Axle nut size?

Would some one please tell me what size the axle nut is on the Bandit? I looked in the hand book but didn't see where it said what size, Thanks

36mm - no doubt. Just took my toolkit wrench in the store and bought a socket for my torque wrench this morning. Found out that although I thought I was tightening enough by hand - wasn't anywhere near the required 72.5 lbft.


36mm that is.

oh yeah, it was about $6.50 at Autozone.

Thank you very much, I went to adj my chain today and realized I didn’t have a socket to fit that big honking nut, Thanks again you saved me a extra trip into town.

I just did my chain adjustment (after I made two trips to AutoZone for a 36mm socket – long story). I used the marks on the swing-arm to make sure the rear wheel was aligned. The manual calls for .8-1.2in of slack (at 500 miles I had about 1.5in slack). I now have about .8in of slack but that seems tight. Any comments on the slack? I also noticed that when I tightened the axel nut, the chain would tighten slightly so I had to compensate. The manual calls for 72.5 ft lbs of torque on the axel nut which, like I said, is a 36mm nut (LARGE - my V65 Magna had a 32mm nut).

Any comments - does this sound right?

Thanks,

Ol Dave

Trick is to keep kicking that back tire forward as you're gently tightening the axle nut. .8" is ok. Tightening a chain too much is much worse than having it a little loose. Too tight - bearings, heat, failure!

Make sure that chain is lined up properly as well. Those swingarm markings don't always correspond to perfect alignment of the back wheel so that the chain is riding correctly on the sprocket. I started a thread on this "idiots" method - Idiot being me.

Trick is to pop it up on the center stand after you think you've adjusted it properly. Spin the wheel and look down the chain toward the front of the bike and make sure it is riding correctly on the sprockets and not favoring or kinking to one side. Look down the bottom run as well with the chain coming back to you. Another tell tale sign you haven't aligned it correctly is if it's making a lot of noise or if one side of your sprocket is much cleaner than the other (chain is riding on one side). You can also look at the chain to see if the rollers are discolored on one side.

Don't mean to scare you with any of this, it's trial and error. I'd really find someone who has been adjusting chains for years and have them watch you do it. That's the nice thing about bikers - they like to show other people how to do things.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice etcthorne. I just need to keep reading the procedures and get a little more practice.

Regards,

Ol Dave

I measured from where the swing arm is cut out for the adjustment to the back of the adjuster plate, I haven’t had a chance to ride it but seems it is in line, the marks are a little off on the swing arm using this method. Far as slack I set my chain as close as I can to 1” that leaves a little play for any errors.

Went to adjust the chain and I thought I was going to be able to use the same socket as my old RC51...WOW, it wasn't even close to fitting..

36mm is huge!! Off to Sears!

After adjusting my chain using the adjuster marks I noticed the bike would steer into left hand corners easier than rights. Readjusted by centering chain on sprocket then comfirmed by measuring distance between swingarm pivot and axle on each side. Found the right side showed one more mark than the left. This is bugging me so maybe next time I change tires I'll pull the swingarm, mill off the original marks and cut some acurate ones.

Yeah that was really bugging me to about the alignment and the chain not riding in the center of the sprocket, I did a lot of searches and only found one sight that said that it is in line when the sprocket rides in the middle of the chain every thing else I read said to use the string method so I did the results were that the rear tire was a fair amount out of line with the chain riding in the middle of the sprocket and the marks being about ¾ of a mark off, when I realigned every thing by the string the marks turned out to be very close as suzukijo has said in another tread, now the rear wheel is in line with the front but the chain still rides off to one side of the sprocket, I’m not sure why that is but I’m going to run it like this and see how every thing works out.

i think its the rocking of the sideplates, that is the culprit. that and the widening of the swingarm when the nut is loose letting the sideplate spread to the thinner dia of the threaded part, that makes it difficult.

barely loosening the nut, tapping the sideplates so the tilt forward at the top (the same direction in reality, but opposite when viewing from different sides), helps to get them both in position to view their distance to marks.

what i am trying to say is the marks line up, its the sideplate rocking that mucks it up, making it difficult to get right easily. (adj bolts in the middle would make it better, me thinks)
but anything that works for you, and makes your bike ride straight is what is best, for you.

Suzukijo where does your chain ride on the sprocket?

FDM said:

Suzukijo where does your chain ride on the sprocket?

Click to expand...

well, i really havnt looked? i'll be out riding today, and when i get back, i'll post a pic and look at it good, happy biking to you guys, summer is here eh?

Good points folks...

Yup......The alignment lines are pretty accurate...

I took a photo of mine and the sprocket is closer to the right side of the chain...I checked the alignment points and sure enough, the left side alignment was slightly further back than the right side which would put the sprocket toward the right side of the chain...

So just a slight tightening adjustment on the left side would bring the sprocket right on the center of the chain rollers...

whitesands said:

Good points folks...

Yup......The alignment lines are pretty accurate...

I took a photo of mine and the sprocket is closer to the right side of the chain...I checked the alignment points and sure enough, the left side alignment was slightly further back than the right side which would put the sprocket toward the right side of the chain...

So just a slight tightening adjustment on the left side would bring the sprocket right on the center of the chain rollers...

Click to expand...

If I understand you correctly you are saying bring the left adjuster back or the right adjuster forward to line the sprocket to the center of the chain right?

If you do this it will be more than just a slight adjustment, your chain will ride in the center of the sprocket but it will cause your marks to be up to ¾ of a mark off (at least that’s what I saw on my bike) and the rear wheel won’t be aligned with the front wheel.

FDM said:

If I understand you correctly you are saying bring the left adjuster back or the right adjuster forward to line the sprocket to the center of the chain right?

If you do this it will be more than just a slight adjustment, your chain will ride in the center of the sprocket but it will cause your marks to be up to ¾ of a mark off (at least that’s what I saw on my bike) and the rear wheel won’t be aligned with the front wheel.

Click to expand...

Correct...I rechecked...The alignment is now the same on both sides but there is still a slight gap on the left side of the chain...If you got it directly center on the sprocket the alignment will be off on one side...

I'm just going to go by the alignment on the swingarm and make sure the slack is correct...

Since the adjusting marks are cast into the swingarm before machining I think there's a good chance that they are not accurate from either side to side or from one bike to another. I've had the same experience on my KTM dirt bikes. Each one is different.