Please be gentle with your comments, I'm VERy new at mechanical stuff. Got a 2006 Ninja 250. only 2600 miles on it. Second day, hit the front brake to hard and ended up in the ditch... So I don't remember what the shifting was like on day one.Current Problem: After the bike is warmed up and I shift to first it really jerks hard. And when I'm riding (I do shift up and down at the right RPM) there is a loud clunking noise in the lower gears. I have looked around on the forums and I'm a little at a loss as to what to look at. After the ditch riding incident, my rear tire was out of line so I'm wondering if maybe I got the chain to tight or is it maybe time for a better oil? (I read that sometimes the better oil will help smooth shifting.)

I did go ahead and buy the full synthetic oil to change, because it is about time, but I have read and read and RE READ that stupid manuel and I can't seem to grasp the "HOW TO CHECK CHAIN SLACK" section.... Could someone explain it to me in STUPID WOMAN LANGUAGE?

 

lol.. first off, welcome to KF and bikes in general!!

your shifting sounds pretty normal, actually.. the clunking comes from 12 gears roating at a common speed.... then, when you select first (from neutral) you instantly stop all those gears from spinning..

they're gonna turn regardless of the clutch being pulled in or not.. it's clutch drag, and theres nothing you can do.. BUT, it is not detrimental.. very normal.

stupid womanlanguage..lol.. Hmm... how to be fair and accurate with THIS!!?!!???

well, you're looking for just a tiny bit of play on the chain.. too much will wear out the sprockets, and puts a high and stressful load on the berings in the transmission.

too loose, well, it can come off in corners and downshifting, and possibly killing you if you crash in a corner cuz it decides to come off.. very bad, plus,it slapsagainst the swingarm and marks it up, and wears away at the metal and welds.

your chain shouldn't be able to easily touch the swingarm when pressed on. do this on level ground and with the bike off and in neutral, that way, theres no load on the chain at all.

if you have more than 1" or so of movement in total on the chain, then it DEFINITELY needs tightened..lol

re-inspect your alignment..

me, personally, i do not trust the markings in the axle carrier.. those little dashes are not all that accurate.. i do 2 things..

i make sure the axle tensioner bolts are wound with equal revolutions to the desired tightness, and i use my handly little wheel alignment tool to gauge where the wheel is sitting.. they're about 30 some bucks, but i made mine..

you can get thm from the stealership.

as far as inspection of your machine, i'd look closely at the linkage to see if it's still aligned and straight.. it should move smoothly and with no binding at any pint along its travel.



not sure what else to say.. jeep us posted!! maybe a pic or two of the carnage may help me determine if theres any substantial damage to attend to...

 

You have been EXTREMELY helpful! When I get home this afternoon I'll take some pictures. I'm afraid now that I have it to loose.. Oh my word! To loose or to tight when will the fighting ever end.? When I was younger and rode dirt bikes I always had problems with my chain... Coming off... to loose... so I never thought a chain could be too tight. but when my daughter rode with me one day and ask what that loud boom boom noise was . I figured maybe something was wrong... when i got my oil filter from the local moto shop i told the guy what it was doing and he said, without even blinking, your chain may be to tight. So I figured it couldn't hurt to loosen it. now it doesn't make that noise so loud but i'm afraid it may drag that swing arm a bit./ I saw the groove in the dirt on the arm. SO i may have the wrenches in my hand again sooner than I wanted.

www.myspace.com/storm1974

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Good lookin sled.......

Did you measure the chain tension yet?

 

No not yet, I'm still not exactly sure how to measure it. But I went riding again yesterday and when I got back i was looking at the chain again and it's not touching the swing are thingie.. and it is really shifting A LOT smoother than it was before.. This time when i shift from neu. to 1 is bearly a jerk, but don't get me wrong it is still a jerk, but not quite the lunge i was getting. and when downshifting through the gears when i slow down is a low tink, tink, noise not the lound clunk clunk.
I feel like a freaking idiot with all this tink and clunk talk.

 

If you don't quite have it done by Sunday, I will take a couple of pics for ya, and post it.

 

hmm, your manual will tell you on the sag and chain measurement.

 

Dragone#19 - Thanks for the input. But,,,,,, I have read and read that manual like a bible. Over and over again,,, even the parts I don't need to fool with yet. I figured the more I read the more I would understand when it came time. But the part about chain tension and stuff is hard for me to grasp. Yes, I'm a woman, but I'm a well rounded woman. My husband works with plumbing and I am literally his right arm. I'm better understanding every day that the way men interperate things and women are WAAY different. For Example: He will not move furniture with me. He says that I don't just "know" what another man would "know".

Anyway, I have a question maybe you could shed some light on. When they say bla bla should be your slack movement. Do they mean from one extreme to the other? I read somewhere to take a piece of paper or something and mark where the chain falls? Okaydoes that mean push down to is lowest and mark the paper (where the bottom of chain falls) then push the chain up and mark on the paper (the bottom) then take that paper and measure to get the MM of movement?Does that sound right or am I totally F*&KING it up the way I'm saying it?

I rode a little bit Friday evening and it REALLy is riding MUCH MUCH smoother. When I'm downshifting I just bearly hear that tink tink noise. and when I'm in N and shift to 1st I don't get that horrible lunge I was getting. Maybe it was the chain, or the new oil . but it is much better. I really hate to fool with it anymore.

You guys have been great and I appreaciate you even trying to help a woman. Most men get aggraviated with me because I ask TONS of totally small questions. But if i don't ask then I don't learn.

 

lol.. its no problem at all for us to help! it my unofficial job here as part of the KF crew to spread my craft and knowledge for all to enjoy..lol

for me personally, i take just one end or side of the link for my measurement.. i do it be feel now, and you will after a few times as well, but meter and gauge your movement off the top of he chain, just for fun.

if you were to take the absolute depth of the chain vertically along the sideplate, you'll end up with an extra 1/2 inch of play that should be there when in reality, it shouldn't be.

and yeppers, chain tension makes a dramatic effect on shifting function!! these transmissions are weird animals.. sensitive to ambient effects, yet brutally strong.

that tink tink is a little bit of chain slap when you let off the gas.. you're loading the bottom of the chain now instead of the top (under the swingarm instead of above..) and its just the recoil basically in the chain from the "tension...compression.. move.. tension.. compression... move.." thing going on while under engine braking.

it probably won't do it while at a higher speed i bet!!

my 7 does the same thing before i make an adjustment.. in fact, it's doing it now, and hopefully this weekend i'll lube and service everything..

anyway, if you were to let off at 50 or so mph in 4th or 5th, i'd bet that you won't hear that until you get don't into the lower revs.. like about 2 grand or so.. the reasoning for this is mainly engine braking, and its effects on chain loading. the higher revs will be WAY smoother in the rotation.. the closer you get to idle, the chain starts kinda playin catch-up with the motor, then spins it... the motor freewheels (or at least tries) to it's idle speed, and this power transfer reciprocates more "violently" with lesser RPMs as the idle speed is kinda bouncy anyways.. this will be less noticeable with spot-on tension, as you will not hear the chain slap.. you'll feel it, tho, if you pay attention to it..

well, good luck with that, and glad to hear yo're getting the hang of this mechanical crap.

don't let it intimidate you. all the basic principles of mechanics are present. theres really nothing super special you hafta know thus far to service your machine..

 

Hey there, I can't add much to this, I'm still learning myself, but I saw your pix on your myspace, and your jacket looks perfect to be on a Ninja.