Paranoia??? Better that than dead...

[pcm2015]

A couple weeks ago I was cleaning and lubricating my chain. I had just bought a new chain cleaner, Maxima Clean-up chain cleaner is the name I believe. It's the first time I've used a cleaner that required to be rinsed with water after application. Everything went well, used my regular chain lube made by Belray. The next time I took it out riding, I noticed a slight noise coming from what I believe was the chain running around the front sprocket, almost like a rubbing sound. I didn't think it too big a deal, but hearing sounds at 60+ mph over wind and the engine makes me wonder. I happened to be going to a bike shop anyway, so I asked them to check it out. They said it probably wasn't a big deal, but they noticed my chain was a little loose, so they offered to tighten it for me. Now, not only is the sound from my chain persisting, but they created a new sound, and it is VERY noisy. The best way I can describe it, I sound like what you would imagine a semi sounds like speeding down the highway. You can hear their tires rolling from far away. That's the sound I'm hearing coming from my motorcycle. I've had no performance issues so far, but it's got me paranoid. Afterall, noise on four wheels, not an immediate concern, noise on two wheels, now I'm nervous. Can anyone give me an opinion as to what might be causing this?

 

[motojoe122]

A couple weeks ago I was cleaning and lubricating my chain. I had just bought a new chain cleaner, Maxima Clean-up chain cleaner is the name I believe. It's the first time I've used a cleaner that required to be rinsed with water after application. Everything went well, used my regular chain lube made by Belray. The next time I took it out riding, I noticed a slight noise coming from what I believe was the chain running around the front sprocket, almost like a rubbing sound. I didn't think it too big a deal, but hearing sounds at 60+ mph over wind and the engine makes me wonder. I happened to be going to a bike shop anyway, so I asked them to check it out. They said it probably wasn't a big deal, but they noticed my chain was a little loose, so they offered to tighten it for me. Now, not only is the sound from my chain persisting, but they created a new sound, and it is VERY noisy. The best way I can describe it, I sound like what you would imagine a semi sounds like speeding down the highway. You can hear their tires rolling from far away. That's the sound I'm hearing coming from my motorcycle. I've had no performance issues so far, but it's got me paranoid. Afterall, noise on four wheels, not an immediate concern, noise on two wheels, now I'm nervous. Can anyone give me an opinion as to what might be causing this?

How much slack is in your chain? From the way you describe it, maybe it is to tight.

 

[yamihoe]

+1
mine has somehow magically become too tight before....I have NO IDEA how..but it hasn't done it since.
magic?

 

[pcm2015]

Actually to be precise, the shop tightened my chain and it didn't make the 2nd noise. I was still hearing the first one after they adjusted it, so I took it to an actual yamaha dealership where I bought it right down the road, and they said it was too tight, so they loosened it slightly, and that's when the noise began to occur.

 

[PhotoAl]

Yes check the chain tension, if I remember correctly it should be checked with the bike on the center stand. I keep mine on the looser end of the range. One time I adjusted it with the bike on the sidestand and it turned out to be way too tight - made a lot of noise. Also keeping good lube on the chain makes a difference. Last lube I used a Maxima and it worked well.

 

[pcm2015]

I appreciate the feedback. I'll be sure to check the tension before I ride again. I've been using Belray since I bought the bike and have had no problems with it. Since I had no idea what the noise is, I was afraid the new cleaner might have had something to do with it internally, but hopefully, it's just the tension.

 

[Ben_H]

How many miles on the chain? Could be a stiff link

 

[Dave.TX]

I was going to mention the chain was probably too tight. I had guys tell me mine was too loose when out on a ride. I went home and checked the slack, it was within spec's. When it was too tight (after removing the wheel and getting a new tire) I had it a bit too tight and there was a lot of noise coming from the front sprocket. Maybe the wheel isn't aligned properly either.

 

[mave2911]

The Fizzer, due to the swing arm pivot position in relation to the front sprocket, is the loosest chain I've had on a bike, within spec.

Most of my previous bikes have been 25mm 'freeplay', whereas the Fizzer is 45mm freeplay, MINIMUM!

So, to any untrained backyardy, it looks too loose. (I certainly thought it was, so I looked up the spec and checked.)

Cheers,
Rick