Chain adjustment

Im completely baffled. I am replacing an old chain that has some miles on it with a HD gold did chain. The old chain had a spot that was tighter than the rest of the chain. Think check slack and rotate the wheel and check again. About every rotation of the wheel it would have a tight spot.
I looked for an out of round sprocket both front and rear and did not find any issues. When I look at the front sprocket it rotates about twice before I get the tight spot in the chain. Here is where I’m confused. The rear sprocket goes 1 1/8 revolution before the slack goes from about an inch to a 1/4 inch. Meaning the rear sprocket isn’t in the same clocked position when the slack tightens up. The problem is the new chain has the same issue. How can this happen? I also changed the rear sprocket from 32 to 33t and still have the same problem. What can I be looking for?

Thoughts - misaligned center of sprocket and rear axle runout. Can you mount a “pointer” to the swing arm and check runout of the rear sprocket. Maybe a pencil trace on the spricket

A certain amount of this is normal and cannot be eliminated. The C/S sprocket wobbles on the countershaft, more or less at-random. The wheel sprocket wobbles, too...just not as much. With real power in one of these bikes, the rubber sprocket dampers become excessively worn around the 5000-mile mark. They can look perfect and be perfectly fine in a stocker. Then, there's the hub nose. In my experience, the good quality vintage OEM ones are good for somewhere around 15K miles; that's an edumacted guess. In the real world, I've only seen a couple with that kind of mileage. Original mileage was unknown and, of course, operating conditions could make a huge difference. What I'd suggest is monitoring C-clip rotation and shake, caused by chain whip, in the 50-60mph range. A pencil mark in gap is all you need to see how much C-clip rotation you're getting, on the hub.

What I found was that an annoying shake would occur in the mid-50mph range, it went away by 60mph and above. A new chain and new sprocket dampers, along with a chain tension adjustment would cure this...for a while. As the miles rolled on, the "fix" had a progressively shorter service life. By the 20K mile mark, it just wasn't lasting anywhere near long enough for me. I switched to a different rear hub, with a 3rd bearing, for the sprocket itself. That made a helluva difference. Guess what...there's still that damned "tight spot" in the chain revolution. FYI, sprocket machining tolerances vary more than I realized. If you can find a Takegawa C/S sprocket with the right tooth count, it's worth the investment...around $25 + shipping.

BTW, I agree with scooter. Checking sprocket concentricity is worthwhile and not difficult. Just go in aware of the fact that with "floating" sprockets at both ends, the figures you get will be less-than-dodgy, at best. Variation in chain tension, as it revolves, is probably the most useful measurement possible. The only things you can control are alignment (via the axle adjusters), chain tension, and chain condition (chain wear makes things worse). The rest comes down to machining tolerances and normal, random, sprocket wobble.

Thank you both. I replaced the hub not long ago with an NOS hub and bearings. new Honda dampeners as well. The c/s sprocket was a no name and I replaced it with a JT. The rear sprocket is in great shape and displays ever so slight movement. I have spent the last hour aligning the wheel and setting chain tension. The “tight” spot has been minimized as much as possible and I’m good with where it is and the explanations above.

Deoodles said:

Thank you both. I replaced the hub not long ago with an NOS hub and bearings. new Honda dampeners as well. The c/s sprocket was a no name and I replaced it with a JT. The rear sprocket is in great shape and displays ever so slight movement. I have spent the last hour aligning the wheel and setting chain tension. The “tight” spot has been minimized as much as possible and I’m good with where it is and the explanations above.

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That's what I did, for years, short of aftermarket/custom parts that's really about all there is. As long as the sprocket bore fits tightly (in practical terms) on the hub nose, that plus fresh dampers is as good as it gets. It might be possible to fit a thin, shim-type, spacer between the C-clip & sprocket face, limiting wobble; hint: it was more hassle than it was worth, to me...

My first thought were the dampeners being worn. 2nd is the wheel bolts are working loose or they have made their holes out of round?

cjpayne said:

... 2nd is the wheel bolts are working loose or they have made their holes out of round?

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Nope, the bolts are not the issue and couldn't be. The sprocket mounts to the hub, piloting off the hub nose, retained by the C-clip. All 8 bolts backing out wouldn't affect the chain and sprockets...unless the tire contacted the chain

racerx said:

Nope, the bolts are not the issue and couldn't be. The sprocket mounts to the hub, piloting off the hub nose, retained by the C-clip. All 8 bolts backing out wouldn't affect the chain and sprockets...unless the tire contacted the chain

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Okay, it was just a wild guess that I realize makes no sense now.lol