Motorcycle Repair: How to Adjust the Balancer Chain Tension on a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650
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**Always follow the instructions in your repair manual when doing repair or maintenance work on a motorcycle. Manuals can be found at the dealer and online.**
To adjust the balancer chain tension on a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650, remove the rubber plug below the alternator cover and loosen the bolt underneath the rubber plug. Do not loosen the bolt more than two turns. When the bolt is loose, a chain tension assembly inside the engine will move under spring pressure toward the chain and take out any slack. The next step is to tighten the bolt to 78 inch pounds, which will hold to chain tension assembly against the chain and keep the chain free of any slack.
After the chain is adjusted, start the bike and let it idle. Do not accelerate the engine. Listen for any abnormal noise coming from the area of the engine where the chain is. If you hear anything unusual, stop the engine and remove the engine side cover and inspect the engine. It is possible for the chain tension assembly to break sometime before the adjustment. When this happens the tension assembly will fall away from the chain creating more slack in the chain. The extra slack can cause the chain to fall off the sprockets and cause engine damage.
Thank you for watching!
I used a big screw driver, turned it sideways, applied pressure as I turned and it worked out well. The shop gave me my bike back saying they replaced the seals, but turns out they didn’t put a seal there at all and thus my bike leaked oil. So, I changed the oil and took the top cap that was leaking and used it as a template to cut a seal out of an old bicycle tube. so far it hasn’t leaked. They charged $700 and I’ve got to go over EVERYTHING they did and didn’t do. Never going there again…
I didn’t have to pay them, my aunt did and she gave me the bike as soon as she picked it up from the shop. The front brake grabs after you ride a while, so air is getting in the system, chain and socket needed to be replaced with wheel bearing, carb needed cleaning, tires needed replacing, only the headlight worked, but I’ve fixed all that myself. I asked them to press the bearings in, they said it’d take a day and $50, so I went home and did it free in 10mins lol.
The forks may need new seals and I know they need oil, but I’m not sure how to replace the seals or what oil they take. The bike is from 1990 and has a nearly 7,000 miles on it, so I’m not sure if the motor has been taken care of or if I’ll need to open it, check the valve guides and seals and crank bearings and piston rings… I hope not, but if I do, I think I’d be better off selling it and getting a newer bike that’s fuel injected lol.
Great video! to the point and good info!
Thanks
How often do you need to do this?
Have you ever broken one? (Is it easy to break?)
Hey I changed mine out at a shop to the upgraded one but today I have oil coming from the bolt under the plug it’s dripping out and want a idea why I figured the seal went bad