You measure slack at tightest point, not loosest, if you do that then that's where you'd deffo wear the chain/wear teeth out or even bend the drive shaft or stop the full suspension movement if it's super tight, slack's there to take account of suspension movement, I thought about 20-30mm was a fair loose-ness but look at the manual, that'll tell you as it varies by swing-arm length, the longer the arm the more slack you'll have, 15mm difference twixt tight and loose isn't a massive amount tho' is it. Has anyone heard of a modern chain snapping? They're immensely strong and it's endless isn't it so's a swing-arm out job. In the old days some people would take a link out of a worn chain to make it shorter so's it'd be back in the adjustment zone!! Bear in mind most bikes wouldn't worry the skin off a rice pudding back then tho'


BTW chains don't stretch, they wear, metal doesn't elongate, least-ways not at the temperature a bike chain runs at, it's the bearing surfaces inside the links being ground away creating a tolerance which lubing counteracts and water makes worse where it transports all that road dirt into the bearing, on a long wet and mucky run the chain can be worn quite a bit as richfzs says, going to Assen - probably rained like beggery!! On an o ring chain the lube's in there for life and the water's kept out until the o ring fails which is probably where modern chains get such differences in wear pattern where some o rings last better than others.



You can check how worn a chain is by getting the most worn part on the rear sprocket, keeping it taught by pushing the bottom run up and seeing how far off the rear sprocket the link at the rearmost part of the sprocket will pull off, a new chain shouldn't move much if at all, a bit of movement is ok but if it can be pulled clear of the teeth then it'd be best not to ride it far as that might happen when you're on the move......



Cush drive rubbers wear too and they create lots of clunkiness, I'd have a butchers' at that while the wheel's adrift.


Best idea is a rental bike, ahh just been suggested, try an FZ1s, they've got a bit of shunt and not too shabby through the twisty bits 

Depending how much you like cleaning the bike but I'd suggest if you feel it's affecting your riding going out on wet roads, not particularly when it's raining as it's the road surface that's worrying you.
But if you can find a space in the recent summer when it's not actually coming down....... find some road(s) that're not full of hazards and just ride on them, is easier to get some wild rear wheel slides, but not if you're smooth with throttle opening as if it does the wheel speed will catch up with the engine dead quickly and the slide will slow, if you're grabbing handfuls of throttle then the engine speed will rocket when it looses traction and the wheel won't catch up for a long time and if you're still right way up when it does catch all that energy will get you a highside, go into corners slower and put power on gently but earlier as bike's most likely to crash loading the front wheel in the turn tho' with the fab' brakes/SBS pads on a Fazer and a good front tyre you'd be surprised the massive amount you can brake provided you're upright, be smooth, which isn't the same as slow! With increasing the braking force and avoid doing any braking on anything slippery, you don't want to be trailing any brake once you're turning. If you do and can catch front wheel slides regularly you should be on a track with Cal.
You'll find you do have to work to provoke a slide and if you do provoke it then you can stop it too, is unexpected spins that catch you out.
Use as much of the road as is safe but you should do anyways, one of the best bits of bikes is the amount of space on a road, both sides are fair game if you can see ahead, further you can see around a corner the faster you can go/more upright you can remain but also the quicker you'll see that Astra with an old giffer at the wheel going at 50mph less than the speed limit.

On a decent surface you'd want to get as much heat into the tyres as you can as (In my opinion) that's a large reason for lack of grip, just feel how cold a rear tyre is after a rainy ride compared to a dry one, front's even worse.
If you're lucky to have a track near you there's worse things than doing a track day, there'll be a ton of grip even in the wet and it's likely to be going on the last few months.
The Fazer's a pretty good tool in the wet as is softly sprung, well balanced, has ace brakes and enough shunt and heavy enough not to be skittish, my RG500 would spin up with no encouragement which was great for onlookers.


Is all the rubbish on the road that causes trouble, diesel is worst as is pretty much always on a curve and is the most slippery stuff, lot of grit washed onto them at the moment I find around here too, ok if you've a motocrosser....

Well done matey! Those "faster" bikes need faster riders, anyone can twist the throttle on a straight. A for Spoonlamp, go for it!

Just saw it on iPlayer, was a fantastic race, the circuit looks ace, very flowing. Jorge stuffed it to Casey in an amazing pass and Cal should be given a factory Yamaha next year.....

Quite a fair comment! Plenty of stopping power, tho' I find loading them a bit earlier rather than just grabbing a handful helps prevent front pushing and I have got some linear springs in which seem to work, that and a Nitron shock/shorter linkage arms and it's quite a fair roadbike. We're not really comparing likes tho' as the CBR's more akin to a Thundercat isn't it, I think the little Fazer punches above it's weight considering, Bandit price but can entertain us old roadracers types, doesn't stop me observing what's available but don't need anything for my useage tho' that Spondon/Norton RSV4 looks quite the dogs deosn't it?

