So I just broke a tooth on my front sprocket just now. Took off slowly for a left and *clunk*. Checked my bike and there's a shiny spot where a tooth used to be on my front sprocket. The last time my chain was WAY too loose I broke 2 teeth on the rear and 1 on the front but this time my chain isn't that loose at all. It's a bit stiff though. I haven't lubed it in a little while and the last time I lubed it I noticed a couple stiff spots. Could these be what broke the tooth?
Big [thumbsup] to Chris at CA-cycleworks.com for the quick delivery and awesome support. I ordered my front and rear sprockets as well as chain from him for less than $175. I also tried to order some replacements for the crappy axle adjuster plates but Chris caught my mistake that they won't fit on my bike and saved me $40 and the trouble of returning them.
Got a picture of your front sprocket?
Quote from: Speeddog on August 13, 2008, 08:13:03 AM
Got a picture of your front sprocket?
Nope, just broke it about 15 min ago so I'm at work and the bike is in the parking lot. Chain doesn't look so hot. I was poking around while I was counting the teeth on the rear sprocket and noticed one of the O parts of a link was wobbly. Looks like a bad chain.
Oh yeah, how do you recommend I try to get home? Think I could try to commute the rest of the week on it? It's about a 9 mile commute. It's 10 minutes if I run the freeway, about 12-15 if I run city streets. I'm thinking the stress from starting and stopping isn't good so I'm leaning toward the freeway.
Worn chains
If the chain breaks you will not be a happy camper.
Quote from: howie on August 13, 2008, 09:36:47 AM
If the chain breaks you will not be a happy camper.
Yeah, for this reason I'm worried about the freeway. If the chain goes on surface streets I'll be going slower so I'm hoping it will be less disastrous.
I think Pakhan or one of the riders here with a 749 dark ended up destroying all but 13 of the teeth on his rear sprocket. I mean the teeth were completely destroyed and snapped of. He did a few hundred miles like that and didnt notice. lol
Maybe when you replace the sprocket, a case saver insert would add a little piece of mind.
Quote from: Fresh Pants on August 13, 2008, 01:04:51 PM
Maybe when you replace the sprocket, a case saver insert would add a little piece of mind.
haha! Ahead of you on that one! When I let my chain go too loose it gouged my crank case. Luckily it didn't go all the way through but it was right next to the seam where the cover and case meet deformed the case enough to push the cover out a bit and cause a leak. Little bit of careful filing and slapped a case saver on there. [thumbsup]
I noticed Chris at CA-cycleworks also has new axle adjuster plates for the DSS bikes that replace the crappy ones that bend so I'm picking up as set of those for $39. Too bad he's not a sponsor again to give me discounts. ;D
Sounds to me like someone needs to check his chain and sprockets more regularly, adjust the chain more often to the correct slack, and needs to replace the chain and sprockets a LOT sooner than he has been doing in the past. I check my chain at least once every 500 miles and adjust accordingly.....with the bikes I don't ride daily, I check my tire pressure and chain tension before I leave the driveway.....every time.
I check it once a week since it's my primary. I just don't know what I'm looking for. [roll] So far I only know what it looks like once it's broken or OK. Still can't tell what breaking or worn looks like.
OK, I have a stupid question. SInce I don't have a manual in front of me what does Ducati say on how often the chain should be checked? I'm thinking they would have more frequent maintenance schedule? I've had several bikes in my earlier years that went 1000's of miles without a new chain? But now that I read this thread I will be checking more often because it sounds like loosing teeth on sprockets are quite common?
No, losing teeth is not common unless you're not maintaining your bike or don't know what you're looking for in terms of wear.
My manual says to lube the chain every 300-500 miles and if you're lubing it, you might as well check the condition of the sprockets and chain while you're at it.
I only got 15000mi out of this chain so I guess I didn't maintain it very well. Sprockets should last at least twice as long as chains I think but I didn't maintain my chain well and it killed my sprockets twice. If you do happen to loose a tooth it'll make a popping sound like you just ran over a rock and it shot out from under the tire. If you're riding too fast to hear any sounds and never physically check your sprocket you should notice some slipping once in a while if you're missing a few teeth. But at that point it's pretty serious and you should be replacing stuff right quick.
