, so you don’t overtighten it. That’s a common mistake a lot of people make. We’ve got a couple of different videos, and I think I actually did one on using that particular tool.

As John mentioned, we have several videos on how to do a chain adjustment, including one on how to measure chain slack with the Motion Pro tool. Having the correct slack is important, since a chain that’s too loose can come off the sprockets and damage the engine casing, and a chain that's too tight can snap. The Motion Pro Slacksetter is a simple motorcycle chain slack measurement tool that gives you repeatable results. In the video below, John demonstrates how the chain slack tool is used, with the swingarm as a fixed reference point to measure the slack.

Watch the video above to see how to use the Motion Pro Slacksetter tool.

Whether you have a dirt bike or street bike, we have videos on adjusting the chain for both. In the video below, John does a chain adjustment for a Honda CBR600 street bike. He demonstrates how to tell if a motorcycle chain is too loose; how to tighten a loose chain; how to evaluate the life of the bike's chain and sprockets; and how to clean and lube the chain. Adjusting the chain when it’s loose will make it last much longer and save you money down the line.

Watch the video above to see how to adjust the chain on a Honda street motorcycle.

In the video below, John shows you how to adjust, clean and lube the chain on a Kawasaki KLX 110 dirt bike. Adjusting the chain on the dirt bike includes loosening the wheel and re-adjusting the rear brakes, all covered in the chain adjustment and cleaning video below. 

Watch the video above to see how to clean and adjust the chain on a Kawasaki dirt bike.

Want to see more live repair questions answered? See more motorcycle and ATV repair questions answered here.