as i stated on another thread, i bunked off early today and took the beast out for a blast..i was on my return from melton mowbray, not too far from home whereupon i entered a section of (closed) road (under controlled test conditions) and opened 'er up a 'bit'... then..BANG!! chain snapped....a quick smack on my boot, a quick bounce off the limiter and i rolled for about 2-3 miles, pulled up on the pavement and rang my local bike shop to collect me.... luckily it didnt fetch my leg off, go through the wheel, smash any plastics or damage any paint, and it was during business hours (when i never usually go out)...now i was pooing it about my crank cases..big££££.. got back to the workshop and apart from a new chain and new front sprocket plate it had only gauged a hole in the alternator cover, not the crankcase..there is some gouging on the underside of s/arm but nothing serious..i was a very, very lucky boy...total cost? i estimate about £300 ish, nor more than £400ish,,couldve been a lot, lot worse..new engine worse.. so, taxi home and ive lived to tell the tale... it was a DID chain, only about 5 yrs, or 1200 miles old..i even lubed it yesterday and it looked fine... im hoping that theres no other damage...theyre gonna try and get a used cover, if they cant get a clean one, then i'll have a new un....phew... be careful out there boys and girls..
Glad you are ok and hopefully not too much expense. I`m not an expert so I wonder is 5 years a long time for a chain regardless of the mileage ?
could have been anyone of us by the sound of it - and a thankful outcome. I would be interested to hear what the chain break looks like or a picture even. The question everyone asks of course is - was it at the 'joining' link?
Pleased its not to bad and I know how you must be feeling, I have a stainless case saver fitted but hope its never needed and if it is I hope it does its job. Steve
i found the chain at the roadside..it was joining link..basically it had been pulled out of the side plate..i will post a pic asap..for some reason i cant upload from the phone...it also looks like a few of the o-rings have been mangled. i noticed a stiff link half way along, but it was also gouged, so this may have been bent as it was dragged through the sprocket... i dread to think what youve happened if i was hooning it around a corner, or if it had gone into the wheel... *gulp*
will do mate, will do...ive got so many bloody distractions at the moment..still, with the bike being off the road for a wk i cant use that as an excuse!
Chris it appears is on the ball questioning the joining link................and funky confirms it. I have had to do some in depth research with DID chains and I found a small section (somewhere, which I will post if I can relocate it) which DID give the diameter range each of their chains' soft link has to achieve to be correctly riveted....... So......if funky didn't fit the chain, and it is found to be wrongly riveted, has he got any recourse over who fitted it? I doubt it......but it may be worth exploring.............BAck when I have found it.........unless someone has it already to hand. AL
interesting..i wonder if i should specify a different brand?? i didnt fit the chain btw, and it was fastidiously maintained and cleaned...hell, i picked it up from the roadside and it was shiney!! the links werent dry, but it does looks as if there is a lot of gunge around the o-rings, even though i cleaned it yesterday....i dont go anywhere near it with WD or similar....could it be because the bike has been in storage and the rings have deteriorated??
Thank you Funky, invaluable to me - Thank Goodness it spooled off relatively trauma free as as you said, the consequences don't bear thinking about. I am going to eyeball all of my joins now as it's something i used to routinely when younger like checking your tyres. The chain looks fine, sometimes those 'O' rings do perish all on their own but as you say, usually after a few years.
Si, sorry to hear this, couldnt have been nice. Glad you're okay, which is the main thing and you'll get the bike fixed in time for a meet up :smile: I still aint letting you near my bike thou :tongue:
Here are the DID rivet link flair dimensions.... BTW, DID state do not use a brush to clean the chain as it can damage the O rings......... ...........so how are are you expected to clean the crap out between the plates? AL
dont think about it. Simple. If it was meant to be, you would have been. It wasn't, so you weren't, so its fine
