Do I have a problem with my chain?

1678 Views 20 Replies 9 Participants Last post by cbr_220, Nov 18, 2006

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · Sep 11, 2006

Okay, first I have to apologize for the long write up. I just want to ensure that I have the full story out there for better diagnoses.

Okay, so today I went riding with one of my buddies. We hit a straight stretch where we were able to open it up a little bit. We came around the corner where we needed to come to a stop but while stopping the rear wheel lost traction and started skipping around. While it was doing this I missed the shift from 2nd to first. Yeah I don't really know how I did that but I did. So when I realized that I missed the shift I then shifted into 1st with out blipping the throttle all the while the back end is still skipping on me. I come to a stop with nothing really happening (or so I thought.) So, we start going down the road again and my bike feels as though it is now surging. It almost feels as though I have a out of balance wheel or a warped rotor. We stop a few times to try to figure out what was going on. The first time that we stopped I noticed that my chain was extremely loose. I thought that was odd because I had just recently removed and replaced the rear wheel. So, I tightened it up and continued on. Unfortunately it did not make any bit of a difference. We finally made it back to my place where we could put it on the rear stand. We spent about 30 minutes trying to eliminate what might be causing this surge feeling. When spinning the wheel we were finally able to pinpoint it down to the chain being the culprit. The way we did this was mark a spot on the rotor, sprocket, chain and the wheel to try to figure out where the pattern was. It seems as though whenever the chain gets to a certain position that the chain becomes super tight. It doesn't matter where the sprocket is on this cycle. I have never had a streched chain, but is this what happens? By having it loose to begin with, did the chain jump a tooth and just stratch a single spot in the chain? Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated. I hope that this wasn't too long for all of you.

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Moeman

· #2 · Sep 11, 2006

YOUR chain has a tight spot and to make sure of that
i would adjust the chain and go for a ride if there is
tight spot you will find it being loose again

While u are it check the sprockets
front and rear for extra wear
cause a tight chain will chew
sprocket's teeth

tweak mt

· #3 · Sep 11, 2006

could the wheel slipped slightly loose and is no longer aligned causeint the chain to bind at times

DONT STICK ANY PART OF YOUR BODY NEAR THE CHAIN WHILE SPINNIN ....take my word for it:tard:

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 11, 2006

yeah, I checked the sprockets and everything else that is in common with the chain. By marking a spot on the chain I was able to see that whenever the chain came to a certain spot that it would tighten up. It didn't matter where the sprocket or the wheel. The rear sprocket seems to be fine along with the rotor. I have only rode about 30 miles since this started happening so I'm not too sure if it does what you say it will. I have about 6k on the bike total right now but that doesn't seem too many miles for a chain. I have a feeling that I will be doing a 520 conversion earlier than I expected.

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 11, 2006

tweak mt said:
could the wheel slipped slightly loose and is no longer aligned causeint the chain to bind at times

DONT STICK ANY PART OF YOUR BODY NEAR THE CHAIN WHILE SPINNIN ....take my word for it:tard:

That is what I was thinking at first, but I looked at the alignment marks and they were both on the exact same ones..... Any more thoughts? Can a chain only stretch on part of it? I would have figured that if the chain had stretched that it would stretch evenly through the whole chain.

tweak mt

· #6 · Sep 12, 2006

i was a bicycle mechanic on and off over the past 8 years but when you have a "stiff link" it doesnt look like it contours to the chain ring where that one link is, it makes a little arch because the pin that slides between the male and female ends has caused it to sieze the ansewer in that case was (easy solution- lube and wiggling the chain the direction a chain doesn normally bend trying to get it to seat correctly on the pin OR harder solution= chain breaker and you have to do a larger alignment of the pin that wiggling wont do) when we did this it was normally on the link that connected the chain other wise it didnt normally happen. Is the link that its happening on have the depression marks in the center of the pin making it the connecting link?

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 12, 2006

tweak mt said:
i was a bicycle mechanic on and off over the past 8 years but when you have a "stiff link" it doesnt look like it contours to the chain ring where that one link is, it makes a little arch because the pin that slides between the male and female ends has caused it to sieze the ansewer in that case was (easy solution- lube and wiggling the chain the direction a chain doesn normally bend trying to get it to seat correctly on the pin OR harder solution= chain breaker and you have to do a larger alignment of the pin that wiggling wont do) when we did this it was normally on the link that connected the chain other wise it didnt normally happen. Is the link that its happening on have the depression marks in the center of the pin making it the connecting link?

