My learning as I go blog

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ofblong · #1 Unread post by **ofblong** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 6:45 pm

Now that I have to actually start doing some real mechanical work on my bike I will take pictures of the work as I go and post them here. By no means am I an auto/motorcycle mechanic. I am an Industrial Mechanic but thats a little different then working on auto's lol.

ofblong · #2 Unread post by **ofblong** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:30 pm

Well got around to getting my chain sprockets ordered and the new chian break/rivet tool.

below are some pics of me doing the work though I dont have the chain yet (supposed to be here wed) and I dont have any brake cleaner to clean the rear brake area up so I didnt put the rear tire back on yet.

anyways onto the pics of what I have done so far.

This one shows how much chain slop there is when the tension isnt set. plenty of room to use the chain break/rivet tool.

This shows how dirty the chain gaurd is. good thing this thing is on there otherwise hello dirty passenger lol

The drive sprocket was very worn. so worn that you can see the nice divits the chain made in the main part of the sprocket.

The old chain. Looks like this wasnt the origional chain as it has a clip type link on it.

New drive sprocket installed. pretty cool how it works with the front clip. Though it would seem the clip cant be flipped 180 degrees as the holes wouldnt line up that way. I didnt take the time to experiment to make sure but it seemed that way

. Dont worry I am gonna clean all the "dust n stuff" before I put the chain on.

main shaft holding the rear tire on.

The next 2 pics show how the new sprocket must fit more than one type of motorcycle (lol go figure) in that on my bike one set of holes is larger the other set of holes. My bike fits the smaller set.

Thats all I have for now until my chain comes (supposed to be here Friday).

ceemes · #3 Unread post by **ceemes** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:03 pm

Ah the joys of chain and sprocket replacement. Think I will stick to shaft drive.

ofblong · #4 Unread post by **ofblong** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:30 pm

ceemes wrote:Ah the joys of chain and sprocket replacement. Think I will stick to shaft drive.

hehe yeah well its all about the learning. Besides I figure if I take pictures of my work others "browsing" my thread might see something I should replace or fix or whatever that I might not have thought of

. Speaking of I need to take pics of the wheel being put back on. I didnt realize how easy the rear drum brake was to take off and man there is a ton of brake dust I need to clean out lol. I am one of those guys that when I take something apart I have to clean it before I put it back together (though I didnt do that with the sprocket yet but the picture was more for "differences" between old and new. I mean if you look at the bolt in the bottom right you can see how much has been worn from origional sprocket to the new sprocket. quite a bit. Makes me think this chain has been replaced once before (bike only has 20k miles on it) but not the sprockets along with the chain. Especially considering this bike came with a non clip type master link. which the masterlink was put on backwards. Instead of the open end of the clip facing away from direction of travel it was facing direction of travel. Plus it was on the backside of the chain (not sure if it really matters) meaning it was facing the inside of the bike so I didnt even know it was their till after I broke the chain and pulled it off. So my guess is whoever worked on it didnt want to buy the right tools for the job (they are kinda on the expensive side) and took the easy route instead of the correct route. So my goal for today is to get all the parts/brakes cleaned and put back on. Then I can lower the cycle jack until I get my chain. Once chain comes in I will raise it back up to put the chain on (prob wont need to but makes it much easier to work on stuff).

Whats nice about this Motorcycle jack ($40 at pep boys after $30 mail in rebate) is not only does it keep the bike stable my 2 year old can pump the bike up without any problems. Thats how easy it is to use. I love this jack and hope that when I someday get my Ducati it will work with it as well though with the way the exhaust runs on a Ducati it may not work unless I can get some mods done to the bike or some sort of leveling pads to put under the bike frame.

ceemes · #5 Unread post by **ceemes** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:18 am

When I was riding chain drive, I always replaced the rear sprocket when I replace the chain. Mind you those were courier bikes and they were ridden hard at least 5 days a week in all weather conditions, sun, rain and yes snow, up to 12 hours a day in heavy stop and go traffic......usually ended replacing the front brake pads, drive chain and rear sprockets every six weeks, it was a good time to do an oil change as well.

Rain gear lasted about a month at best, two month with liberal applications of duct tape.....

Sounds like you are also getting you kid broken in early......given him any wrench time yet?

erbgottie · #6 Unread post by **erbgottie** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:24 am

beautifull bike man

ofblong · #7 Unread post by **ofblong** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:49 am

ceemes wrote:When I was riding chain drive, I always replaced the rear sprocket when I replace the chain. Mind you those were courier bikes and they were ridden hard at least 5 days a week in all weather conditions, sun, rain and yes snow, up to 12 hours a day in heavy stop and go traffic......usually ended replacing the front brake pads, drive chain and rear sprockets every six weeks, it was a good time to do an oil change as well.

Rain gear lasted about a month at best, two month with liberal applications of duct tape.....

Sounds like you are also getting you kid broken in early......given him any wrench time yet?

lol a little. I will lossen the bolt/nut and let him finish taking it off lol. Plus I let him raise and lower the bike

.

ofblong · #8 Unread post by **ofblong** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:44 pm

ok didnt get a chance to get pictures off the camara (too excited) but my chain came today. I installed it (though I didnt take pics of installation I was too excited lol) and got the tire aligned. Took it for a 10 mile spin and OMG can I tell a difference. at 80mph I dont hear the "chain slap" the bikes vibration isnt near what it used to be and it takes off oooohhhh so much more smoothly that it used to. overall Awsomeness to be able to ride again though it will be short lived. Gonna rain rest of the week =[.

ofblong · #9 Unread post by **ofblong** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:29 pm

Not really a learning point mechanicly (ok not even close to being one lol) but I rode to work tonight. Its currently 36 degrees F outside. wtf was I thinking????? I completly forgot to grab my wind breakers so my legs are freezing. good thing I got my electric heated gloves (mmm toasty fingers make for quick reflex's) and my armored jacket with liner which boy does this thing keep me warm even at 20F. Plus I brought my neck/nose cover my wife made me that just pulls down over my head and then fits under my helmet. keeps the wind off my face so i keep that part warm as well. But geeze do my legs freeze (I ride from plant to plant with my tools in my tool bag which just barely fits in my saddle bag). I think tomarrow if I ride (prob wont cause its supposed to rain and well 35 degrees and rain just dont sit well lol) I will def remember my windbreaker pants. keeps the cold way down when I wear them.

#10 Unread post by **aw58** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 10:20 am

I know that c c c c cold feeling in the fingers when 3 hours later the tips are still pink and numb, or when its wet and parts of your body look like an ancient briton from the dye that has come out of your leather, and your legs start to shake from the cold whilst your riding.
Still I've got several months of that to look forward to.
Thanks for reminding me.

ADE