Put a 40t vortex sprocket on today.

When the stock sprocket was on the axle sliders tick marks were equal on both sides. likewise when you measured the distance between the slider and machined face of the swing arm with a digital caliper the numbers were so close to the same on both sides it was an insignificant difference.

Today after installing the sprocket and adjusting the chain things are off. When measuring with the calipers I have the sliders an almost perfectly equal distance on both sides but the tick marks are now off almost a half tick.

Any suggestions? I'm sure it is something simple.

I found that tightenning the axle nut can misalign the axle. If you have the axle nut on the right, you need to lift while tightenning with the handle of the wrench pointed backward. This will push the axle block against the adjuster bolt and keep it where it belongs. If you have the wrench pointed toward the front and push down, you are pushing the axle away from the adjuster bolt and maybe cocking it a little in the axle slots, too.

Those axle blocks do not fit perfectly tight in the swingarm either. The blocks will teeter totter on the axle when the axle nut is loose. I could see if one was teetered and the other was tottered, you could have a difference of a half a mark.

I never measure mine. I just set it the best I can using the marks and call it good. i think I have seen my sprocket wear a little more on one side than the other but oh well. I have aftermarket chain adjusters that should make wheel alignment more accurate.

The thing lots of guys miss with this is...you KICK the rear wheel in BEFORE you tighten the axle nut.Then you adjust both sides...not tightening the axle nut.Threading it in until a bit snug(but not much)just to keep the wheel in place,then adjusting both sides...and THEN tightening the axle nut fully.Once the adjusters are sitting against the blocks..it CAN'T move..You ALSO need to look THROUGH the axle when adjusting the blocks.Any off angle of sight right there will make the lines appear to NOT be lining up.(with each other on both sides).Look through the axle(for both sides of alignment).And set the lines where they are equal on both sides.Set the locknut,and don't allow the adjuster bolt to turn as you tighten the lock nuts.Then crank on the axle nut.It'll be perfect everytime this way.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 2/26/2015 @ 6:48 PM *

Place a straightedge on rear sprocket, the longer the better. Top or bottom makes no difference, the point of the rear sprocket to the front sprocket is all that matters. Pretend you have no marks. Perfect is perfect,,, or use the Marks.

almost perfectly equal distance on both sides but the tick marks are now off almost a half tick.

It helps to step on the bottom rung of the chain so it slides the axle forward. Works no matter the swingarm side it enters. It won't tend to pull the block back when the nut is twisting. As if done statically, or without some sort of pressure against the adjuster blocks. Try that.

Thanks all, will try it again tomorrow. I haven't had this issue before when I did it so I'm sure I goofed up somewhere.

Unless it;s an update to the 14r, the axle blocks can't interchange because remember, you have that flat sticking out on one block. That won't fit on the axle nut end of the axle, only the flanged end of the axle.

You are correct, Rook. That block acts as the lock so the axle won't spin. That setup is pretty much universal these days. Don't get old!

Actually, Hub, YOU are correct. The axle blocks are interchangeable in the swingarm as long as you also interchange the axle ends. In that respect, you might get a little different alignment between the mark on the blocks and the marks on the swingarm.

I have tried using a calipers to measure the length of the adjuster bolt so that they were the same on both sides. That didn't seem to make the marks on the blocks match up to the exact same mark (or fraction of a mark) on both sides of the swingarm. Who's to say that the swigarm is exactly the same on both sides? Could one of the guides the block rides in be a little shorter? Is the swingarm pivot exactly parallel to the axle when it is aligned perfectly? Those blocks do teeter totter on the axle so if one goes clockwise when you torque and the other goes counter, you have a few degrees of difference between the left and the right. YOu can drive yourself nuts.

I use Gille's Tooling axle adjusters which have a lot finer increments but even those have a little slop in them when they are loose.

PLus, they can leave you in a lot bigger bind than you would be with a little wheel misalignment (unless you do the Rook Gille's Tooling chain adjuster safety mod shown above).
THis guy down here didn't know about the safety mod. VVVVVV

Or you can do the string method provided you could stretch a string btween the front and rear axle on both sides without having the string hit the fairings or engine covers (which you can't). I'd scream if after going through all of that, I found the marks on the swingarm way off.

