Monkey,
I picked up an M1100 about a month ago. After a couple hundred miles, I looked at the chain and it was saggin' heavy in the middle. I threw it up on the stand and noticed the spec that said 63mm on the swingarm. 2.5 inches!?!?! That can't be right. I checked the silly little owners manual. Same thing. When the service manual arrived from Italy a couple days later, I checked that. Same thing. 63mm ain't right. There is NOT that much arc in the swingarm. In fact, I couldn't even measure 63mm; the chain would hit the bottom of the swingarm at about 40mm of movement and there was a lot more play than that going on....
So I swung (swang?) into the dealer to ask my favorite tech. His words, "I don't know or care what that sticker says, this is right" and wiggles the chain of a Monster 1100 that was up on another tech's lift. It was about 25 - 30mm of play. That's what I would have expected.
After 30+ years of adjusting chains, both personally and professionally, I can pretty much see how much arc there is in the swingarm in relation to the location of the counter sprocket and set the tension on sight/feel. I've been doing that since I was a kid. Now that I'm older and smarter, I like to know the manufacturer's spec just to be anal retentive.
To the other point: yes looser is better than too tight, because too tight will eat your gearbox, but at 63+ mm of flop, you run the risk of a dangerous derailment of the chain. So too tight is bad, and too loose is also bad.
Since we don't seem to be able to find out what the real spec should be, I've got mine set to 30mm or so. It could prolly be a little tighter , but I'm playing it up the middle for now.
Thanks,
Jim
