Triumphrat

Sweenz · 08-29-2009, 05:14 AM

I made a terrible mistake after rebuilding the front forks & having new tyres fitted to both wheels..
The last thing I did after a marathon work session on my 1200 Trophy was refit the rear wheel.

In doing the rear wheel alignment I nipped the eccentric adjusters up finger tight until I tightened the rear axle & promtly forgot to fully tighten them. The next day I kept thinking, "Check the adjuster lock bolts"...

After lots of interuptions & visitors I was finally going to get a ride in & got going, having forgotten to check the lock bolts.

About 50k's from home after giving the old girl a bit of a workout through some nice bends & good straights I had to back it down for a "T" intersection. After making the turn and accelerating off down the road I felt the bike pulling & jerking intermitently.
I pulled over to check it out. When I got off the bike there was oil everywhere over the back of the bike & my new rear tyre. There was a big trail of oil back down the road showing my path.

The chain was very loose & I twigged straight away that I hadn't tightend the lock bolts.
I figured the chain had worn through the sprocket cover allowing oil to be blown out all over the place.. After getting the bike home (That is another story in which I lost my one & only key for the bike) & removing the sprocket cover the damage was revealed..

The chain had jumped the front sprocket smashing it's way through the clutch pushrod housing in the sprocket cover, bending the clutch pushrod, wrecking the seal & allowing the running engine to pump oil out all over the place. This was all caused from not tightening the chain adjuster lock bolts correctly.. BE WARNED

New sprocket cover,clutch pushrod & oil seal are about $200AU.. On back order & will be about 3 weeks to arrive... The consolation is that no metal entered the engine with the way the damage occured... Now; to deal with the no key for bike issue..

Sweenz

gamsa · 08-29-2009, 11:39 AM

Jeez, sounds like you narrowly avoided a pretty serious prang. Oil all over rear tyre is not a good thing.

narrowminded · 08-29-2009, 01:03 PM

I may be in trouble here. In changing two sets of tires(front and rear) I didn't believe any adjustments were needed. The new seemed to go right back where the old was. If one needs to adjust or align the wheels simply to change the tires I'm selling this thing. Next will be adjusting the valves every oil change.

jimballard · 08-29-2009, 03:25 PM

Narrow..........checking the alignment of the tires after changing them is simple routine maintenance, unless it's a shaft drive. If it is a shaft drive, well........you're stuck with whatever the factory did on that day, on that bike, with the parts that were used.

Of course, you do realize that the "village idiot" doesn't feel too strongly about this: Jim

Sweenz · 08-29-2009, 07:04 PM

Hi Narrow,

The rear wheel alignment is simple on these bikes.
Both chain adjusters need to be on the same mark (On each side) before tightening
the rear axle up..

Hi Gamsa,

I was lucky not to have a serious prang! Thankfully the bike warned me something was wrong.
If it had started leaking 30 seconds earlier in some nice high speed corners the outcome would have been very different I am sure..

Sweenz

Sweenz · 08-29-2009, 10:10 PM

Things are looking up!!!
Just went hunting for the key with my brother inlaw.
We searched in the long grass on the side of the road where I loaded the bike into my ute.
He had found it within 5 minutes..(Good Man)
My wife, son & I searched the day before with no luck !!!
I'll definitely be getting a spare cut this week..

Sweenz

gamsa · 08-30-2009, 05:14 AM

You need to be checking chain tension and adjusting as necessary every 1000 miles, at least. On any bike. Except shaft drive ones.