Hello my friends, Yesterday I performed my first chain adjustment on my 2017 T120. I did remove both silencers as it was impossible to remove the spindle nut using my 27mm socket. I do have a couple of questions for those of you in the know. I previously read of the difficulty re-fitting the right hand silencer, and was hoping to have a better experience. The silencer came off easy enough, but refitting was a bit of a struggle. After removing the silencer the gasket material stayed affixed to the downpipe, and the heat shield laid closely around the gasket material. So, getting the silencer to fit between the gasket material and the heatshield was difficult, but successful. I did notice that the left hand silencer came off and went back on the great ease! It appeared to be of a different type of connection, as I observed no gasket material at all, unless it stayed inside the silencer itself during removal! Can anyone confirm there is a difference? Secondly, the manual states to roll the bike on a level surface without any weight on it to find the tightest position of the chain. I did this with the help of my friend, but we noticed little if any change in tightness. I cannot wrap my head around why there would be a spot where the chain would be tighter in a particular position, Can anyone explain the physics of this, and is it really important to find this spot? All of the youtube videos I've watched did not perform this step when adjusting the chain. Thank you all!
How many miles has the bike done? You probably won’t have a tight spot yet if the miles are quite low, that tends to happen when the chain has been in use for some time and depends on how it has been maintained. You always find the point in the chain where it runs tightest between the sprockets and set the adjustment to that. If you were to set the adjustment where the chain is loose then when the tight spot comes around the chain will be too tight and can cause premature wear of the chain and also the hub and drive shaft bearings.
Thank you! My bike is new and only has 500 miles on her! So, your explanation makes good sense. Have a fantastic day! My chain was a bit on the loose side, so I tightened it to have 25mm of play!
You don't need to check the chain 'slack' at various positions. You do need to check 'wear' at various positions. But you should not have to worry about wear at 500 miles. So don't confuse chain slack adjustment with wear inspection check. The reason why you don't have to rotate the chain for slack adjustment check is that the transmission will be (should be) in neutral when checking, and the drive sprocket will naturally rotate when you push/pull on the chain at mid length to check the 1" free play. Also the bike should be fully upright (not just on the side stand) and no additional weight on the bike. Hope this helps. By the way, have a new 2018 Street Twin (1,000 miles now). At 500 miles I did my 1st chain adjustment and it was quite loose. Close to 2". I put it back to spec at 1". I actually checked it yesterday and it was still within spec. I understand that a new chain initially stretches a bunch. Then does not stretch much after that. That is why the 500 mile check is so important. And don't wait until 10,000 miles for next check. Checking every so often does not hurt and maximizes chain/sprocket longevity.
Thanks BigCLM, And I see we are both in California! I’m up in Murphys, and even though I’ve had my new bike since last December it was difficult to put on more miles due to a snowy Winter! My buddy bought a 2017 Street Twin unexpectedly when we went to buy my T 120! He loves it! Thanks again!
Sorry for the snowy winter. I know it must be difficult with a new bike and all. Nothing but sun-sun-sun in San Rafael !! I have been able to do 1,100 miles so far since November. I ride the Napa wine country a lot. And I love my Street Twin. My 1st Triumph. My past ride was a 2006 1100 Yamaha VStar. Welcome to the forum.
Me being a pedantic sod I always thought describing the chain as 'stretching' a bit of a misleading as it is in fact where the chain has worn unevenly, in some areas it has worn more than in another area, usually due to the same chain rollers connecting with the same point on a sprocket as it cycles over. On most bike you can increase or decrease the rear sprocket by a tooth to reduce the occurrence of the same chain roller connecting with the same sprocket thereby reducing the chain wear in the same spot You can use this calculator to work out the best sprocket to use for reducing the chain to sprocket ratio https://www.gearingcommander.com/ Pedantic rant over
I’ve managed to ride a bit over 600 miles despite the weather! Bonneville was always my dream bike since the sixties! My first bike was s 1969 Honda CB 350 which I paid $ 769.00 new! Sold that bike in 1974, and waited 43 years to ride again! Finally got my Bonneville at age 70!
I've been riding Japanese cruisers for 30 yrs. But I always liked the Bonnie parallel twins and finally bought one. I also wanted to downsize a bit. My previous cruiser was maybe 750 lbs. The StTwn is 460 lbs with same power so do the math. Easy to ride, plenty of power and torque (at least for me). Just love it !! I do like the T120 and looked at it, but just did not want a 1200. 900 is plenty for me.
One of the oft overlooked reasons for a 'tight spot' is when the rear sprocket is a loose fit on the sprocket carrier and is fitted slightly off of center.
I had this issue with my T100 and bought Toga silencers as part of a kit from Norman Hyde. These not only look like the original silencers from the early Bonnevilles but also solve the access problems you've experienced.
