Wheel adjusting cams must be in sync?

[02Electra]

Gents,

Allow me to start another thread on an oft-discussed topic.

Is it really a must to have the "snails" in sync with each other - same number of indentations each side? When i keep them in sync, the wheel gets mis-aligned almost touching the swingarm on the right side - the gearbox side.

If I align the wheel by eye, then it comes in centre of the swingarm , the chain is straight and true, but the cams are not in sync. Buttoned it up like that, took a short ride through the neighbourhood and it seems just fine.

This was my first attempt on adjusting the chain myself, as the local mechanic tightened it beyond belief!

What are your opinions.
Thanks,
Sunny.

[ERC]

You are correct to line the wheel up and not worry where the cams are. You want the wheel to be straight.  ERC 

[Ice]

If I align the wheel by eye, then it comes in centre of the swingarm , the chain is straight and true, but the cams are not in sync. Buttoned it up like that, took a short ride through the neighbourhood and it seems just fine.

This was my first attempt on adjusting the chain myself, as the local mechanic tightened it beyond belief!

What are your opinions.
Thanks,
Sunny.

My opinion is that you're better at chain adjustments than the other guy.



 Welcome to the wonderful world of doing your own maintenance.
Nothing satisfies the soul like a well sorted Bullet....except one you've sorted yourself.
Congrats

[1 Thump]

Nothing satisfies the soul like a well sorted Bullet....except one you've sorted yourself.

+1

[02Electra]

Thanks a lot fellas. That clears it up nicely.

Welcome to the wonderful world of doing your own maintenance.
Nothing satisfies the soul like a well sorted Bullet....except one you've sorted yourself.
Congrats

Yes sir! I've been doing the carb myself for the past few years, just didnt feel brave enough to adjust the wheel and chain. But now i feel good. Also the screwup by the mechanic was the final straw.

Next DIY is to service the clutch - disassembly,cleanup and fresh oil. The bike stood for 6+ months and the clutch is acting grabby and lacking feel. Wish me luck!

Cheers.

[Kevin Mahoney]

I can say with 100% confidence and certainty that the snails CANNOT be relied upon by counting the notches on each side. As someone here has said, just make the wheel straight. These are hand welded frames and do vary

[Ice]

 The dealer that un crated and assembled mine aligned the wheels then put a reference dot of black paint on each snail cam right next to the little index dowels that sticks out of the swing arm plates,,,the little dowels that notches in the snail cams rest on.

 I took a sharp center punch and put a hefty punch mark dead center of those two paint spots for the day the paint flaked off.

[Scottie J]

I enjoyed my first experience with the snail adjusters for the first time last night.  They are almost pointless to even have on the bike.  Especially the left side being that it only wants to rotate the second you put some actual torque to it.
Scottie

[Arizoni]

I always knew I'm weird so it didn't come as any surprise to me when I didn't have any real trouble using the snails to adjust my rear wheel. 

Seriously, yes, a few times while I adjusted the chain tension and the alignment one of the other snail would decide it wanted to demonstrate its independence so it rotated out of position but a few slaps with a screwdriver handle got its attention so it stayed in place while I tightened the axle nuts.

In its favor, because it has such a wide range of possible locations to work in, it allowed me to use a standard 102 link chain instead of futzing with a half link and riveting one into the chain to get the strange 101 link chain the G5 comes with. 

[GreenMachine]

I found the snails to work perfectly for the chain adjustment. I counted and marked the original position with a marker pen and proceeded to do the adjustment. Originally both sides were equal and I just had to move the rear tire back two notches to tighten the chain while spinning the rear wheel....I did a rear to front check using a straight 1x2x8 ...Bike stays straight with no hands on a straight away...Guess I was lucky on the rear frame factory assembly.  GM

[Kevin Mahoney]

it is more the location of the pins that the frame itself. I love the way they look but I guess there are better ways

[barenekd]

There is another way. The aluminum block chain adjusters I find to be almost as big a PITA as the snails.
The problem I had with the snails was that the right hand one required me to get it out past the the aligning pin before it would even move, requiring complete removal of the axle nut, then prying the snail out far enough to turn it. I don't know why it did this, but after a multitude of chain adjustments with the OEM chain, it got a bit old. The snails definitely were misaligned when the wheel was straight. I pt some centerpunch marks on the snails where the wheel  was even.
When I replaced the chain with an 18 T sprocket and 102 link chain, I also replaced the snails with the aluminum adjusters. I got lucky the first time out as the adjustment was the same as the OEM chain so all I had to do was use the same dimensions. Later on,  changing tires, I found that youahd to slip thes  blocks over the swing arm ends before putting the axle through ar you weren't going to get them on. Little bit of a PITA,but livable. A bit harder tolive with was the access to the adjusting nuts with pretty much any type wrench. It as easy enough to get the outside nut with a socket, a skinny one, but the inner nut was a real PITA. I ended up just slightly jamming them together the doing the adjustment with the outside nut or if the nuts were aligned properly with each other I could slip the socket over both of them. The next thing I noticed was that I was very nearly out of adjustment before the axle was going to run into the adjusters. After probably one more adjustment I as going to have to go back to the snails. With a 101 link chain this wouldn't have been a problem, but I hadn't secured a half link for the Tsubaki chain, yet. I think they are available, but fitment was still a question.
I hope the Continental (Cafe Racer) blocks work better than these. They look like they have ample room.
Bare

[Scottie J]

I hope the Continental (Cafe Racer) blocks work better than these. They look like they have ample room.
Bare

Where can I find those at Bare?

[cafeman]

On my 2001 Bullet I checked the wheel alignment with strings. Turns out the adjusters were off by four notches. I replaced the drive chain with the oem number of link chain (oem gearing ratio) and couldn't get the chain adjusted or the wheels aligned as the right side cam fouled the lower shock mount weld bead, and then the chain was too tight as well. I had to grind off about 1/4" of material from the cam so I could then rotate it to get the wheels properly aligned, as well as have proper chain tension. Crazy