How to NOT clean chain: *[GRAPHIC]*

Sorry i had to bring one of these threads to our forum...but it happened to me 2 weeks ago ahaa
:banghead:

Kinda long story short; It was Friday the 19th of August... I was cleaning up my bike after working 7-3, just purchased 2 MUCH NEEDED Michelin Pilot Powers which now have only 10 miles on them and decided that i should clean up and lube my dirty chain.

The bike was already on the center stand from washing it so i put down some cardboard and started to douse all parts of the chain with wd40 rotating the tire with my hand.

I let that soak in for a few minutes and started the bike up, put it in 2nd and let the clutch out so the bike is now coasting in 2nd. I grab a rag and for some reason feel the need to put a glove on so i do. Proceed to holding the rag to the chain while the chain runs through the rag.

Before i know it, the rag gets all caught up in the back sprocket and the bike makes some ugly noise so i jump for the kill switch. After my hand leaving the bars i see some blood drip out of my glove from having my hand upright and think to myself, "I JUST CUT MY FCKIN THUMB OFF!".

Then attempted to remove glove but decides i was to nervous to look so i run inside and have my father do it over the sink.

This is what i see.............










































































When the rag got all caught up in the rear sprocket, my hand kind of went with it, don't know if the glove was caught on the chain or if i just didn't release until too late. It all happened so fast like they say.

So the tip of my thumb pretty much was pinched between the sprocket and chain.





Pulled off the skin from bone and apparently didn't take any bone off when it went through.

Had to go get surgery 5 days later where they had to clip the bone down to where there was enough skin on my thumb to close up the bone. That was actually the worst part of this whole ordeal.

But here i am now just sitting on my ass the past almost 2 weeks and decided to update you guys now too.

It's very weird to actually have some time off from a job that i have been working 40-72 hour weeks for over a year now.

Well i'm going to be off of work for probably 4 more week according to the doctors after the surgery.

Will update you guys further with my recovery.

Also would appreciate some help with giving me ideas of stuff do!? Please. I want to go on a trip/vaca or something and now i have the time to do it.

Thanks

Sorry it happened dude & hope it heals as good as can be expect & as quick as possible :thumbup: I gather you definately learnt your lesson

I gotta ask though , What the hell were you thinking ?? :shakehead: :shakehead:

Thank you and i am very sorry it happened as well. I find myself very lucky as well, after thinking about what could have happened and seeing other stories.

My friend had told me that's how he has been cleaning his so i have seen that it works for him, his chain looks brand new.

Shortly i am going to attempt Round 2 with the beast... and will be weilding wire brush this time! lol

I think i'll be back on the bike tho very shortly.

The pics gave me goose bumps. When I first got my bike, the first thing that pop'ed in my mind, was to lift the bike on the center-stand, put a gear in and fire-it up to perform the chain maintenance, but then I researched a bit on the net, only to find out that this has happened far more often as one would expect

Severed fingers are no rarity. Fortunate for you it looks like only the fingertip was injured, so hopefully it will heal quick.

I never fire my bike up while on the center-stand, I prefer to turn the wheel by hand.

Yeah that's how i see it now as well.


This guy made me so greatful. His was awful...
How NOT to clean your chain. **GRAPHIC PICS*** : Suzuki GSX-R Motorcycle Forums: Gixxer.com

Sorry to hear about your hand. You are VERY lucky that it wasn't worse... it easily could have been.

I recommend you invest in one of these:



Makes chain cleaning a breeze. And now that you are a member here, spend some time searching for chain lubing/cleaning threads. There are a tonne on here...

Don' t be afraid to ask questions, and good luck with your healing.

Sorry to hear this, atleast you'll heal up reasonably well. As you say, lucky you didn't turn out like that other bloke. That's extreme.

Feel your pain man.

Well you know what they say if ur gonna be dumb you gotta be tuff...jk but seriously glad it was just a finger tip instead of the whole finger but if noone has ever told you then how are you suposed to know the correct way of doing it is how I see it, I did the same thing to my dl when I first got it not knowing the correct way, but luckly no fingers were harmed, i found out by one of my riding buddys yelling WTH are you doing mid stroke (poof) no more rag...

Sent from my R800x using Tapatalk

DrastiK said:

My friend had told me that's how he has been cleaning his so i have seen that it works for him, his chain looks brand new.

Shortly i am going to attempt Round 2 with the beast... and will be weilding wire brush this time! lol

Click to expand...

When you go for round 2, would you please rotate the tyre with your hand instead of doing it with the bike in gear. And show the finger to your friend and please tell him to stop doing it that way.

I actually thought the Gixxer guy was so famous that nobody did it that way anymore.

Heal up well, and enjoy your unscheduled vacation

Im sorry to hear about your ordeal man. Hope it heals up quick! Thanks for sharing because I that is how I clean my chain and I think you were effective in getting me to stop. But seriously, all the best with getting better and keep that positivity going because it will help in the long run.

Actually, I'd never thought about rotating the chain with the engine. I've been told too many times not to stick my hands near rotating parts I guess. I suppose military training is good for something.

