*random* maintenance questions...

[ForbidInjustice]

--- Shortly after I bought my bike in May, I took it to the dealer and asked them about the track that the chain has worn into the bike, just above the swingarm. They told me that that looks normal. Is it? [Refer to Attachment#1]. Chain slack is correct.

--- [Refer to Attachments# 2 & 3]. Do I need new tires? I bought a new set of Metzeler Sportec M1 tires, and I'm going to have them put on shortly after they get here, but is it time? Tread has not been worn quite down to the tread indicator yet, and I plan on keeping the other two as spares, just in case.

--- When I'm slowing down almost at a stop, I can hear a light popping noise that seems to slow down with the bike. It only pops 5-6 times, which means it starts to happen when I'm almost stopped. It's not very loud, but obviously, it's loud enough that I can hear it through my full-face.. it kinda sounds like something is knocking. Chain slack correct, tire pressure correct, and it happens whether I stop with my front brake or rear brake.. so brakes are not the issue. It happens both when I'm in gear, and when the clutch is fully engaged while coming to a stop, so engine/transmission doesn't seem to be the issue...

[87gsxrnut]

Dude, your chain looks like crap (unless you lubed it recently). Odds are, that you have some bad/missing O/X-rings in there. Take a real close look by turning the rear tire and looking at the sprocket/chain from the rear. See if you are missing any rings. You can also shake the chain when you have the bike on a rear stand to see if there is any noise.

- Nut

[ForbidInjustice]

I did lube it about 10 days ago, but I'm going to hunt down some kerosene tomorrow and give it a good cleaning. Is that track normal?

I'll inspect the chain first thing in the morning when I have some more daylight to work with.

[87gsxrnut]

Yeah, the track looks OK

I lube my chains every 100-miles, or after every long ride.

- Nut

[ForbidInjustice]

Wow, 100 miles? I heard most say that do it every 500-600 miles, which in turn is what I've been doing. I hate most the fling from the chain lube. That mess is more than I would like to deal with that often.

[Clint]

Get some Hondalube and follow the instructions. I get almost no fling.

That nylon slider on the swingarm will show a groove (that's what it's there for), but watch that it doesn't wear all the way through.

[blackie1491]

After every fill of the tank, is the norm for lube.
There is a brush, Grunge Brush, that makes it easier to clean.
If your chain looks bad, should change sprockets at the same time.
The dealer should have a package price.

[87gsxrnut]

Hondalube is pretty damn good stuff. Haven't used it since the 80s though. My chains last a long, long time.

- Nut

[dragbar]

If your slack is actually in spec, that popping sound you hear could very well be the rear sprocket/chain. If the sprocket is starting to wear out, the chain could be skipping or binding on the sprocket causing that.

I've heard that sound most often related to bad sprockets and it bit me once as the chain jumped the sprocket during a quick 4th to 3rd corner. Jumped and locked up the rear wheel quicker than..well..you get the point. Centered the front and kept her straight until I stopped, made the leather pucker.

Give the whole drive a good check, chain, sprockets, et al. If in doubt, change it.

[St0nkingByte]

+1 on the HondaLube. I switched to it from some whacky chain wax stuff and its been much cleaner and it seems to pickup less road grime as well.

If you don't want to do the chain off and soaking in kerosene thing wetting a rag with WD-40 and then running the chain through it, turning the rag frequently seems to do well for me. Follow with chain lube of course. Oh and do all this while the chain is warm otherwise the goo won't come off as easily and the lube will tend to fling off much more.

[ForbidInjustice]

I cleaned the chain and sprocket [looks great now, by the way, Nut!] and checked for missing/damaged O-rings. Negative.

The sound now, I am sure is NOT coming from the rear of the bike. It sounded like it was coming from the front of the bike. Today I took off the cover that's over the front sprocket, and I can pinpoint the sound to be coming from there. I checked the sprocket teeth, and everything looks fine. The sound does not happen every time the sprocket tooth comes in contact with the next chain link.. so it's not the chain/front sprocket connection. Maybe 2 pops per every 3 links.

Is there maybe some kind of bearing inside there that's going bad? This sound can't be normal, as it is quite annoying and almost embarrassing. I can hear it clearly at low speed, 0-15mph.

[watto]

I noticed a popping sound from the front of my bike when I first got it, but only when riding in the wet. I worked out it was the holes in the X drilled discs popping and bubbling as they passed between the brake pads, and popped as the holes emerged rom the pad, a bit of heat and water, a little pressure build up and 'pop'. I could only hear it at low speed, so I guess the other road noises drowned it out. Try stopping with out using the front brake and see what happens.

If you put your bike on a stand and rotate the back wheel by hand do you still get the noise or notice any uneveness in rotation? I guess the chain is lubed properly and the sprockets are aligned, a misalignment can cause strange noises.

Let us know how you go.

[ForbidInjustice]

When I use the front brake only to stop, yes, I hear it. [When I'm riding at speed, 0-30mph, I pull in the clutch to get completely out of gear, and I still hear it, so I know it's not a transmission issue or a brake issue.]

When my bike is on the stand, and I rotate the wheel, yes, I hear it. That's what I did earlier today, and was able to pinpoint the sound coming from the front sprocket area.

Misalignment. That's something to consider. I wish I knew exactly when the noise started. I pulled the rear axle nut off and installed a license plate relocator about 4-5 weeks ago.. but the torque on the nut is correct, so it shouldn't push the rear wheel either way.. which means they should still be aligned as they were all along.

If it were misaligned, wouldn't I hear a popping noise every time a sprocket tooth came in contact with a chain link?

[dragbar]

Don't count on it being aligned. Check it. To answer your ? no, the links may maintain a line for several links before a kink exist causing it to jump, our their could be a slightly warped rotor.