Urgent chain/axle help!! (mechanical ignoramus here)

[AK ducati]

Hi!  So I'm a first time monster owner (M620 2006).  Bought it this summer, and everything was immaculate on the bike.  Last week I noticed my chain was starting to get loose, so I looked up the tightening procedure in the manual.  A friend came over with a torque wrench, and as the manual said, we left the bike on the side stand, loosened the two main axle bolts, tightened the chain with the adjusting bolts, following the gradations on the swing arms.  We then retightened the axle bolts to 72 Nm (53 foot pounds).  What I did not do was move the rear wheel around before starting to see where the chain was tightest.  While tightening, we noticed that the right bracket on the swing arm had a little play, and was showing a half gradation off from where we had set it.  Bike rode fine, but I felt the next day after a long ride that it needed a little more tightening.  So we did the same procedure again.

This time while riding, I noticed a new sound I hadn't noticed earlier (kind of like something rubbing).  I looked down at the swing arms and noticed that one was on 4, while the other was on 3, so I rode to work today and redid the whole process.  Thanks to a screwy torque wrench, I ended up overtorquing on the left nut, and this caused the bracket on the right side to get raised off the swingarm and bent.  We noticed this, and I immediately loosened the left nut, and the right bracket came back down.  The only issue now was I couldn't use it to mark the gradations, but I figured I could use a caliper to measure from the bolt to the end of the swingarm.  Anyways, retightened to correct torque, and this time I rode the bike just around the lot to see if I could hear the sound, but weirdly enough, before I rode the chain had the 25-27 mm slack, but after the ride around the lot, the chain was extremely tight.  So again loosened and tightened, and this time it seemed alright.  On the ride home however, the sound was still there.  Stopped off at a friends place to see if he could figure it out, and we noticed that the chain was extremely tight!  So I figured I goofed up while adjusting the chain and would set it tomorrow.   I rode back to my place (around 4 miles away).  I checked the chain, and this time it was the right amount of slack!! Now I'm really confused and can't figure this out    Am I missing something obvious?  I'm hoping it isn't anything major-I live in a town a motorcycle shop and my mechanical skills are....limited.  Sorry about the long-winded post but I wanted to lay out what has been done so far.  Thanks for any advice!!

[ducpainter]

Chains often don't wear evenly. There will be tight and loose spots.

The 25mm of play should be measured at the tightest point on the chain.

You need to find the tightest spot and re-adjust.

Don't use the alignment marks...always measure.

Don't forget to snug up the adjuster bolts after tightening the axle. They can back out.

How many miles on this chain?

[caperix]

+1
tight spots in the chain will change the slack based on location.  They will not want to bend around the front sprocket & the chain will go tight. It sounds like it is time for a new chain.

[AK ducati]

Thanks a lot for the replies!!  I guess I learn something new everyday.  Hadn't realized that the chain wear would be uneven enough to be really tight at one spot and perfect slack on the other.  I guess I might've overtightened it since I didn't try to find the tightest spot on the chain before adjusting it.  So would it help to put the bike up on a rear jackstand and then move the wheel around, find the tightest spot on the chain, and do loosen the axle bolts, and do the adjustment? (I'd left it on the side stand earlier).  I was planning on using a mm ruler and measuring from the start of the axle bolt to the end of the swingarm on each side to make sure I get the right alignment (instead of using the gradations)-unless there's an easier way to do it?  Not sure how many miles on the chain, but it was old when I got the bike (the previous owner told me it would need changing soon, but also figured I could get a summers riding out of it).  Sorry about my seemingly obvious questions-never worked on bikes before, and I really like this bike (would hate for anything bad to happen to it!)

[ducpainter]

Yes lift the rear. You want to do this as soon as possible.

A tight chain can bend the output shaft or destroy the bearing.

You don't want that to happen.

The method of alignment you described is the best way.

[Howie]

I prefer center of the axle to center of swing arm shaft.  Some prefer lining up the front and rear sprockets with a straight edge or lazer, as in Chris Kelley's write up  http://www.ducatitech.com/info/wheelchange.html  Remember to tighten the adjuster bolts after tightening the axle.  They will back out if you don't.  Also, err on the side of loose.

[Ddan]

I prefer center of the axle to center of swing arm shaft.  Some prefer lining up the front and rear sprockets with a straight edge or lazer, as in Chris Kelley's write up  http://www.ducatitech.com/info/wheelchange.html  Remember to tighten the adjuster bolts after tightening the axle.  They will back out if you don't.  Also, err on the side of loose.

The adjuster bolts are a bit fussy, too tight and they'll eventually tighten the chain, too loose and they back out, letting the adjuster plate rotate into the sprocket and kind of making a mess of things

[AK ducati]

Thanks again for the help!  I'll be working on it today (while I'm supposed to be at my desk working instead....).  The way I see it a happy bike makes me a happy worker right?  Hopefully I don't have any more issues while adjusting the chain this time.

[AK ducati]

Quick update-When I loosened the chain at the tightest point, the rest of the chain got so loose that when I had it in gear on the rear stand it sounded like the chain was going to pop off the sprocket.  After an hour of messing with it and fine tuning, looks like I got it to where it sounds and feels better (but I had to go with the chain on the tighter side).  I guess I'll use it until I get a new chain in. Any suggestions on which chain and sprocket set I should order, and from where?  Hopefully shipping to Alaska isn't more than the chain costs...... Thanks!

[AK ducati]

Not to mention the one guy from work who walks into the shop while I'm frustrated and messing with the chain, looks at the bike and helpfully says "I don't think Italians make good bikes...." 

[ducpainter]

Quick update-When I loosened the chain at the tightest point, the rest of the chain got so loose that when I had it in gear on the rear stand it sounded like the chain was going to pop off the sprocket.  After an hour of messing with it and fine tuning, looks like I got it to where it sounds and feels better (but I had to go with the chain on the tighter side).  I guess I'll use it until I get a new chain in. Any suggestions on which chain and sprocket set I should order, and from where?  Hopefully shipping to Alaska isn't more than the chain costs...... Thanks!

Call ca-cycleworks or Monsterparts listed in the sponsor board.

Either one will take care of you.

[Skybarney]

As an additional note!  I almost always replace my sprockets when I replace my chains.  It only take a bit of wear to the sprockets and your new chain is junked out.  Maybe the 696 does not have a ton of power but if you ride it hard the teeth can get "ramped out".  simply put if you see any lean to the teeth on your old sprocket change it out.

[AK ducati]

Thanks again for all the helpful replies!! CA cycleworks were extremely helpful-I should be able to replace the chain this week hopefully, and then on to more riding before the long winter hits...sigh...

[SpikeC]

 Even if you can not see any wear on the sprocket teeth, it is there waiting to mess up your chain. Reusing old sprockets is false economy.

[MendoDave]

when adjusting the slack in the chain becomes an endless "chase" its finished. time for new sprokets and chains.