Lube it or lose it

Yes folks, that’s right.

Well this week got off to a bad start weather wise, with mega rain all the time. It’s getting tougher and tougher to withstand the cold wet commute but there you go, the choices you make.

The other day I was riding in to work and even though the 6th gear tapping was doing it’s thing as usual, there was another type of noise. One which made me instantly worried.

Now the thing with the 6th gear tap is that it’s coming from around the engine area, however this new noise was a back left hand noise…i.e. drive chain.

The thing is, it was only at 0mph-20mph that it was obvious. It was in all gears as well which was even more strange.

I got to work and had a big look around the chain, wheel, sprocket and nothing was apparently wrong. I thought that a missing sprocket tooth might be the problem but they were all present and correct sir. I had a chat with my boss who had just arrived in the garage and he was as baffled as I was.

So the working day concluded and I headed home and weirdly enough, the sound had gone…until I got to a roundabout and it started again. It was really loud, and I mean seriously loud. It’s hard to describe a noise through text but as always I shall try:

Imagine the bike at rest. First gear, “Clunk!”

Clutch out and bike starts moving, “Bvvvv THUMP bvvvv THUMP bvvvv THUMP!”

The thumping speeds up as I accelerate. It sounds at one point like something is stuck to the back tyre and is slapping against the tarmac as the wheel goes round.

“THWACK! THWACK!”

I eventually get home with nerves fraid. I mean I thought that the back wheel was going to fall off. I get in, take my rucksack off and put the bike up on the paddock stand to have a good look.

Back tyre is perfect, no nails or cracks/bulges. Chain is also ok and the sprocket is all there. Hmmmm. I start the bike up and listen for it, however I didn’t really expect to hear anything as on the way home I worked out that the noise only happens when the engine is under load i.e. I am accellerating fast. If I smoothly and slowly accelerate it’s fine.

So I decide to lube it and see if it makes a difference, the chain was looking a bit dry.

Lube, it's your friend

So after a massive doseage of Lube, the sprocket instantly sounded smooth and quiet, a lot quieter than the racket it was making before the lube.

I head out on the bike to see if it’s all ok and it’s 100% fixed. No noise at all.

I breathe a sigh of relief and of surprise. The last time I lubed it was before the service and when I got it back there was this white stuff all over the swingarm, which I just assumed was the garages lube, but it obviously isn’t that good and had either washed off or dried up.

So basically what I am saying is, my chain was bone dry and it was metal on metal action that was causing the noise. I shudder to think what possible damage/accident it could have caused if I had left it any longer. I shudder to think what possible damage it has done already!

It just goes to show folks, if you dont keep your chain lubed, you’ll have a crappy ride and a fraid nervous system.

Lube is your friend.

Thanks for stopping by folks, next post will be about my old faithfuls, my Alpinestars GoreTex boots, which on the 6th August 2008, died.

Gordon