Chain wont stay tight???Help??

[MonsterInDark]

So i tried to tighten my chain and when i went to tighten it back down the chain would either get insanely tight after setting the chain lag to 22mm like ducati recommends and then i tried to tighten the bolts on the axle and i got them pretty tight, but then the metal piece that holds onto the swing arm behind the nut started to bend and it scratched into the paint on the swing arm...so i un-tightened it, bent the prongs back and screwed it back onto the bike and tightened it down to the point that the chain may be a little more lagging then spec, but still tighter then it was....but the problem is that after a couple days of riding the chain is super loose again, i have already spun it off at a stop light once down shifting, and i cant imagine what would happen if that happened on the freeway! Any thoughts?

Also sense i have re-tightened my chain i have had issues with my rear break....at first the rear break was just less sensitive (push down harder to get any reaction) and it has gotten progressively worse to the point that i can push it all the way down now and will have no breaks at all on the rear....Any thoughts?

[Slide Panda]

Model?

The procedure for DSS bikes is:
- Loosen axle nut
- Adjust chain tension and axle alignment with the two bolts on their side at the end of the swing arm
- Once tension and alignment is correct retighten axle nut
- After axle nut is tight, tighten the adjustor bolts to hand tight/15 Nm - enough to keep them from backing out.

There's nothing you should be doing during this that would cause anything to bend.

[MonsterInDark]

2001 M750 Carby.

[ducpainter]

How many miles on the chain and sprockets?

[WTSDS]

Are you sure you have the conical spacer the right way around ?

Also you may wish to add my mod -

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=54795.0

[lazylightnin717]

Take measurements to make sure the sprockets are aligned and everything is straight. Don't use the small marks on the "thing with prongs that spun and scratched your swinger" AKA the axle securing plates. Instead, I measured from the center of the axle to the end of the swingarm.

A good trick to making sure that those plates don't spin when torquing down the axle nut is to grease the back of the nut liberally. Make sure that is torqued to whatever the factory specs are for your model and then tighten the tensioner bolts to 6 lb. ft.

And finally, everybody has their own way of tensioning the chain. I tension it so that with my weight on the bike, the chain at it's center point between sprockets barely touches the swingarm.

[dlearl476]

I suspect your chain/sprockets are toast. At the end of their life, they require tightening almost every other gas stop. Also, I was just reminded of the importance of checking the chain at several point around its circumference. It's amazing how much a chain can stretch in one area, and not in others.

[Howie]

I suspect your chain/sprockets are toast. At the end of their life, they require tightening almost every other gas stop. Also, I was just reminded of the importance of checking the chain at several point around its circumference. It's amazing how much a chain can stretch in one area, and not in others.

Very true!  There is always some variation, that is why they say measure at the "tight spot".  Another hint is recurring brown fine rust.  This is from the pins wearing.   Mine had about 10 links in a row that were wearing.