snapped chain

[Darkenbad]

Hi, how many miles had been put on these chains and what sort of abuse had they been getting. DID chains shouldn't snap, stretch an awful long way may be. It's the first time I've heard of this on a modern bike subject to average abuse.

If the side plates were notched or even scratched when the chain was fitted, or chain had come into contact with rocks when off roading, then it could cause a cyclic fatigue crack to propagate in the side plate. Whatever the cause, it doesn't give one a warm fluffy feeling when one is belting along at 80 mph.

Reckon a poll might be an idea; find out how many have failed and the cause, and also what the bike has been up to.




PK

[robelst]

The 2 broken chains I have ever seen were both "endless" and had both one side-plate bent open, enabling the next link to slide out sideways (probably a pebble in the chainwheel?). I still have a picture of one of them, will look for it to spice up this worrying subject.

I had never heard of snapping plates . I'd imagine highly tuned Hayabusa's could do something like that, but our humble ATs? Scary stuff.

[robelst]

I still have a picture of one of them, will look for it to spice up this worrying subject.

(The tool is holding the bent plate; as you can see the link is not an open clip-link or softlink. Although it became one shortly after this picture was made )

[GeoBloke]

Man, I didn't need to read this. My bike's given up 32,000 trouble-free, blessed miles but now I'm getting paranoid about being due! Anybody want to start a pool? What'll it be, fuel pump, chain......?

[Cie]

As a new rider, this is a great focussing thread. I'm sure it's quite easy to jump on the bike day after day without ever giving it a look over. But it surely must be worth giving it a good close look over at least once a week?

Yeah I know we all lead busy lives, but these things do happen it would seem

[HelmetHair]

after my chain snapped, i used so much oil you could hardly see the rear wheel colour! Mind you, no rusty spoke problem..
chain was original honda fitment, and from memory no more than 5,000 miles. I put it down to a random bad chain, as I'd kept it oiled/lubed regularly. So did honda-replace d under warranty (with new sprockets too)

[robelst]

Man, I didn't need to read this. My bike's given up 32,000 trouble-free, blessed miles but now I'm getting paranoid about being due! Anybody want to start a pool? What'll it be, fuel pump, chain......?

As they say in Grolsch ads: SHTOP! You are not yet ready!

There is not much use in worrying about things that may never happen. Chains hardly ever snap (the picture above is a holiday-snap of my friend's Yammi Super Tenere when we were in France, his bike runing a nearly new heavy-duty endless chain while I was following on my trouble-free AT running a worn chain, closed with the clip pointing in the wrong direction

OK, the fuel pump may give up but that is no drama. Every bike has weak points, look at any other bike-make / model dedicated forum and be surprised about the level of mayhem and heartship. It is like the news, happy events are only reported if there is not enough bad news to spend the time on.

[icenian]

Reckon a poll might be an idea; find out how many have failed and the cause, and also what the bike has been up to.

About 15k miles, I ride all year round but roads only - who know what the previous owner had done though?

The bike had been serviced and MOT'd 8 days before the chain broke too. Perhaps I should be annoyed but I'd looked it over since then (well they adjust it to the Honda recommended tension, so I loosen it off a notch when it gets home from the dealer) and I hadn't been able to see anything.

I'd expect any weakness to cause it to break before it became visible, though.

[M@to]

About 15k miles, I ride all year round but roads only - who know what the previous owner had done though?

The bike had been serviced and MOT'd 8 days before the chain broke too. Perhaps I should be annoyed but I'd looked it over since then (well they adjust it to the Honda recommended tension, so I loosen it off a notch when it gets home from the dealer) and I hadn't been able to see anything.

I'd expect any weakness to cause it to break before it became visible, though.

How about the lineing? Are sprockets on your bike in line?
..just a posibility...

[sean]

i've had two chains snap. as a matter of course now i replace them at 15k regardless of how worn they look.