ChinaRiders Forums - View Single Post - SIGH, Hawk 250 chain adjustment issue. Six attempts and I give up.

HawkTwoFifty · 07-01-2022, 11:56 PM

Can anyone please tell me why I am having issues with setting the proper (or even minimal) slack in the Hawk 250 chain? I have tried six times now to properly adjust chain and its just not happening.

Heres what I keep doing. First I jack the rear tire off the ground, then I loosen the chain adjustment nuts and rear axle bolt and test by hand that the axle slides freely forwards and rearward in the swingarm. Next I install a perfectly sized new chain which I cut to size leaving it with the perfect amount of slack (and then some) once the axle is slid all the way forward in the swingarm. After this, I slide the rear tire forward (because it naturally moves rearward with the wheel up in the air) to get my chain to the perfect slack. So I find the perfect amount of slack and snug my axle bolt and snug the chain adjustment screws even with each other. At this point, the slack is still perfect! I check twice to confirm. Its still always perfect.

Now heres where it ALWAYS goes wrong for me! As I tighten the axle bolt (after having the bolt slightly snug with the perfect amount of chain slack set) , the chain adjustment sliders in the swingarm keeps sliding rearward as I tighten the axle bolt. A major problem I see is that the chain adjustment screws do not prevent the slider from moving rearward, only frontward. So it is impossible to tighten my axle bolts without the sliders moving rearward and automatically tightening my chain! I have even applied forward pressure to my rear tire using my foot while tightening the axle bolt, but it still slides rearward and removes all the slack from my chain.

The only thing I havent tried yet is dropping the rear tire to the ground after snugging up the axle bolt.. But I was hoping to keep the rear tire up in the air to keep weight off my swingarm and sliders while tightening the axle bolts. If its in a free state without any weight applied, I would assume everything would tighten more squarely and eliminate any damage to the swingarm chain sliders or anything else.

So my end result after six attempts is a chain with barely any slack once I tighten the axle bolt.

So what I am doing wrong here? Thanks.

(Also, My bike is a 2018 and it only has 13 easy street miles on it after sitting for a few years now. Its basically brand new.)

07-01-2022, 11:56 PM	#1
HawkTwoFifty Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 93	SIGH, Hawk 250 chain adjustment issue. Six attempts and I give up. Can anyone please tell me why I am having issues with setting the proper (or even minimal) slack in the Hawk 250 chain? I have tried six times now to properly adjust chain and its just not happening. Heres what I keep doing. First I jack the rear tire off the ground, then I loosen the chain adjustment nuts and rear axle bolt and test by hand that the axle slides freely forwards and rearward in the swingarm. Next I install a perfectly sized new chain which I cut to size leaving it with the perfect amount of slack (and then some) once the axle is slid all the way forward in the swingarm. After this, I slide the rear tire forward (because it naturally moves rearward with the wheel up in the air) to get my chain to the perfect slack. So I find the perfect amount of slack and snug my axle bolt and snug the chain adjustment screws even with each other. At this point, the slack is still perfect! I check twice to confirm. Its still always perfect. Now heres where it ALWAYS goes wrong for me! As I tighten the axle bolt (after having the bolt slightly snug with the perfect amount of chain slack set) , the chain adjustment sliders in the swingarm keeps sliding rearward as I tighten the axle bolt. A major problem I see is that the chain adjustment screws do not prevent the slider from moving rearward, only frontward. So it is impossible to tighten my axle bolts without the sliders moving rearward and automatically tightening my chain! I have even applied forward pressure to my rear tire using my foot while tightening the axle bolt, but it still slides rearward and removes all the slack from my chain. The only thing I havent tried yet is dropping the rear tire to the ground after snugging up the axle bolt.. But I was hoping to keep the rear tire up in the air to keep weight off my swingarm and sliders while tightening the axle bolts. If its in a free state without any weight applied, I would assume everything would tighten more squarely and eliminate any damage to the swingarm chain sliders or anything else. So my end result after six attempts is a chain with barely any slack once I tighten the axle bolt. So what I am doing wrong here? Thanks. (Also, My bike is a 2018 and it only has 13 easy street miles on it after sitting for a few years now. Its basically brand new.)
	0