Chain broke while riding.....

[clyde]

So I am out on a nice ride on the 2000 Sprint, pass through a one lane construction zone in a very rural area, slowed down to about 25to 30 mph. Get past the zone, and start throttling up, but not hard. I get the bike up to about 45-50 mph, and I feel a very distinct snap, and a loss of momentum to the rear tire. Coast into a nearby driveway, and notice that the rear sprocket has no chain. Walk down the road and find my chain, broken at the master link. The bike only has 24,000 miles and I am going to assume that this is the original chain, but I am not 100 percent sure since I am the second owner. This is my second chain driven bike, and I've never experienced a chain breaking before. Frankly, I was suprised. (especially since I was about 100 miles or better from home and literally, in the middle of nowhere. Perfect timing) Does this happen often or is this a fluke, or...... ideas please. I found one of the link's side plates and it was bent and I found the two pins, one really bent and the other slightly so. And on that note, what replacement chain should I be looking for (as well as sprockets, too.)

[ricster]

I think its a rare occurance Clyde. As far as chains...the stock chain at least on an 06 is a DID 530 X chain. You can go online to a place like bikebandit.com and order up a replacement...or if you need it right away I am sure your friendly Triumph dealer has it in stock. I would also get new sprockets. You dont want a new chain running on old sprockets.

[WardenRoss]

[quote=ricster;1078660]I think its a rear occurance... [quote]

I believe that most chain failures are a "rear" occurrence.

Ha! Couldn't resist that one!


I believe the original chain would be endless with no master link.

S**t happens!

[clyde]

By the way, what are the sprocket sizes for a 2000 Sprint??? I know the rear is a 43 T, but how about the front???? Also, my Hanes manual (which does not have sprocket sizes, by the way) states the chain is 108 links, but on the DID website, it states 116 links.... Well, which is it????

[ricster]

[quote=WardenRoss;1078672][quote=ricster;1078660]I think its a rear occurance...

I believe that most chain failures are a "rear" occurrence.

Ha! Couldn't resist that one!


I believe the original chain would be endless with no master link.

S**t happens!

Its fixed

[KitNYC]

Sounds like you got off pretty easy, at least... I snapped a chain on my first bike & took out the clutch pushrod & a few other bits. Oil all over the place, scared the living *ahem* out of me! (FWIW, that chain snapped at a regular link, not the master, & it snapped because the rear wheel was out of alignment due to a taxi smashing into it a couple weeks earlier.)

Chain snaps are not common. Was it a clip-type master link? Did you keep your chain adjusted properly (~1.5"/40mm slack) and lubed?

Front sprocket was 19 stock, but you may want to go 18 as is often discussed here.

Cheers,
-Kit

[Sofalofa]

That happened to me once, going uphill on a GPZ500 at 80mph on the M1 motorway. On the inside lane was a couple of 18 wheelers. Talk about Scary... Luckily there was a slight gap as I was slowing down so I shot over to the hard shoulder. Took a while for my heart to return from my throat...

[Mr2U]

most likely a ding dong that did not know how to do a proper
master link, when it was changed from the oem unit.

be glad you were not mid-corner and have the rear end
lock up.

[CrazyIvan]

I snapped one in Ireland coming off a nice easy bend at 120+ accelerating. It took out my rear brake hose, chain guard and put some nice dinks in the rear wheel and swingarm. I got off very luckily indeed... Nice fella who owned a Tiger helped me get it to a local garage where I showed them how to use a chain breaking/fixing tool...

[steventhechef]

As said, you were very lucky.

Check the sprockets as they may (read should) have been replaced if the chain is not OEM. The original chains did not have master links.

Good luck, hold on .... you've already had that...