Why did they change them? I think that the 86 chain adjustment system was alot easier. With the 87 and up one you could put you axle out of alignment and throw the chain. I was just wondering if anyone had a clue why the changed it.

 

Lt 230,
They changed the swingarms because they had problems with them breaking under harsh conditions. also 87 was the birth of the Zilla, which is bigger and a little heavier, so they beefed it up to reduce breaking. The down fall though is like you said the poor chain adjustment system. I have a Zilla which I built from the ground up and I use a lagear swingarm, which is very strong, and has a chain adjuster similar to the 86 style. It works great. On my last Zilla I found the best way to adjust that goofy setup was to take a center punch and insert it into the hole on the bolt that holds the swing arm to the frame. Then measure back from the center punch to the axle on both sides to make sure that they are the same. DON'T trust the little marks on the swing arm there is to much play for them to be accurate. Hope this helps---See ya in the woods

 

I think the chain adjustment is excellent. Loosen up the 4 bolts, turn the stud nuts in evenly until proper tension, look at the alignment marks for straightness, and tighten down. Its like tieing a pair of shoes to me. The marks work perfectly, how could they be wrong? I guess I must be really good to deal with such a goofy setup. What other machines had it better?

 

Dom,
The 85& 86 suzuki's had the cam style aduster which was so quick and easy to use. Mine from lagears is the same way. The 87 and up style of which I have had two aren't terrible they are just easy to get out of ailnment and can some times can loosen up while riding. After a few years of riding my first zilla, the little marks on the swing arm where scratched and marred and were hard to see. Also the spacers with the notches in them started to get some play in them, so I started using a center punch in the hole of the swingarm pivot bolt and measuring back to the axle. The 87 and up swingarm's are stronger but the adjustment system on the older one and the honda's are easier to adjust. If you look at the pro racers you will not see to may running the 87 style arm, I can adjust my chain in 2 minutes using 1 allen key. Since most of us are not pro racers there is no big need to change it if you have it, I just prefer the cam style adjuster and strong and lighter Lagear one That I have, plus I wanted mine purple. And you probably are just that good, hey if you like your's cool but if you ever break it check out lagears or lone star before buying a factory one, the price will be close between the 2 and I think you will see a difference. See ya

 

I also have a problem with adjusting my chain. I don't know where the alignment marks are on the swingarm. There should be a better way of doing this. Clymer repair manual does not say anything about the marks. Can anyone shed some more light on the subject? The bike seems to pull ok but I would love to learn how to adjust it the right way. Thanks for the help! Mark in N.C.

 

You own a quadsport 230 right? My guess would be they left the alignment marks off your swingarm...They should look like little tape measure marks on the swingarm near the 4 bolts that hold the axle in. Does anyone out there own a quadsport to answer his question?

 

There are little marks??

 

I talked to a dealer today and he told me how to adjust the chain on the 230. Lossen all four bolts on the swingarm and tighten the adjusting bolts. He then said to measure from the bolt head to where it attaches to the swingarm and the distance should be the same on each bolt. Make sense? I'll try it as soon as I can. Maybe I can finally learn how to do this properly. Mark in N.C.