Well, I buttoned up the Squirt last night after fixing the kickstarter. Y'all were right: I didn't have the retainer clip indexed in the case properly. Now it works, and the clatter is gone from the engine. Perhaps it was something with the kicker, not the top-end.
Anyway, I rode the bike around for literally two minutes, and the chain, which was previously tightened to spec, got so loose that to tighten it back up, the adjusters are past the halfway point. And it's a brand new chain! Should I loosen the adjusters down to the "max", snug the axle up against the front of the slot, and remove one more link? That might work. Thoughts?
Thanks! Bike is running like a dream otherwise.
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Bullfrog - 08/03/09 at 2:01pm
I would recommend running the machine for a little while before taking another link off the chain.
What you reported as "chain stretch" is not actual "stretch" even though the chain did get longer.
"HUH? How can that be???"
The chain came with a "factory grease pack" which tends to center the pins in their bores - "cold" grease and no movement tends to leave the pins in the centers of the bores. Even the first installation and tension adjustment may not cause the grease to "flow" very well - so the pins are still in the center of the bores . . . and then you go riding.
The movement and pressures will tend to move all the pins toward one side of the bores . . . and the chain "becomes longer" (but no metal actually stretched). If each pin only moves .003" from the center and there are about 100 links, then the chain will have "stretched" more than 1/4"!
Throw in the concept of the new chain "seating" itself on the sprockets and you can "find" some more "stretch".
Throw in the additional concept that the chain adjuster lock plates (the little formed plates immediately under the adjuster nuts) may not have been properly positioned against the ends of the swing arm . . . and they "found" that proper position as you rode . . . and you've found some more "stretch". (Mind you, I'm not casting aspersions on your chain tensioning technique! Um, don't ask me how I know about that last little item, OK?
)So, I come back to - run it a little bit, and re-check the chain tension. I kind of like the idea of the rear axle being about mid-slot -- that gives you all the wheelbase you can get without placing the axle loads wayeeeee out at the ends of the axle slot.
While you are at it - since this machine has just been "gone through" - riding for 10 minutes then doing a thorough check of ALL bolts and adjustments is a good idea. Then do it again after 20 more minutes of riding. Then you are probably "good to go".
Ed
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LoneStarHodaka - 08/03/09 at 3:15pm
Makes perfect sense Ed!
I rode it for about 20 minutes today, and it hasn't stretched any more than it already did after that first 2-minute test ride.
I'll let it "wear in" a little more, then check it out.
As far as checking nuts and bolts, totally! I learned the hard way about that one before!
Thanks!
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