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Drive chain tensioner experiment


markstertt

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[div]I raised the rear ride height of my bike and in so doing increased the droop angle of the swing arm which in turn made for a looser chain in the unloaded condition, enough so that I decided to try an experiment with a tensioner made out of some alloy plate and an ATV roller and spring. Why? Well supposedly a chain tensioner lessens vibration, prolongs chain and sprocket life, lessens snatch on and off throttle, makes for smoother shifts etc. most of which I read or made up but it's something I've been curious about so here are some pictures of what I've got so far, yet unridden as I just got it all back together. I did have to add one extra bolt hole but have since come up with a better idea for another tensioner that requires no mods to existing m/c and uses a sprocket rather than a roller. Opinions or ideas welcom
 
 
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I won't be able to ride until next weekend but will report back for those interested. Enclosed are a few more pix showing extra hole drilled, won't need this with next version as I'll just make a hat section spacer for that oversize lower frame hole as I did with the upper hole. The alloy plate is threaded for a shoulder bolt that the roller arm pivots on and the roller has 2 bearings with spacer between much like a rear wheel. Both bolts install into threaded holes and are backed up with nylon lock nuts. Good enough for now I think.
 
 
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Looks good, but be careful testing in case of the unexpected,
if the chain should lock pulling the clutch wont help.
watching with interest.
 

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Looks good, but be careful testing in case of the unexpected, if the chain should lock pulling the clutch wont help.
watching with interest.

Thanks Ralph but I'm not sure what you mean by 'chain locks' care to explain? Let you know how it goes when I get a chance to ride...Mark 
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  • 2 weeks later...
firstyammerha

Back in my dirt riding days, there were similar set-ups that were mounted ahead of the rear sprocket. I don't know if that was more efficient but I had one on one of my bikes.

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  • 5 weeks later...
markstertt

Sorry it took so long to get back to this but I finally got to do a couple of decent rides to check out my tensioner...well, without a doubt (to me) the shifting has improved and seemingly more so when down shifting for some reason. The throttle to rear wheel interconnect (loss for words here) seems more instant. Not sure how to describe the feeling but shifting just feels crisper, blip and snick down through the gears, thru neutral to first, smoother. I didn't notice anything else such as less vibration etc. I'll see how this one holds up and maybe over the winter try a slightly improved version but I look forward to putting some more miles on this one. I feel that this was a worthwhile project and will update this post if I learn anything new...Mark

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What I meant is if something happens that locks/stops/jams the chain unless
that chain comes off or snaps it's going to lock the wheel, but your set
up looks good and I can see were smoothness and gear change would be better.

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markstertt

Got it Ralph, so far so good. I'm going to put the gopro on it to check out the action, was revealing when used to check shock and linkage action.

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very nice execution! Would it be possible to mount it to the blue plate in the foreground instead?

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markstertt
very nice execution! Would it be possible to mount it to the blue plate in the foreground instead?
Yes but with stock side plates/pegs etc. this was easier for me, I really didn't need to drill the one hole that I did but there is a doubler strap behind my drilled hole that I had to step over so I just drilled a hole through that straps lightening hole. Next time I would just make another hat section spacer like for the top hole and just use the 2 existing holes in that plate. 
I considered taking off the aft nut plate on the foreground blue plate and using a longer thru bolt for my pivot bolt but since this was an experiment for me I wanted to change and design as little as possible to be able to return to stock easily and also the configuration of the spring dictated some of the design and dimensions which just made it easier for me the way I did it, if I had a reverse wound spring with ends clocked differently then that would have also changed my design. Many ways to do it should someone want to. I just got back from a 650 mile ride and all worked as it should so I guess I'll leave it for now, I do have a different idea in mind for the next version if I decide it's worth pursuing.
 
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