I just line the marks up and eyeball down the top run of the chain. I'm a perfectionist but even I have to draw the line somewhere.

* Last updated by: Rook on 2/27/2015 @ 8:45 AM *

This topic is always koo koo.Loosen axle nut.KICK tire forward against the adjuster bolts(chock front wheel[optional]).Do adjustment on both sides looking THROUGH axle(critical).Get both sides equally placed(on or between alignment marks).Tighten axle nut.DONE.The rear wheel will NEVER need to be "moved forward" to create more slack.It will always be adjusted rearward(with the adjuster bolts).Unless of course you get TOO much tightness while adjusting.Then just loosen nut,reset adjusters(kick wheel forward)(may only be one side)and tighten nut.All the string thingy and caliper checking is totally not necessary.Been doing it this way since 07.NEVER had a problem with alignment.But to each his own;)

I'd rather be ridingLOL.

Anyone saying the 'marks' are somehow 'off' from the factory just isn't getting the procedure right.It could ONLY be off(alignment wise) if the swingarm pivot bearings were toast(assuming the wheel is actually correctly aligned).THAT aint gonna happen with normal riding.I personally wouldn't be 'looking down the upper chain run' to verify alignment.If your sight is off only slightly looking along that run,it will appear 'off'...Least that's what I noticed trying that.You couldn't really determine a mm one way or the other anyway looking along the chain to front.Using the marks eliminates any guesswork.

If someone,anyone can show that the hash marks are not equal...I'll eat a bug.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 2/27/2015 @ 9:55 AM *

My way is to think about the threads having equal pitch. Say we adjust the valves with a screw tappet and not shims. If I ran the screw out 1/4 turn, might the others wind up close to the same number we start from zero? So if I held the adjuster nut, ran the adjuster screw up under a dial indicator, moved that a full 360° turn, wouldn't that show about the same numbers we swap adjuster screw and nut?

So how about we run the adjuster bolt into the swingarm; have the lock nut hand tight up to the head of the bolt; turn the bolt so it bottoms out; from there is to match the other side with a measuring device; paint one flat of the bolt head so we find a 360 degree turn of the bolt. We now count each flat as they take up slack real fast!

That said: I will be dragging the axle and blocks rearward. That too says: I loaded the threads on the bolts to swingarm gaps. There are no other moving parts floating, but to match the block's indent with the swing's adjuster line up marks.

For accuracy of the indents in question, I'd line up the V blocks so the indents face each other. I set them on a table so both are equal at the bottom, the V up in the air. I look at the indents and how far [up or down] are they from each other? That's how I'd question the blocks. I would assume the swingarm is accurate when it started out as a 2-dimentional drawing with equal sides to create the 3rd dimension being the swingarm itself.

1. Flat for flat says float my axle to the bitter end.
2. Step on the chain rung I have my flats equal and the axle is going to keep things squared.
3. Torque to spec or if I know my 92 pounds wound up here, then I painted my axle so it is always this side up; my hole for the cotter is painted and is in the up position I miss with the axle insert. The nut has a paint mark and if 92 pounds lines up that nut slot to the cotter hole in the axle, that's one more no brainer [torque] tool I need to adjust chain/change tire/new wheels/etc with a box end wrench or socket setup.

* Last updated by: Hub on 2/27/2015 @ 9:59 AM *

I mean,yeah,you could measure the length of the adjuster bolts,have em equal for both sides.But WHY?When you look through the axle,your line of sight will automatically be squared with the marks,wherever they are at that point.Get the open hole directly in the center of your view,look straight up at the marks on the block and swingarm...there ya go.

I hear ya, Grn, but think about this. We want to take all the slack out of the pushing and pulling of the axle back and forth. Say we slide the block down the axle. It's sloppy, yes? Double that gap. Why? Because the other block and axle side have the same fit or sloppy clearance. But if we took up that gap on both sides with the axle being pressured by the chain rung is one way, or the screws forcing it the other way, we have a double sword as we add the other side of the gaps. I do not think I could eyeball that gap thru the axle hole is what I'm saying.

