hi all, sorry for the sheer amount of posts and questions but i have no real clue about the workings of my bike! I've noticed that the drive chain is making a weird squeaking noise, could this just be a matter of cleaning and lubing the chain or would it suggest that its too tight or loose? Ive checked the slack and there seem to be some spots where it is tighter than other spots, is this normal? Thanks

it should be an even tightness with 2inch of play , best lube it or get a new one (if its worn out and stiff in areas) best thing would be to clean and lube it with chain lube every week.

hi all, sorry for the sheer amount of posts and questions but i have no real clue about the workings of my bike! I've noticed that the drive chain is making a weird squeaking noise, could this just be a matter of cleaning and lubing the chain or would it suggest that its too tight or loose? Ive checked the slack and there seem to be some spots where it is tighter than other spots, is this normal? Thanks

Sounds like its a dry chain, and too tight.

Should tell you in the owners manual how to set the chain tension. Its normal for a drive chain to be looser/tighter at some points during 1 revolution of the chain. Adjust the tension at one of the slackest areas, make sure that the adjusters are equal, count the numbers of bars/indicators on the moving part when adjusting, so that the rear wheel is parallel to the front wheel, When youre happy with that, check the operation of the rear brake and adjust if reqd, it may have moved out of adjustment as the rear wheel was moved.

And before all of this, clean and lubricate the chain, you should be able to do it with it on the bike.

DO NOT CLEAN THE CHAIN WITH THE REAR WHEEL IN THE AIR, THE BIKE IN GEAR AND UNDER POWER

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DO NOT CLEAN THE CHAIN WITH THE REAR WHEEL IN THE AIR, THE BIKE IN GEAR AND UNDER POWER

^^^ what he said.

ok thanks ill have a go tomorrow, gotta get all the cleaning stuff before i get cracking though! When you say don't clean the chain with the rear wheel in the air do you mean don't have it on a paddock stand etc? If so what's the reason for this as i assumed that was the best place to have it?!?

I've tightened the chain before (not overtightened) as it sometimes seems like there's a rhythmic clunking noise when I'm driving along which i assumed was the drive chain, especially if I try and take off in a higher gear than I should (newb error). This whole learning process is brilliant but it does mean ill probably be bugging the hell out of people to get the answers i need

it meant dont try and clean the chain by having the wheel off the floor and the engine running! thats how you end up telling everyone why you only have 2 fingers on 1 hand

ah gotcha, makes sense now!! ill clean and lube tomoro and let u know the outcome

If you have any tight spots on that chain, that will be where all the noise is coming from, especially when it rolls over the drive sprocket, what this means is, the chain is knacked! no amount of oiling will remedy this, obviously that chain is faulty and if it breaks you will damage the engine casing or your ankle or it might wrap itself around the back wheel, who knows! I had this problem on my R1 and it started hopping on the drive sprocket, I ignored it, and it cost me a new chain and sprockets, " buy another chain."

If you have any tight spots on that chain, that will be where all the noise is coming from, especially when it rolls over the drive sprocket, what this means is, the chain is knacked! no amount of oiling will remedy this, obviously that chain is faulty and if it breaks you will damage the engine casing or your ankle or it might wrap itself around the back wheel, who knows! I had this problem on my R1 and it started hopping on the drive sprocket, I ignored it, and it cost me a new chain and sprockets, " buy another chain."

If youre changing the chain you should do the sprockets as well but from the sounds of things it just sounds like a dry chain. Iv had this before after a long wet motorway ride and it can sound horrible. Just give it a good clean and a lube and you should be all good to go

ive checked the sprockets and there doesnt appear to be any wear on them so im gonna clean and lube and see how that goes, if that fails ill do a replacement jobbie

A healthy chain shouldn't have any tight spots Try lubing the chain to see if it free's off making sure you get lube down each sideplate of the chain on each side. If it stil has bad tight spots you need to replace the chain and sprockets as a set as Ryan09 has said. When adjusting Do Not adjust the chain at one of the slackest areas, do it at a tight spot.. If you adjust it at a slack point, when the chain comes round to a tight spot it will put extra strain on the gearbox output bearing and rear wheel bearing.

ive now cleaned and lubed the entire chain and now letting the lube soak in for a few hours, even after just cleaning i noticed the squeaking noise has gone so hopefully it just needed some tlc but ill keep you posted if the noise returns

all sorted now no more weird drive chain noises!!