Chain clicking

[travfz6]

Hi Folks,
Replaced tires and steering head bearings over the weekend and the bike handles awesome now. Just one question , i string aligned the rear wheel and now get a slight "clicking" noise when taking off out of 1st gear. It sounds liek the chain is binding up on the rear sprocket. I checked alignment it is good , but when i rotate tire around i can see and feel that the tooth of the rear sprocket seems to be contacting the solid part of the chain slightly. I have ordered new chain and sprockets hoping that this solves the problem. Anyone offer any tips for checking this out or have had this happen before?
THanks!

 

[outasight20]

How many miles on the original chain and sprockets? Mine started to make clicking noises on take off at around 21K miles. Replaced the chain and sprockets and the noise went down to nearly zero, smooth as butter.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

A worn chain and sprockets will make all kinds of noise.

If you pull the front sprocket cover off (three allan head bolts) and watch the chain come off the front sprocket, the links should straighten out fully, if they stay bent, its a sure sign the chain is toast.

Also, if the chain was overtightened at some point, it could have damaged the rear hub bearing(that the rear sprocket bolts to). The rear sprocket should spin true, NO WOBBLE. It should NOT have ANY MOVEMENT, if you push/pull it in and out. If it does, the hub bearing is bad..


After opening the pic, double click to enlarge it. Part #13 is the hub bearing.

 

[travfz6]

Thanks all for your replys. I have 23000 km on the bike and it appears to be stock chain and sprockets. I am waiting for my new chain and sprockets to arrive this week I also ordered a motionpro chain alignment tool so hopefully with these new parts the noise goes away!

 

[travfz6]

Well the new chain and sprocket arrived today. I got working on it before work. Installed the front sprocket with no issues. Installed the new chain with no issues , had to take a link out to make it shorter. When I pulled the rear sprocket off all of the locknuts came off , but then one of the locknuts when i loosened it the whole stud came out. When I tightned everything back up the 1 nut/stud that came out just kept spinning when i tried to tighten it and it would not torque. When i mocked up the rear wheel with the axle through i noticed when the wheel would spin the new sprocket seemed to move side to side slightly , not spin straight. When i put the new chain on and aligned the wheel and ensured I had the right chain tension , i spun the rear wheel and noticed there is a tight spot and the wheel stops. I am not sure if this has something to do possibly with that 1 bolt not being able to be torqued fully (it is still tight) and the sprocket not spinning true if this is causing the problem? The sprocket was only off by a little bit I dont know if it has to be bang on spinning straight?

 

[travfz6]

Tight spot in chain after new sprocket/chain install

Hi Folks,
Installed new chain and sprockets today. 3 things happened during the install:

#1 - When removing locknuts from rear sprocket 5 nuts came off and 1 nut came off with a stud is this normal? When I went to torque the new sprocket on 5 of the 6 nuts torqued and the last one would tighten but I could not torque it fully so im wondering if i stripped the aluminum threads?

#2 - When i put the rear tire on after installing sprocket to mock it up and spin it , i noticed the sprocket moved side to side a tiny bit and did not spin "true" when i grabbed the sprocket and checked it for movement it had no play , it would just not spin completely "true"

#3 - When i installed new chain , aligned tire , and set chain tension i went to spin the wheel to check everything and noticed there is a tight spot in the chain and it seems to stem from the sprocket. Nothing is "binding" there is just a tight spot and it is not near where i installed my master link (rivet type).

I havn't had much time to check it over and look at it closer as I had to leave for work , but Im just wondering if anyone can offer any suggestions as to what to check.

Cheers!

 

[travfz6]

Re: Tight spot in chain after new sprocket/chain install

*clarification*
The chain tension is tight , not really any particular links.

 

[Nelly]

Re: Tight spot in chain after new sprocket/chain install

*clarification*
The chain tension is tight , not really any particular links.

You might just need to slacken it off a tad and go from there.

Neil

 

[travfz6]

I guess what I can try first is adjusting chain tension from that tight spot if I can , I already have the axle almost all the way forward. If i set the tension from that tight spot and then the chain doesnt get super loose where its not tight right now I guess I solved my problem. Just kind of panicking cause I want to get her ready for a ride this weekend to go camping and I hope I didnt mess up that rear hub.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I guess what I can try first is adjusting chain tension from that tight spot if I can , I already have the axle almost all the way forward. If i set the tension from that tight spot and then the chain doesnt get super loose where its not tight right now I guess I solved my problem. Just kind of panicking cause I want to get her ready for a ride this weekend to go camping and I hope I didnt mess up that rear hub.

If you have the stock sprockets (tooth #'s), you should have 118 pin's in your chain, I hope you didn't cut one too many links off.

Re the hub bolt, Yamaha misprinted the torque on those bolts at 72 ft lbs. From what I've read, that stripped hole should be threaded (obviously its stripped now). Yamaha, at least for the R6 sells the studs/nut separatly (It didn't show online on a parts fisch). You need to get that stipped hole repaired, Heli coil, Time Cert, etc. I wouldn't torque those sprocket bolts past 35-40 ft lbs.

IF that sprocket is still wobbling some, as previously posted, the inner hub bearing has probably failed. Its the ONLY PART that supports that hub and sprocket.

 

[travfz6]

Thanks for your help and suggestions everyone. I am going to try adjusting the chain tension when the chain gets tight there and see if that solves the problem. If it does , i will still pull the wheel off and check the cush drive and fix that stripped stud. Also , the little rubbers inside the cush drive how do you tell if those are worn out or what would be some symptoms?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Thanks for your help and suggestions everyone. I am going to try adjusting the chain tension when the chain gets tight there and see if that solves the problem. If it does , i will still pull the wheel off and check the cush drive and fix that stripped stud. Also , the little rubbers inside the cush drive how do you tell if those are worn out or what would be some symptoms?

Re the cushions, its rare there's a problem with them. All they do is provide a little bit of "cushion" between the sprocket/hub and the wheel itself, especially when shifting into first. As long as the rubber isn't cracking, fits fairly snug, their fine. They DO NOT provide any sideways support/wobble for the sprocket/hub. You could remove those cushions, re-assemble the wheel assembly and the sprocket will STILL BE in its PROPER position. You'd just have a whole lot of forward and back SMACKING between the wheel itself and the drive hub.

I usually spray mine with silicone when I re-assemble the wheel.

Do you know how many link chain you purchased and do you have the stock # of teeth on both sprockets?

BTW, the axle should be about in the middle of the swingarm so you have some room to adjust.

If you did indeed cut off an extra link by accident, I'm sure you could add another link and another rivet.

 

[travfz6]

I ordered a 120 link chain and removed 1 link before installing. I mocked it up with the 120 link chain and it was too long so I removed a link. I didnt think the cush drive would have much of an impact , but when I get home from work tonight I will start all over from square one removing the rear tire and examining the sprocket and cush drive after setting chain tension from when the chain goes tight.