I've been running the problem through my head over and over to see if there was something that I missed. I think that the mistake that I was making is that I was solely concentrating on the rear tire and sprocket but I never did pay all that much attention to the front sprocket. After thinking about it, it made more sense to me that IF it was the chain that had a bad link, that it would be more apparent on the front sprocket due to the fact that there is a much sharper bend there that the chain needs to make. This is more or less what you were refering to. When I get home from work today I am going to take a look at it. The weird thing is that I religiosly clean and lube the chain so what would have caused this bad link? Well thanks again for all the help! I'll keep you posted. If I do find anything I'll try to post some pics up!

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 12, 2006

Okay, well I just looked at the bike again. I put the bike on the stand and spun the wheel. I can not, for the life of me, see why the chain changes tension once it reaches a certain spot. I check all the links and they seem to be free. One question I have now is should the chain, if it's stretched, change tension on the whole chain, or should it just change tension on either the top or the bottom? Any more insight would be greatly appreciated.

Moeman

· #9 · Sep 12, 2006

The tension will change at the stretched part of the chain
but you would feel the effect evreywhere while the bike
is moving

tweak mt

· #10 · Sep 12, 2006

tension would change on top and bottom in nuetral........personally I dont know if i really trust those little lines on each side if ur still not finding anything i set the axel all the way in so the chain was loose and go out one turn left side ....one turn right side.....one turn left side and so on

smwilli

· #11 · Sep 12, 2006

My chain is like this too. Kinda maddening. You tighten the chain, then it gets loose. Is this something that is covered under the mfgr warranty?

Moeman

· #12 · Sep 12, 2006

smwilli said:
My chain is like this too. Kinda maddening. You tighten the chain, then it gets loose. Is this something that is covered under the mfgr warranty?

You have a tight spot within your chain
warranty does not cover chain or sprockets

Wes600rr

· #13 · Sep 12, 2006 (Edited)

Truly sounds like the rear axle is out of alignment. Ensure that the rear axle block is installed correctly. I am not sure but I think that they can be installed 90 degrees off and that would alow for some up and down movement and could be the issue. Get another set of eyes.. Can't tell you how many times I missed a small detail and it took a fresh set of eyes to spot the mistake.

(use a tape measure or dial calipers to be sure of algnment. Sp?) Ensure that the tension has not changed after you torque down the axle nut. I believe that the correct torque is 43 ft lbs, but I would like some one to back me up on that number.

A problem you might not see is if a spacer/bushing is missing. If so the alignment can be right but movement can still occure. I have seen a few spacers drop out and that would allow for very small movement and could really cause issues.. take it off and start over with another set of eyes helping..

Sunshinestate600RR

· #14 · Sep 13, 2006

The torque is 83.3 for the axle nut it's in the manual just incase you need to find it.

Wes600rr

· #15 · Sep 13, 2006

Thank you Sunshine. Memory was a little fuzzy on that one.

vanstelp

Discussion Starter · #16 · Sep 16, 2006

Okay, well from what it sounds like then I do have a stretched chain. I'm looking at going with the 520 conversion since I have to replace everything anyways. Any recommendations from anyone? I'm also going to go down one and up two in the back. See if what everyone else says about that mod is true. Thanks again for the help!

EsotericRR

· #17 · Sep 18, 2006

why not just do a 525 (stock) with -1 front +2 rear. Youll find that with a 520 youll have to be re adjusting a lot and the weight difference is minimal.

smwilli

· #18 · Sep 20, 2006

So I took my bike to the dealership to have the chain replaced. Ends up that the sprocket was machined improperly from the factory and (believe it or not) the are replacing the rear sprocket under warranty. Whoo hoo! (out of pocket for the chain tho....)

cbr_220

· #19 · Oct 31, 2006

how do i know if this is happeneing to my bike as well? my chain is loose and i only have 1400 miles. does the dealership charge just to look at the problem?

NewRedRider

· #20 · Nov 1, 2006

They won't charge you to look at it but you need to learn how to adjust your chain ASAP. You need to lube and check the chain slack every 500 miles or so.

Check here...
http://www.600rr.net/vb/showthread.php?t=58373

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