There is also very little leeway for additional weight, which can be problematic if you occasionally take a pillion on the bike or carry luggage. What are the risks of a tight motorcycle chain? That’s not good enough, because it largely depends on your motorcycle’s specific settings, as recommended in the manual provided with your motorcycle. Many articles, mechanics and motorcycle maintenance guides will tell you that your chain tension should be ‘about an inch’. Setting your chain to the correct tension will optimise performance and power delivery, prolong chain and sprocket life and help to provide a smoother ride. Using a Chain Monkey, you can set your motorcycle chain tension on the first attempt, precisely to your motorcycle manufacturer’s intended setting. How do I measure motorcycle chain tension effectively? …but ultimately, taking an accurate measurement of the chain tension after is the best way of assessing whether it is set correctly, and isn’t too tight or loose. The chain looking under strain when you sit on the bike.So how do you know when your chain is too tight? Well, there are a few tell-tale signs that your chain tension isn’t set correctly, such as: Tweak the screws until the chain runs smoothly and you cannot force it to jump off the cog when you change gears.Setting a motorcycle chain can be difficult for beginners, time-consuming for experienced riders and can make the difference in optimum power output for track riders and road racers.If it jumps off to the outside, turn the 'H' screw clockwise. If you simply came to find out if a chain lasts forever, you can stop reading now and go on with your daily life. If your chain jumps off the rear cogs to the inside of the cog, give the 'L' screw a couple of turns clockwise and try again. Isn’t a bike chain supposed to last pretty much until the bike falls to pieces from being so old The short answer no, your chain isn’t immortal, nor does it last as long as the bike itself.These are sometimes marked 'H' (which controls how far away from the frame the derailleur will travel) and 'L' (how far towards the frame it will move). For a bike with derailleurs, you need to adjust the limiting screws that change the extremes of how far the derailleurs can move from left to right.If your wheel has a tensioning adjustment, turn the screw to increase or decrease chain tension.

Next, pull back firmly on the wheel, keeping it centred in the bicycle frame. To tighten a loose chain on a hub- or fixed-gear bike, first use a wrench to loosen the axle nuts on the rear wheel.A chain that keeps falling off is either too loose (in the case of a hub-gear or fixed-gear bike), or the derailleurs are badly adjusted and move the chain right off the cogs when you change gears.Adjust the derailleurs or tighten the chain

Sound bike chain too long