Bugger me. Bike troubles

[Lias]

My GN's been making some strange noises from its chain area lately, so when I took it into Road & Sport this arvo for a WOF, I asked them to have a look at it.

For the record, its been making an intermittent clunky noise under certain circumstances (to whit, when I release the throttle and slow down withotu braking. When its slowing down through the 40-60km speed range, doesnt seem to do it at higher speeds, and gear seems to be irrelvant). I'd tried cleaning, oiling, and adjusting the tension which didnt seem to have any affect on the noise.

Anyways they did the WOF, and the service sheet said "Lubed chain, test rode, lubed chain again". Thought this was a bit strange cos I'd put chain oil on not very long ago, but figured oh well they must know what they are doing.

Riding home, still had the occasional clunk but did seem a bit better. Just down the road from home, horrendous noise happens. I figured something bad (tm) had just happened, slammed on the brakes and put the clutch in. Chain had come right off the sprockets, its still in one piece (sort of) but looks seriously munted to my untrained eye.

Pushed it the rest of he way (maybe 50-100m) Rang the shop, they said "Hrmm maybe we overloobed it, we'll come pick it up in the morning".

Anyone have any ideas on whats got wrong? The bikes just over a year old (about 2.5 weeks outside of warranty), I'm not religious about cleaning the chain, but I do it semi often, and apply castrol chain oil too.

Opinions/suggestions from mechanically minded people? Is this something I fucked up or something the shops fucked up. The bikes only done 7800km, and I'm guessing I'm looking at a new chain and sprockets now, which I just know aint gonna be cheap.

Pics attached, the second two are a bit blurry but you can see where some of the figure 8 bits have moved over to the wrong side of the chain.

PS: Ignore the date on the camera, its wrong.

[Karma]

Take it back to where you got the WOF and get them to fix it.

[Lias]

Take it back to where you got the WOF and get them to fix it.

I got the WOF from the local bike shop/suzuki dealer (road n sport). They are coming to pick it up tomorrow morning. I just want to know wtf happened lol.. Was it their fuckup or something I've done/not done.

[Zapf]

wow... one of the links has moved across the entire length... how did it do that?

[Mental Trousers]

Looks like it's just fucked. How old is the chain?? That link being on the wrong side of the chain will definitely make it come off, but how it got there is the problem. I'd say you're gonna have to file that one in the fucked if I know basket. Chains rooted now though.

[Waylander]

Might be time for that bike upgrade. Go ahead mate, could use another heavy cruiser to ride with.

PS. Make sure it's either shaft or belt driven...

[T.I.E]

wow... one of the links has moved across the entire length... how did it do that?

dam thats wicked, never seen a chain doo that before.
but replace chain, its stuffed for sure also check out your sprockets hopefully no damage has been done there too.

and yeah file it in that special place.

might wanna keep the chain or that area which is screwed as thats impressive. would like to see that close up.

[Lias]

Looks like it's just fucked. How old is the chain?? That link being on the wrong side of the chain will definitely make it come off, but how it got there is the problem. I'd say you're gonna have to file that one in the fucked if I know basket. Chains rooted now though.

1 year / 7800km

Its not just one link.. theres at least 3 of them that have gone across.

[T.I.E]

1 year / 7800km

Its not just one link.. theres at least 3 of them that have gone across.

na seroulsly that is not good. that is a serious problem one link is something but 3 wow.
it might be maintenance, check with someone you looking after it properly, and definately try another brand. thats way too wrong.

[Lias]

The thing that bugs me is that all the links were fine before I asked the shop to take a look at it.

Could the chain have come off because it was overlubed (what the shop said might have happened when I rang them) and then the links been damaged/chewed up by the sprockets after coming off?

[T.W.R]

the 7800km is that how much you've done on the bike ? coz that chain is munted!
the adjusters are fully extended, going by that the chains done a lot more than 7800km, a GN shouldn't slog-out a chain that quickly especially if you've been maintaining it regularly

if Kath Barnsley is still at road & sport have a talk to her

[T.W.R]

don't mean to be a bastard

but to give us a laugh, you should take the chain off lay it on the ground & see if you can make a semi circle with it ( links flat on the ground, not on its edge) my money says it will make close to a 180 degree arc!

i've seen a TS125 farm bike with a chain like that, a dairy farmer brought it new, never adjusted the chain & when it chewed through the chain guard brought it into the shop to findout what the problem was

[Rhino]

Many years ago I broke a chain, but I ain't seen one like that before.

A couple of thoughts. You mentioned that the bike was making noises from the chain before it was worked on and that you had adjusted and lubed it without having any effect on the noise. When you adjusted the chain did you put the bike on the centre stand and rotate the rear wheel to find the "tight spot" in the chain.:slap: All chains develop them as they wear. You should adjust the chain when the tension is at its maximum. If adjusted in a "slack spot", it's possible that it was far too tight when it hits the tight spot, and was stressing the links. This normally only happens if the chain is VERY worn.

The other thought is that when the shop adjusted it, the rear wheel ended up out of line with the front wheel (and also the front sprocket.) This would place a lot of side pressure on the links.

[Lias]

The is the original chain (the bike was new november last year, it and the chain have done 7800km fullstop, ever).

If the chain was in bad shape before I took it in, surely when they looked at the chain today they would have noticed?

Blah who knows.

[Bandit Rider]

Can't damage a chain by "over lubing" - a chain will run in an oil bath.

There has got to be a manufacturing fault in the chain. The clunking was almost certainly one of the links having moved - you would not have necessarily seen it unless you looked closely.

The dealer should definitely fix this - whether or not it is out of warranty. Still covered by consumer guarantee.