There should be a threaded rod on each side. Each rod should have two nuts on it. The two nuts lock against each other to keep them from moving. BRB

Photos of the adjusters can be seen Here. They can be replaced. It's not a good idea to ride with the rear wheel crooked or loose.

 

Look on eBay and buy a new adjuster. I see them on there all the time. Yours may be fixable but I'd have to see it off the bike before I could tell you.

 

Okay, thanks. I can see that the adjuster should be replaceable for about $30 for all the parts that seem broken or missing.

Does anyone know how I actually take this part out? Do I need to remove the rear wheel, or do I need to remove the axle?

 

You have to slide the axle out far enough to get past the adjuster. You probably don't have to completely remove the wheel, once you slide the axle far enough out the adjuster will just slide out. It depends on which side your axle was put in on. If it was put in from the left side then you'll have to take it all the way out almost.

 

Either way you'll want the rear wheel suspended in the air when sliding the axle around.

 

So I've never actually tried lifting the bike before. Is this something that I need an actual jack/lift to do? Or is is possible to get it up on a couple of blocks somehow without that?

 

Does anyone have experience with how stable the bike is if you lift the back end using a standard trolley jack? I'm kind of concerned that if I do this I'll put all the weight on the front wheel, which isn't fixed in place and it may tip over.

 

For me, it isn't that hard to lift it with a jack. The bike's center of gravity is under the engine, so if it's lifted there, it's fairly well balanced.

 

So I've never actually tried lifting the bike before. Is this something that I need an actual jack/lift to do? Or is is possible to get it up on a couple of blocks somehow without that?

If you have an assistant and one of you is strong enough to lift and hold the bike while the other places blocks, suppose it could be done. But I use a car jack and blocks.

 

Sorry to be asking more stupid questions...

Do you lift it with the jack on the bottom of the engine block itself?

When you lift it there does the whole bike lift up (does it take the weight off the front as well as the back)? Or does it tip forward?

And once you've lifted it, how do you put the blocks in to support it?

I'm guessing that you don't want any weight on either the exhaust pipes, or the rear swingarm.

 

What I do is I have eye bolts in the rafters of the garage. I'll use ratcheting tie down straps to lift. From the front I hang it by the handlebars and for the rear I'll hook on the the shock mounts. If I lift all four, it can swing a bit so I'll use a floor jack under the engine to hold some weight if I need it steady.

Its kind of a Rube Goldberg set up but I can get the bike off the ground by myself that way,

 

I have been lifting stuff in my garage that way for years.
For heavy lifting, I sistered a laminated joist on either side of the rafter, and capped the top with a full length 1/4" thick steel c-channel. I also have a set of adjustable basement beam support poles to put on either side of the load if I am doing something very heavy. I have lifted big block chevy engines with automatic transmissions still attached without so much as a creak from my garage rafter.
That worked great for years, but now with the new, larger building, I have a 4-point lift, which is great for cars and trucks, but not so great for bikes. I had drawn up plans for a bike lift to weld up, but like a lot of things, business, family and other day to day things eat up too much of my time.

 

That sounds like a nice solution. I do have an old winch that I found, but frankly I'd be worried my old garage would fall down!

 

Is there a reason why the axle has to come out the side it was put in? Is there a way I can tell which side it was put in from?

 

I place the jack so it contacts the frame, not the engine or exhaust.

 

Parts arrived today! They look correct, so I'll be fitting these as soon as I can.

I've just been taking a look at my bike this evening and I can see there are two cross bars that are part of the frame underneath the engine. There's one toward the rear of the engine, though that looks a bit close to the exhaust cross bar. Then there's one that's further toward the front of the engine, in front of the exhaust cross bar. It looks a bit far forward to jack.

I'll try lifting it on the rear bar if I can fit the jack in there.

Does this seem like the right place to lift it?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

I nailed some blocks of 2x4 to a block of 2x6 to jack the bike up without hurting anything. It fits under the front of the swingarm to lift the rear wheel safely, and under the front frame crossmember to lift the front.

 

I see in the manual that the rear axle is actually a bolt? So that's why it needs to come out from one side.

It's weird but on my bike it really looks like both ends are threaded. On one side there's about 1/2" of thread sticking out, and on the other side it's like it doesn't quite go all the way through the nut. I guess this must be the side that has the head of the bolt? Weird.

 

Okay, I see it now. Fortunately the side that needs the chain tensioner replaced is on the side with the nut, so the axle doesn't need to come all the way out.

 

Are you going to fix it tonight?

 

No, I'm just making sure I know how I'm going to do the job. It'll probably be a couple of days before I get started. I like the idea of jacking it with a block of wood to distribute the force of the jack.

I just discovered I don't have a wrench or socket that's the right size for the axle, and I should try to find a torque wrench to use to retighten it.

 

If the adjuster on the left/chain side is the one that needs replacing the axle needs to come out. The proper direction for the axle is nut on the right.
It's easier to line up the wheel/chain/axle/spacer with the axle going in on the left. Plus that's the way they come when new.
Remember to clean the spacer and lube the seal. The spacer on the right goes skinny side inward.
For lifting the rear wheel, if you have a floor jack you can lift slighty on the right muffler bracket. Only takes a couple inches to get tire off the ground.

 

Can anyone tell me what size of socket I need for the back axle? My set goes up to 19mm and it's bigger than this.

And is the correct torque 65lbft (88Nm)? I'm going to go and look for a torque wrench at the same time I'm picking up the socket.

Thanks!

 

The axle nut is 22mm.