As far as the vacay man, since you're east cost and close, i'd look at the smokey mountains. Gatlinburg is fun, and so is Cherokee. Hiking, canoing, muesums, white water rafting, aquariums, you name it, it's up there. If you want to camp, the Mile High Campgroud in Cherokee is awesome. That high up, it's cool no matter the temp in the valley. Bugs are scarce too. Just up the road is a national park campground and at the end of that is a 12 mile semi-developed road that was the only way up a few years ago. The views are spectacular, and the road is a hoot too. Just don't expect to go faster than 5-10 mph. It's bumpy.

And if you're up for riding, some of the best roads in the world are there. If nothing else, it's $60 to rent a scooter for the day and scoot through some of the back roads near Gatlinburg.

Hey I really do feel your pain I did the same minus the glove. I crushed the bone and mushed my thumb. I had to have surgery the following morning.

Never again will I rag down my clean chain with engine running.

Dan

P.s. But on the plus side I had health cover that covered me for amputations. So got paid out £1500 for my mishap.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.975209,-0.030130

DrastiK said:

Sorry i had to bring one of these threads to our forum...but it happened to me 2 weeks ago ahaa
:banghead:

Kinda long story short; It was Friday the 19th of August... I was cleaning up my bike after working 7-3, just purchased 2 MUCH NEEDED Michelin Pilot Pros which now have only 10 miles on them and decided that i should clean up and lube my dirty chain.

The bike was already on the center stand from washing it so i put down some cardboard and started to douse all parts of the chain with wd40 rotating the tire with my hand.

I let that soak in for a few minutes and started the bike up, put it in 2nd and let the clutch out so the bike is now coasting in 2nd. I grab a rag and for some reason feel the need to put a glove on so i do. Proceed to holding the rag to the chain while the chain runs through the rag.

Before i know it, the rag gets all caught up in the back sprocket and the bike makes some ugly noise so i jump for the kill switch. After my hand leaving the bars i see some blood drip out of my glove from having my hand upright and think to myself, "I JUST CUT MY FCKIN THUMB OFF!".

Then attempted to remove glove but decides i was to nervous to look so i run inside and have my father do it over the sink.

This is what i see.............

When the rag got all caught up in the rear sprocket, my hand kind of went with it, don't know if the glove was caught on the chain or if i just didn't release until too late. It all happened so fast like they say.

So the tip of my thumb pretty much was pinched between the sprocket and chain.

Pulled off the skin from bone and apparently didn't take any bone off when it went through.

Had to go get surgery 5 days later where they had to clip the bone down to where there was enough skin on my thumb to close up the bone. That was actually the worst part of this whole ordeal.

But here i am now just sitting on my ass the past almost 2 weeks and decided to update you guys now too.

It's very weird to actually have some time off from a job that i have been working 40-72 hour weeks for over a year now.

Well i'm going to be off of work for probably 4 more week according to the doctors after the surgery.

Will update you guys further with my recovery.

Also would appreciate some help with giving me ideas of stuff do!? Please. I want to go on a trip/vaca or something and now i have the time to do it.

Thanks

Click to expand...

A picture says a thousand words.
Take heed people.

Heal up soon, listen to the Physio and hopefully you will get good range of motion back.

Nelly

Oh, dude. I am sorry to hear - and even sorrier to see - the results of your accident. I hope you heal well, sir. That is really a bummer.

Respectfully, I am not sure what people are thinking when I read or hear about this kind of totally avoidable accident.

I hope you get well soon. Yikes!

wow man that sucks, but i guess stuff happens. thanks for this post tho, it opened my eyes a bit. i sometimes warm up my chain with the bike on center stand in 1st gear. I will have to be more careful next time.

35 years riding bikes and I never even considered cleaning the chain with the engine running. That is way too dangerous even to an observer. You are lucky you didn't have your wrist further in there or had your fingers wrapped around the chain. Lesson learned and I hope you heal up ok.

wow i seriously was gonna faint, at least its not as bad as the pictures make it seem. heal up quick and learn the lesson!

Oh my Dodge, I thought that this was a rerun of a previous, already posted accident but, today, for some reason, decided to open your thread. Gruesome!

This is probably comparable to stick one's hands in a car fan/fan belt area while engine is running. Or, getting ripped into a vacumn machine roller while it's running.

Thanks for posting. Maybe it can prevent somebody else from the same accident.

Wow!! Glad it wasn't worse. I thought of doing this but then thought better of it. Can't believe no one said anything about your plan to use a wire brush to clean the chain, DON'T, the wire brush will ruin the O-rings causing your chain to fail much quicker. That chain brush posted previously looks VERY handy and very SAFE! Heal quickly and get off the pain pills as soon as you can without suffering to much. I took morphine to long after an encounter with a chainsaw and had a bad time detoxing,, NO FUN!! If you go to the Smokeys take lots of $$$$ unless your idea of fun is hiking trails! Good luck and heal-up quick. Rich,,, PS: Your bike is the nicest silver framed one I've seen!!:rockon: Looks much better than your thumb! Sorry for the joke, I couldn't stop myself. :ban:

Main thing is heal up quickly and get back riding Bro! :rockon: