Author Topic: Could have ended up being a disaster. (Read 2777 times)

nickoff · « **on:** August 24, 2019, 11:04:53 »

Was out on my 650xt yesterday enjoying the sunshine. I was riding on the A16 between Mablethorpe and Grimsby, quite a busy road. Whilst gunning the bike past a huge truck I got about 3/4 of the way past him when all of a sudden I lost all of my drive. My momentum was taking me past the lorry but because we were coming to an incline I realised there was no way that I would get past him to pull over. A quick dab of the brake slowed me down so the truck passed me on the inside then I rolled to the side of the road behind the truck, getting lots of horn blowing from following traffic. Once I'd got myself together and took a look at the Strom it turns out the drive chain had snapped, luckily not taking any of the casing with it. What worries me is that the bike has only done about 5000 miles from new and I have a Lubeman chain oiler. I've dashed off an email to Suzuki but not expecting much from them.
Anyone else had or heard of a chain problem on the 650s plus what chain to replace it with? Hopefully the sprockets shouldn't need replacing after doing so little mileage.

Nick.

UK_Vstrom650 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2019, 11:17:01 »

Wow, that was lucky. Was the chain too tight? I'd get a D.I.D. chain. Personally I'd also replace the sprockets but some wouldn't bother. I doubt Suzuki will do anything as they'll say it's a consumable part. Good luck getting it sorted

MartinW · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2019, 12:07:24 »

First broken chain I have heard of on here.

I too suspect Suzuki will say the chain is a consumable.

Artaroos · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2019, 14:15:51 »

+1 on D.I.D. (Gold) chain, probably worth erring on the side of caution and replacing the sprockets (normally comes as a kit for the chain), I'd also suggest checking your wheel (sprocket) alignment - IMHO it's possible that the chain jumped / snagged a tooth - which at high speeds would only result in breakage.. Lucky it didn't lock up.

Glad you are OK

Asmith61 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2019, 16:17:05 »

Wow your were a lucky fella 😱 like the others have said DID gold kit good luck hearing back from Suzuki

Barbel Mick · « **Reply #5 on:** August 24, 2019, 21:24:40 »

For the price of the sprockets against the cost of the chain...........put new ones in it!

Skiddy · « **Reply #6 on:** August 24, 2019, 22:19:52 »

Did you retrieve the chain, is it obvious how and why it failed, can you post pics?

Its certainly unusual at that mileage

I would certainly replace both sprockets just to eliminate them as a contributory factor

Has the wheel been out recently and/or have you adjusted the chain recently?

Gert · « **Reply #7 on:** August 25, 2019, 07:31:21 »

Did the broken chain cause any damage? I've read on the Stromtrooper site, of the clutch push rods breaking on the 1st gen Wee, when a chain breaks. Also of a casing on a 1st gen Vee damaged. Not sure of what type of damage happens on the Glee.
How many miles and how much slack was on that chain?

sillyboy · « **Reply #8 on:** August 25, 2019, 11:08:21 »

the chain on my bsa broke in the distant past. luckily no damage done. noticed when refitting my wheel yesterday after getting a new tyre that the chain on my strom 650 has 2 sideways kinks in it although it runs onto the sprockets OK. it has only 8k on it.

colin · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2019, 14:56:27 »

Did the chain fail on the rivetted joining link? had it been rivetted correctly?

nickoff · « **Reply #10 on:** August 26, 2019, 18:16:57 »

Quote from: Skiddy on August 24, 2019, 22:19:52

Did you retrieve the chain, is it obvious how and why it failed, can you post pics?

Haven't got the chain. A chap in a car pulled up just after it happened and saw it laying in the road. He had time to stop and throw it onto the verge. I walked back 200-300 yards but couldn't find it. As far as I'm aware the wheel has never been out. I purchased the bike with just over 2000 miles on the clock and it had the right amount of up and down play.
Nick

nickoff · « **Reply #11 on:** August 26, 2019, 18:21:23 »

Quote from: Gert on August 25, 2019, 07:31:21

Did the broken chain cause any damage? I've read on the Stromtrooper site, of the clutch push rods breaking on the 1st gen Wee, when a chain breaks. Also of a casing on a 1st gen Vee damaged. Not sure of what type of damage happens on the Glee.
How many miles and how much slack was on that chain?

From what I can see there isn't any other damage. The bike only has just over 5000 miles on the clock. I checked the tension a couple of weeks ago and all seemed correct.
Nick.

Skiddy · « **Reply #12 on:** August 26, 2019, 21:16:46 »

Well the main thing is you are fine and no real harm done, sometimes things just happen for no obvious reason.

sjrainsford · « **Reply #13 on:** August 27, 2019, 09:46:21 »

Same happened to me, but broke a side link open and never fully broke open. Mine had done 5000 miles at the time and chain lubed and looked after.

I put it down to a stone or something getting caught in the chain. But who knows! Could have been a bad joint.

What's most frustrating is that I inspect it regularly too. I've got a JT chain to replace it, and to be honest I don't like it. It's noisier and the grease they packed it in kept flinging out an covering everything for the first few hundred miles. It's fine now though. Plus it rusts really easily.

sm · « **Reply #14 on:** August 27, 2019, 09:58:06 »

Glad to read it didn't have you off, stuff of nightmares. If I were in your shoe's I'd be trying to find the failed chain to see if I could figure the cause, and I'd check the sprockets for any signs of damage caused by something having wedged in there, or any damage to casings due to chain letting fly. Any input just before failure - accelerating and gear change for OTake may have caused whatever weakness was there to fail (rather than a stone getting jammed). With 5K on the bike it should have been OE chain, but maybe it was a poor quality replacement. What year is the bike out of interest?
Sean

nickoff · « **Reply #15 on:** August 27, 2019, 18:00:23 »

No chance of finding the chain now, it happened about 50 miles away from where I live. The bike was first registered in October 2017. I will be ordering a new chain and sprockets tomorrow, possibly from Wemoto. I was going to get the heavy duty JT chain but not sure now.
Nick.

kwackboy · « **Reply #16 on:** August 27, 2019, 18:30:13 »

Very lucky I'd say but don't scrimp on a new chain a sprockets. JT sprockets are good but their chains are shite ..

Barbel Mick · « **Reply #17 on:** August 27, 2019, 22:10:25 »

If you've not already ordered have a look on here........JT sprockets (inc rubber cushioned one if required) and DID chains.
https://chainsandsprockets.co.uk/

paulo · « **Reply #18 on:** August 28, 2019, 13:42:00 »

+1 DID gold/black chain, JT sprockets - done 10k miles on them so far, no problems

sjrainsford · « **Reply #19 on:** August 28, 2019, 14:00:12 »

Are the JT sprockets not noisy? I had some on an older bike and found them quite noisy.