That's more or less we anal the little clearances that add up at the threads and blocks. And you said you'd eat a bug if the parts were out of line. So I agree with the bike parts are close enough and taking up the gap is all about stepping on or pushing a (deflated)-football-wink-wink or any kind of ball at that rung is why they made balls in the first place as far as I'm concerned.

Fucking balls sports.... peeefth

now't to do with sprocket alignment, all about wheel alignment

You can check your sprocket runout with a dial gauge. That would be so small of a discrepancy that I don't see how it could affect your chain adjuster marks.

I agree with 'axe; Alignment of the wheels may show the marks on the swingarm to be imprecise.

I aint gettin this.If the front wheel is non adjustable...then HOW can a rear be 'off' if the hash marks are equally aligned?I mean,if they aren't lined up with an axle adjustment,someone is doing it wrong.????

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/2/2015 @ 8:55 AM *

Bought one of these a few years back. Wish I would of done it a long time ago. Simple, easy to use design:
http://www.rhinomoto.com/tools.html

* Last updated by: danfzx14 on 3/2/2015 @ 9:21 AM *

I aint gettin this.If the front wheel is non adjustable...then HOW can a rear be 'off' if the hash marks are equally aligned?

From the Rhino site.."Accurate rear wheel alignment is essential for proper motorcycle handling and maximum chain and tire life, yet the alignment marks placed on the swingarm and chain adjusters by the factory are notoriously inaccurate"...another myth.

So let me get this straight.The factory doesn't care if you wreck because of knowingly 'off' swingarm hash marks.That'd go down real good in Court."Well yer honor,my client crashed because his motorcycle chain was not aligned correctly due to factory ineptness..the chain flew off the sprocket,locking the rear wheel...hence,the skid and near fatal subsequent crash"

Honestly,I'd love to see some of the statements about swingarm marks being off proven.Just once.ANYONE.You follow the manual,it'll be accurate.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/2/2015 @ 11:33 AM *

I think if anyone crashes from a poorly aligned chain, it should have been obvious from the way the bike did circles in the driveway like a fork lift. If the center tread wears more on one side or the sprocket is wearing more on one side, maybe you want to go a little more anal on this but I can't see worrying about crashing if you follow the swing arm marks and look down the chain.

Well..it was just a kidding about this chain adjustment thing.Hell,you can clearly see if the sprocket's wearing on either side of the teeth.If your adjusters are correct,there won't BE any odd wear on the teeth inside/outside surfaces.If those are wearing,and the hash marks are lined up equally...then there's something else wrong.The only surface on that sprocket that should indicate wear is the teeth troughs and shape.

Clarify here...there WILL be a normal amount of wear to the inside/outside surfaces because of the chain width itself..moving back and forth on the sprocket.But nothing odd..like one side ground down shiny,and the other nothing.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/2/2015 @ 5:54 PM *

The only way to alter back sprocket alignment to the front would be to machine say the left hand spacer and add to the right to move the whole wheel across to the left or visa versa, but for this to be out of line in the first instance the swing arm would be out of true and I can't see this on a factory produced bike if all is standard.
B-A

Today after installing the sprocket and adjusting the chain things are off. When measuring with the calipers I have the sliders an almost perfectly equal distance on both sides but the tick marks are now off almost a half tick.
Any suggestions? I'm sure it is something simple.

I'll bet he pulled it out of line when he torqued it. If you remember if you were pulling or pushing when you torqued, does this coincide with the way the axle would twist in the swingarm? Always torque so you are pulling the axle against the adjuster, not away from it. ...or else the axle slid in the swingarm slots a little. Make sure it is torqued to spec.

Loosen it and tighten it back up carefully and I'll bet it will be straight again. It was straight when you first adjusted it if I am reading this right.

I think toledo has bigger fish to fry.

I think toledo has bigger fish to fry.

So very true Rook. That little switch from Japan has what little spare time I have occupied.
Thanks all for the replies.