Then again I'm the guy that has stuff breaking on him so what do I know. The last time I lubed the chain I noticed some stiff spots. I cleaned them extra good and that loosened them up a bit but that should have been a sign to me that the chain was nearing its end. Hind sight 20/20. [roll]
Consider this
Failure of Motorcycle Chains may result in injury or death. Care must be exercised when connecting or adjusting.
My last chain lasted over 22K miles and still could have gone longer. Sprocket wear was only noticeable when placed on top of the new sprockets.
a while back on a group ride a guy showed up on a GSX-R750 with NO teeth on the rear sprocket and he still did the entire ride (couple hours, nothing huge). I can't imagine how he managed that, everytime he'd start off the chain would spin around the rear sprocket a little bit before the wheel finally moved.
Anyway, not really relevant to your situation but it was hilarious none the less
Quote from: erkishhorde on August 14, 2008, 07:05:52 AM
I check it once a week since it's my primary. I just don't know what I'm looking for. [roll] So far I only know what it looks like once it's broken or OK. Still can't tell what breaking or worn looks like.
Aaaahhhhh...I see.......first off, broken teeth is a huge no-no. [laugh]
You cannot go by the number of miles a chain has on it to determine when it needs to be replaced. There are several different things that you can check for. Here are some that I can think of off the top of my head. Some people use some of these and others use different ones, but here are a few suggestions...
1) If you can pull the chain more than half a tooth length at the 3:00 position on the rear sprocket, you may need to replace your chain....
2) If you remove your rear wheel, grab a section of chain, and bow it from left to right with more than 1" deflection fro a 12" section of chain, you may need to replace your chain...
3) If you have any rollers or o-rings missing, you may need to replace your chain....
4) If your manual stated to check the overall length of a certain number of links in your chain and the length is longer than the recommended maximum length, you may need to replace your chain....
5) If you have a kink in your chain resulting from some stiiff links that you have difficulty pivoting with your hands or it won't pivot on the chain's roller pin, you may need to replace your chain...
6) If you have rust on anything than your outer plates on the chian, you may need to replace your chain...
7) If you adjust your chain tension and then rotate the wheel and the chain gets a LOT tighter or very sloppy loose compared to how you just adjusted it, sections of your chain are worn more than other sections and you may need to replace your chain....
8) If your chain breaks.... [laugh]
9) If you have any broken or "hooked" teeth on your sprockets, you may need new sprockets....
10) If halfway around the rear sprocket youc an tell that the rollers are not touching the teeth, your chain is probably stretched too much and needs replacing or your sprocketis excessively worn...
11) If there is a groove on the outside of your sprocket where the inner plate of the chain has been rubbing, not only might you need a new chain and sprockets, but your sprockets are not properly aligned....
With my experience, I get around 10k-15k miles for a 520 chain, 16k-22k for a 525 chain, and 18k-25k to a 530 chain. The quality of the chain and the maintenance and preventative maintenance that you do to the chain can have a huge affect on these components. I have been known to change out my chain a little sooner than most people, but I also like to try to run two chains to one set of sprockets. Generally the second chain will not last as long as the first, but I view it as being cheaper than running the risk of breaking a chain and crashing or taking out an engine case....and is cheaper than replacing the sprockets. Case in point with my ST2.
The first chain lasted around 18k miles, but I really could have run longer. I figure another 5k miles and I would have finished taking out the sprockets and be running a much higher risk of breaking the chain. I opted to buy an EK x-ring chain that I found for $75 and running the stock sprockets that still looked pretty good. I ran that arrangement for over another 16k miles. Had I bought new sprockets, I figure I would have gained another 2k-6k miles, but the sprockets would have cost me another $100+. So, I ran two chains on the original sprockets for over 34k miles, and the rear sprocket still looked pretty good, to tell you the truth (but the front sprocket was worn fairly well).
I wouldn't know anything about worn out front sprockets...
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