My manual says check on side stand, then it
says rotate tire to the point where the chain
is at its tightest. :smi
So I guess they want it on the paddock stand
to find the tightest point then put it back
down, and on the side stand.
---
- The illustration of 1 to 1.2'' seems to
tell me to push the chain from under the swingarm
upward then measure how for 'upward' is from downward
is that correct?
---
I used to check my dirt bikes, with two
or three fingers slack under the chain segment
that is above the swingarm per manual ,though
they did give an inch/mm distance/spec that
generally equated to 'two or three fingers' for a quick check.

You can try to find the portion of the chain that is tightest by rotating the rear wheel on a rear stand. In my experience, there hasn't been a lot of difference but I try to find the tight spot.

Yes, the chain slack is measured by placing a ruler against the undertail and measuring the chain slack. Pull the chain at 2 lbs of pressure, then push the chain up at 2 lbs of pressure.

In my experience, the chain hits the chain guide on the swing arm when I push up. You can't measure the slack if the chain guide stops the chain from being pushed up at 2 lbs of pressure. So I pushed the top run up and add that measurement to the measurement of the bottom run.

Go looser rather than tighter. Definitely DO measure slack with bike on side stand, not on a paddock stand.

I'm looking at my 14r's chain right now and the top run is laying on the swing arm chain guide. With 600 miles on it, I'm sure it needs a little tightening. From my experience with the Gen1, if the chain is up off the chain guide, it's too tight.

This is for the Gen1 but have a read and it will help. I'm pretty sure the chain slack spec is different for the Gen2 but otherwise, it should be the same procedure. ...just don't go too tight. It's unlikely you'd need to turn the chain adjusters more than one-sixth of a turn. One flat on the adjuster hex heads tightens the chain a lot.

https://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=6AE7FFEE-D56B-84E2-15072A3BDDB69729

The rule is, the chain should be loose. It tightens from centrifugal force when the bike is operated. Of course, you don't want it insanely loose. If you hear it lashing around and the paint on the swing arm is getting chipped, it's too loose. Use common sense, use the specced measurement for chain slack but avoid over-tightening the chain. The way I see it, a loose chain is how it should be at rest. If it's slapping around or skipping teeth, that's too loose. Look at the pics of my Gen1 and that's how it should be. I'll make a Gen2 chain adjustment how-too someday soon but I expect it will be very similar except the exact specs for chain slack and possibly torques.

Chain tension is rather obscure. The book's instructions are kind of obscure. It's learned by practice but one thing I can tell you (which you probably know) is that the chain should not be tight like a bicycle. That's crazy. We have a swingarm and rear shock that require a lot of play. A chain that droops is normal. If it's flat laying all over on top and hanging way low below, that chain needs to be tightened. I know, it's kind of weird to try to pull two pounds and push two pounds. The book doesn't even tell you that, I just came up with it ....and it's still an estimation. One thing I know is to avoid adjusting too tight. The chain will stretch and it's hard on the output shaft bearings of the engine sprocket. Don't do that to your bike. A chain has to be really damned loose before it falls off. You'll see other signs of a loose chain before that happens like you hear it lashing and see the swing arm chipped up.

I'm a "more is better" guy and I continually have to compensate for that when I wrench on anything. I think I've gotten pretty good at it now. I tighten just about everything less than I think I should....and use some other source of info to support it because I know I'm naturally going to go for more. Lots of times LESS is better.

I don't think I saw these two posts yesterday either, ,
good stuff, I'll read them more thoroughly later.
The book also talks about a 22lb weight* tied with wire
etc to the bottom chain for some other 'fandangled' test.
I'm of the camp, perhaps similar to you where I see the
subjectivity window as huge!
I'm going to keep-on this chain thing till I have it
'right' in my mind, but I may have mentioned the
two finger rule that I adapted to and adopted from
other riders, which might not be right for the zx14r,
but geeezz there has got to be a simple measurement
that satisfies a safe amount of tension, that also
yields reasonable chain life.
My chain is on the looser side right now, but I'm
not seeing that there is anyway that it's loose
enough to spin off, and I'm still not sure what
I'm going to do with sprocket/s, so I think as
long as I'm not doing 150+ I'm not going to get
too excited about it, I'll just keep researching
the issue, using the book, your posts and a touch of
common sense, if I have any left.
---
*I just remembered that the 22lb weight is
for measuring chain stretch, measuring like
20 links, the instruction is fairly clear
to me but could have been better imv.

If you click the SUBSCRIBE button, you should get an email notification any time someone posts to the thread.

Ok, thanks, so I need to click that little box each time
I post?

Yes, if you want an email notification, just click the SUBSCRIBE button after you make your thread. You can subscribe to other threads if you want too.

Cool,
so I don't have to click the sub box each time I post,
just once per thread I assume.

EDIT; LOL, I just got 5 notifications of the same reply,
probably because I thought I had to click each time
I posted in a thread to get a notification to replies.

* Last updated by: Stratovarious on 11/6/2025 @ 3:22 PM *

Cool,
so I don't have to click the sub box each time I post,
just once per thread I assume.

Yep, you click the SUBSCRIBE button once and you will get an email notification anytime anyone replies to that thread. If you want to stop receiving email notifications, you can click the UNSUBSCRIBE button which will appear on any threads you have subscribed to. There is also a list of threads you have subscribed to if you click on Profile at the top of any forum page (below the line of pics at the top).

Thanks..

You got it!