Concur with Dax' the Fazer's a better town bike cos' of riding position, aside damn high first gear... but has enough shunt and handling to deal with most mobile chicanes and be quite an enjoyable ride on the twisties too and those front brakes are fabulous, likely to be rather better than a CBR's. A CBR'd likely be less prone to the ole corrosion. Most folk go for the RR don't they, tho' they frequently can't seem to use them. 

As per everyone else, don't flog the bike just yet, is worse seeing someone else cop a fall than doing so yourself I reckon as if it's you doing the falling off you've got other stuff to think about, well I do when it occurs. Bike's are about the best buzz you can get, legal or otherwise, whether you go out to make progress or just to the shops, I hardly use mine at all cos' of lack of time but I wouldn't be without 2 wheels as is always there if needed.


ATB for yer maun too.

Hi Pete, am seeing him on Saturday as they've a stand at Castle Combe  Bike Safe thingy and is collecting new gear off us with more supporters names, apparently Aprillia's loaning him bikes too so is gathering speed and influence! Will furnish him with your number, he's in Ashtead now I think.....


Cheers 

We do print work/support in whatever way we can for a guy called Talan and as I've gotten a minute or two waiting for my laser to output some artwork seps I thought I'd let all you Fazer folk about what he's doing......


Talan's been organising 2 wheeled "track" experience for disabled riders, started at Castle Combe tho's doing some on airfields and the like, is a fab' idea brought about by his wanting to continue riding in spite of being confined to a chair, working out how to and doing it and competing in racing for which he's just got his ACU licence and is racing Minitwins (I think!) in ThundersportGB series, Was at The Ace Cafe recently too with race bike.


Rather than me mithering on for pages go see his www which is thebikeexperience.co.uk which'll give you the rundown on what's what, he's on Facebook too so give him a like.

I got one for mine off Electronic-B, as per other answer to fit just need to unbolt the brake pipe where it bolts to the swingarm as it's got a bracket that side too so's well secure, well made and works very well tho' big stones stuck in the tyre tread might make a scrapping noise if you drive it over gravel    Is an ace mod.

oops, my mistake, got mixed up with last chain/sprockets I did and didn't stop to think, was a Honda..... sorry 


Manual's a must!

Hi my man, yep it is a good forum, I don't go on here very much usually but useful for checking spares etc too, got a neat BOS endcan last year, only got the Fazer as my other half passed her test and wanted something she could use if she had/wanted too (she's got a 535 Virago) Is an ex-riding schooler and dented allover so no concern with falling over (had a ZXR750 before, not really comfortable or as easy to deal with for a newbie) Had it now 3 years and is a great bike, enough hp and handling to be interesting for a regular "maker of progress" am organising new shock/springs as a treat, stonking brakes that'll bend the forks and much better than a sportsbike in town/our potholed roads.


Anyhows, valve clearances, as they're bucket/shim they don't need checking more than every 28000 miles according to Haynes, mine makes all kinds of noises which going on what's topic herein is camchain based mostly and seems like they get better at 30-40000 miles by themselves!! And a bit of a noisy gearbox in neutral which goes when the clutch it in...... but goes perfectly well, has 25000 on it now.


Chain/Sprockets, no worries really as the Fazer's got an easy to remove front sprocket, two small bolts on the sprocket rather than one big one on the shaft that's done up veeeeerrrry tight. Best advice put in gear and loosen those and the rear sprocket nuts before taking the wheel off    Move the adjusters in swingarm forward as far as possible and make sure the closed part of the soft link clip on the new chain is facing the direction of travel if it's that sort, they usually are. Oh and ensure the wheel's aligned when you put it back together too, As it's difficult to measure from spindle centre to swingarm end I measure the length of thread left on the adjusters as theyr'e the same size, with the locknuts off, keep that measurement on each side, ignore the stamped lines on the swingarm, they're not always too accurate and check thay've not moved when you tourque the wheel spindle up, I find with all forked swingarm adjusters, the right hand side espesh', loosens as you tighten the spindle, do it up a little then knock the threaded ends of the adjuster(s) with a soft mallet gently so's they're tight to the swingarm.

Think that's it, sure someone else will add to this if I've forgotten owt'

If anything I'd expect the 'Cat to have less midrange than the Fazer so an advancer may not have any better curve than a std Fazer's got anyway? I've always found it pretty good midrange, most 600's need a whack of revs to get them going, if you want elastic mid-range get a v twin or more cc's