Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

148 |JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.au

REAR GUARD

HOWTORIDE/ADBGARAGE/WERECOMMEND/ TECH / KIDZ KORNER / USED RIDE /

CHAINMONKEY

VERDICT

Imagine if these things had

been aroundyearsago.Would

my index finger still be

complete? Probablynot.Hard

to use a Chain Monkey on the

move when you are runninglate

for scrutineering. This is a

cleverlittledevice andaslong

as you remember to check for

tightspotsafter youhavedone

theadjustmentit’s goingto

save you heapsoftimeand

fingerjuices.

WK

GETITHERE

THEBILL

$ 55

BROWSER

andystrapz.com

BLOWER

( 03 ) 9786 3445

Used &

Abused

ITWASASif AndyWhite knew,

as if he’d seen the flat spot on

my right index finger and was

comingtotherescue.“Here,do

aproductevaluation on one of

these,”saidthemanbetter

known as AndyStrapz.

Theproducthewashanding

mewasaChain Monkey chain

adjustingtoolandtherest,as

they say, ishistory. Itookit

home,tosseditonthe

workbenchandthat’s where it

satfor months, gatheringdust.

Icouldn’tface adjusting a

chain,socouldn’tgoforaride

andsoIcouldn’tgetthat

(Chain) Monkeyoff myback.

Andymust have seen that

chunk missingfrom my finger

and figureditout.He’saformer

paramedic, you know. Many

years ago, I waspushinga

Honda CR125towards

scrutineeringwhen I thought I’d

justcheckthechaintensionon

themove.

Badmove. There certainly

wasn’tenoughclearance atthe

countershaftsprocketfor my

index finger.

TheChain Monkeydoesthe

jobof providingtherequired

tension in your Regina sothat

you can remove any remaining

slackwith thechaintensioner

bolts andride off into the

sunsetwithoutatripto

casualty.

It’s notmagic, you still have

tocheckfor “tight”spotsinthe

chain, especially on older chain/

sprocketsetsandyou might

needtohave someonehelping

ifthechaintensionhastobe

setwith therider onthebike.

WERATE 

CONSTRUCTIONThis thingis

madeofonepretty solid chunk

ofpolyamide and isprobably

over-engineered for motorcycle

• chainuse,whichmayrelate to
  it beingmarketedfor other
  applications.
  VIDEOThere’s agood“howto”
  video on You Tubeattru-
  tension.com/how it works/
  TOOLSYoudon’tneedany
  toolstousetheChain Monkey
  asthetensioningknoband
  washerdon’tneed’em.
  Youdoneedtomeasurethe
  heightofthechainlinks, which
  Tru-Tension confusinglycalls
  thechainsizeandmeasures
  with a builder’s tape measure.
  HereatADB,onlyan
  electronic vernier caliper will
  get thatgig. This measurement
  is usedtoadjusttheChain
  Monkeybetween five settings.

WEDON’TRATE 

COLOURCall mepicky but no

“blue blood” isgoingto use a

toolthatisKTMorange.

BULKTheplastic Chain

Monkeyisabitonthebulky

sideforatoolbag, althougha

more compact steel version

maybe on the way.

SETTINGWe’dprefer the

settingtabletofeature

standardchain sizeslike

5 20/525/530 rather than

havingtodoaheight

measurementbutthatmight

endupbeing a ratherlongtable

now.

DOME NUTThey call thisthing

theChain Monkeybutthe

plasticdome nutcaphasn’t

been mouldedtolooklikeone,

so there’sno chance ofthe kids

adjusting their own chains.

LOCKNUTThereisarubber

do-dadwhichTru-Tensioncalls

a“circular stop”onthe

threaded shaft. Thisprevents

you windingtoo much slack into

thechainbeforeyoutighten

thechaintensionerbolts.This

“stop”gets slippery, especially

with workgloves on. We

recommendputtinganickinit

with the edgeofaholepunch

togive your fingers somegrip.

Wordsmith Wolter Kuiper

3

2

1

1.“Circular stop” needsanindent

2 .Thefivesetting marksline up

with thebottom ofthedome nut

3. The adjusting knob is chunky