Chain rubbing top of swingarm

[Dry Martini]

it's never sounded or felt bad..but I'll check next time I got my old lady in the garage..which is rare!

Well if you stop referring to her as "old lady", she might be more cooperative. Just sayin.

[Armor]

You should check and adjust your chain.  Procedure is in the owners manual.  This is part of the regular maintenance.

[SpikeC]

 I have had a very hard time understanding the owners manual instructions for tensioning the chain on my '09 Monster. It says to measure the distance from the bottom of the swing arm to the center of the chain pin at 61 to 63mm, butt varying the slack in the chain does not seem to influence this measurement. The chain whacks against the bottom rubbing block hen done like this!

[ducpainter]

I have had a very hard time understanding the owners manual instructions for tensioning the chain on my '09 Monster. It says to measure the distance from the bottom of the swing arm to the center of the chain pin at 61 to 63mm, butt varying the slack in the chain does not seem to influence this measurement. The chain whacks against the bottom rubbing block hen done like this!

Where along the swingarm are you measuring?

You should get as close to the middle of the run as possible.

[stopintime]

............

The chain whacks against the bottom rubbing block hen done like this!

Do you measure while pushing down with one finger?

If it has a rubbing block, maybe the chain is allowed/supposed to hit from time to time....

[SpikeC]

Way back when I had chain drive the way to measure was pushing up and down at the middle of the run and the difference was the deal, like 1 or 2 inches of free play.
Pushing down on the chain only moves it 1/8 of an inch, butt pushing up it goes until it hits the rubbing block, which is about an inch.
I don't want to hijack this thread, so I will just sit back and ponder the vagarities of the translations!

[Howie]

pull down on chain or move wheel so there is no slack on top of the swing arm.  If you do not remove the slack on top the chain will be too loose.  The difference between low and high while moving with your fingers is slack.  Err on the side of loose.  New generation Monsters run more slack because there is more suspension travel.

[bob795]

My chain also rubs the plastic cover on the swingarn.
I worried about it but the chain is adjusted to spec. When my rear tire was changed I asked the mechanic at the dealership about this, he told me that it's normal and nothing to worry about, because once the bike is loaded, in gear and move, the chain will clear the swingarm.

[Dirty Duc]

A "tight" chain that is fine 1-up will be very tight 2-up.  Depending on your riding habits, this can stretch the chain faster than expected.  Loose chains lay on the slider (it's purpose).  Tighter front sprockets enhance the effect.

Case in point: Duc chain and sprockets last ~10k miles.  Vstrom is still within spec at 11k.  The difference is in front sprocket size.  If anything, I am harder on the chain for the zook (zook is 530 compared to 525, but I am an hooligan).

[Howie]

Over 23K on my last chain, negligible sprocket wear.

[jerryz]

thats why it is better to go for a larger rear sprocket than a smaller 14T when gearing down .

i went 15 -43 on my S4 from 15 -39  much better