[Filip75]

This morning I went to base (Valley High Gate) and found out that my base permit expired (they issued it to me for only 1 day :angry: ). I had a lot of car behind me in the line so I tried to get out of their way faster and turned into visitor center. I released clutch too fast and the bike jerked from me. Then it immediatelly lost power, while revving up. I stopped and tried to move again... to no avail. I pushed into to the parking spot and took a look at what's wrong... chain came off

Since none of my friends with trucks are in town, I had to call the tow truck. $80 later it's sittin in my garage. The shops are closed today, and my dealership doesn't open til Tuesday.

The tow guy said that it was the first time ever, that he has see the chain come off :wacko: I hope I can have it fixed under warranty.

How do I put the chain back on myself, if the dealer decides to charge me for this?

 

[Redstar11]

The only way it could have come off with out breaking in two, is having way too much deflection ( too loose ) or actually shearing the teeth off your sprockets. I suppose it could also come off if the chain alignment was way off. Do you not check these things before you ride? They are pretty straight forward to put on, just remove your front sprocket cover and slide the chain over it. Loosen the rear axle and slide the wheel forward so that you can put the chain around the rear sprocket. You will of course need a rear stand that lifts up on the swing arm as opposed to the rear axle. Some chains also have a master link which is removeable, however they can be extremely hard to get off and on. I would recommend that only if you have the proper tools, so you can avoid chain damage.

 

[wct097]

Adjusting your chain is preventative maintenance just like changing oil. You can't simply hop on your bike, drive 10k miles, and not expect this kind of thing to happen.

How many miles are on the bike? If it's just a few thousand, then they should warrenty it. If it's 5k or more and you've never adjusted it, then you're at fault.

Sorry man. Adjusting the chain isn't a hard thing to do, I do it in parking lots while waiting on the rest of the group to show up sometimes.

 

[silent_R1]

um, guys I seem to recall this being his first bike. Also, I seem to recall he just got it like what last week? Let's not be too harsh on the dude.

your dealer should fix under warrenty. Barring that, it isn't very hard to do at all. your bike has a center stand? I don't remember on the 500's if they do or not. Either way, the bike has to be elevated off of the rear tire (whether by rear stand under the swingarm or on the center stand), pull off the front sprocket cover, remove the rear axle nut, slide the tire forward, take care of the chain busicness. make sure when you adjust the rear axle, you are matching on on both sides of the bike for your adjustment lines (there should be little lines where the axle goes thru)

out of curiosity, how many miles have you put on the bike since you got it?

 

[Filip75]

I've got 340 miles on it

 

[Redstar11]

If anything, we should be harsh on him, luckily for him he wasn't at speed. Having a chain come up and wrap around the rear axle would lock what wheel up and possibly kill him. Look up in your owners manual how much slack the chain should have when up press up on it. Also, make sure you measure from your swing arm pivot bolt to your rear axle and make sure this measurement is the same on each side so that your chain/ rear wheel alignment is correct.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

340 miles??? I would be bitching at the dealer - their new bike prep. And insisting that they pay for the tow.

 

[Redstar11]

Yeah, with only 340 miles, that is something definately under PDI. The dealership should absolutely fix that.

 

[Filip75]

OK, I've put the chain back on, but I'm gonna stop by the dealer and ask to re-imburse the towing cost and put it on record, that this has happened.

I didn't realize that the bike chain is set-up on the same principal as the bycicle. The only problem I had was with the Axle nut. I didn't have such a big socket, but after a couple of phone calls I found someone with that size.

I'm kind of glad that it was a pretty easy fix, but kind of pissed off that this has happened

 

[Redstar11]

Make sure your chain deflection (slack) and alignment are correct. Also, get some O-ring safe chain lube and lube the chain up.

 

[Filip75]

thanks

I checked the marks on the axle nuts, and they match on both sides

 

[silent_R1]

yeah, i would def bitch at the dealer tomorrow, with only 340 miles on it, this SHOULD NOT have happened. granted you should check your chain before each ride along w/lights, brakes, oil and tire pressure, etc. but w/so few miles on it, it should be more doing it to get into the habit, not because you expect to have it loose at this point in your bikes life. bitch and get the reimbursement.

 

[bluevfr]

I'm kinda half-hijacking the thread but I've had this question for some time... Why is there such a thing as the need to adjust chain. Is the chain getting slightly longer, is the rear sprocket getting slightly closer to the front sprocket, what exactly causes it to slack after only 600 miles (the "check chain" interval according to my manual).

 

[Filip75]

yeah, i would def bitch at the dealer tomorrow, with only 340 miles on it, this SHOULD NOT have happened. granted you should check your chain before each ride along w/lights, brakes, oil and tire pressure, etc. but w/so few miles on it, it should be more doing it to get into the habit, not because you expect to have it loose at this point in your bikes life. bitch and get the reimbursement.

I'm gonna have to wait til Tuesday, since my dealership is closed on Sunday, and Monday is their "riding" day, so they're closed too.

 

[Süsser Tod]

I'm kinda half-hijacking the thread but I've had this question for some time... Why is there such a thing as the need to adjust chain. Is the chain getting slightly longer, is the rear sprocket getting slightly closer to the front sprocket, what exactly causes it to slack after only 600 miles (the "check chain" interval according to my manual).

Most of the time it would be the chain getting longer. Each link wears, add the wear of all of them and you can easily get a 1 or 2 cm longer chain. 1/10 of milimiter on each link, lets say, 50 links, would mean 5mm extra length.


However, if the rear wheel is not adjusted properly, it could come closer to the front sprocket, but you may have gone down because of something back there getting lose before it gives you "chain adjustment" problems.

 

[kazlab67]

thanks

I checked the marks on the axle nuts, and they match on both sides

The marks are a good rough adjustment point but they do not always match up perfectly. I found that once I get the marks set, I still have to look down the chain and make sure the front and rear sprockets are aligned and the chain is straight and it takes some more fine tuning with the tension adjusters.

 

[Redstar11]

The marks are usually fairly accurate within a few millimeters, however, it is still good practice to measure from the center of the swingarm pivot bolt to the center of the axle bolt. That wasy you can be absolutely positive.

 

[Casket Crew]

340 miles??? I would be bitching at the dealer - their new bike prep. And insisting that they pay for the tow.

Ditto!!!!!!

 

[Filip75]

The marks are usually fairly accurate within a few millimeters, however, it is still good practice to measure from the center of the swingarm pivot bolt to the center of the axle bolt. That wasy you can be absolutely positive.

the marks came out identical, but the bolt that points to the rear, seems to come out more on the right side than it used to. Even compared to the left side it's sticking out almost twice as much

 

[Redstar11]

If you measured correctly from swing arm pivot bolt to axle bolt, then it shouldn't matter. The easiest way I have found to do it is get a piece of metal rod, like coathanger thick, and zip a ziptie around it. Cut the end of the zip tie off as a point. The zip tie will now look like a little pointer will be able to slide back and forth on the rod. You can put the end of the rod on your swingarm pivot bolt and slide the zip tie down the rod and have it point exactly at the center of the axle bolt. Then go to the other side and see if the pointer is at the center.

I may have said "rod" too many times for one post.