Motorcycle Chain Maintenance Tools And How To Use Them

A chain and sprocket set that should last tens of thousands of kilometres will often be scrap in a fraction of that. The reasons are almost always the same three: the sprockets are not aligned, the slack is wrong, and the chain is dry.

All three are cheap to fix with the right tool and expensive to ignore.

Swingarm adjuster marks are stamped during manufacture and frequently do not correspond to true alignment. A chain alignment tool mounts on the rear sprocket and projects a reference line to the front sprocket, showing the actual plane rather than the stamped assumption.

Check alignment every time the chain is adjusted, not only when the wheel comes out.

Too tight is worse than too slightly loose. A chain adjusted at full extension will bind as the suspension compresses and will load the gearbox output bearing. Follow the figure in the manual for the specific bike, measured at the specified point in the suspension travel, with the rider weight condition the manual specifies.

A chain breaker presses the pin out of a link so a chain can be removed or shortened. The Creease tool covers 420 to 530 chain sizes with interchangeable handles and publishes tool body dimensions of 98 mm and 120 mm.

Two practical notes. Press pins are a wear item, so buy spares with the tool. And confirm whether the pattern you buy also rivets, because a breaker that cannot rivet leaves you unable to close a chain that has no clip link.

A cable luber does the same job for control cables that chain lube does for the chain. It clamps around the cable end and forces lubricant down the inner wire, which is the only way to get lubricant to the middle of the run. A notchy throttle and a heavy clutch are usually dry cables, not worn cables, and the tool costs less than one cable.