Major chain stretch

[Anonymous]

Hi Ron,
I remember you telling me about your brakes when we met for Coffee. This is unlikely the case for me. When I press the brake lever on the bike the wedge between the two shoes sticks in the applied position. I then have to twist the wedge back for it to release. It's not a big deal but I don't be getting to it this week either. I was supposed to move to Ottawa tomorrow but I blew the cooling system in my van. Now I'm even more behind. As my boss says, "Can't win for losing"

Steve

 

[argonsagas]

Steve: what you said here suggests you have drum brakes, whereas I thought you had disks. Sorry for any misunderstanding.


When you pull the brake parts out, use a corded electric drill with a brass brush on it and clean all the parts....it will remove all rust, etc.

After brushing everything , reassemble with a spray of silicone on all parts. Do all spraying away from the bike.

Do NOT spray any silicone in the presence of the brake pads/shoes/linings or drum.

Quite possibly you will have to rebuild the brake cylinder.

Compress the brake cylinder with a C-clamp, then check the visible interior for any spalling. If it is spalled you need to rebuild or replace the cylinder. If it is clean, then open the clamp about 1/8 to 1/4 inch ....not more....and hold it in place while the brake lever is pulled. You need the clamp to limit the travel.


If it doesn't move, then the cylinder needs to be replaced. If it moves, but is tight, then use can use silicone on it. The silicone will lubricate the sides and will not damage the cup. If it moves freely, you are OK. Just go ahead with the reassembly....all done.

This is no big deal....fairly straightforward repair.

 

[Don Lobacz]

I think you have a couple of things going on with the chain. Let me preface this by noting that my original GS1000 chain lasted 44,000 miles (although I was lubing it every 100 miles at the end). I will bet that you don't have an o-ring chain, and riding in the rain at high speed without lubing quickly washes away the protective lube around the pins, thus allowing metal to metal contact. An o-ring chain will protect the lube to a point, but even then high speed rain riding has to work some water into the protected area. My experience is that a high quality chain will outlast a cheap chain by a factor of approximately 4 to 1. If you inspected a used chain, you would find that the wear mainly occurs across the center of the pins and in the loosening of the rollers. These accumulated clearances are what causes your chain stretch (if there is a slight stretch due to metal expansion from heat, it returns to normal after cooling).

One important quirk to keep in mind is that the loose part of the chain keeps getting looser until you have distinct tight and loose sections of your chain. This needs to be considered when checking chain tension: make sure that you spin the tire and check the tension at several locations. You may have checked the loose section after the ride: recheck the chain to see if the 3 inch slack is consistent around the whole chain.

 

[argonsagas]

I mentioned the brake cleaner from Princess Auto....try also Loctite chain lube from the same source. It goes on as a light spray, then thickens as the solvent evaporates....I use it on the Honda and found it great...even in heavy rain it stays put.

I mark the chain with a coloured marker to make sure I can tell how it turns, then put the bike on the centre stand and rotate the wheel and chain by hand as I continually spray the lube with the extended nozzle right on the chain. I run it through two complete turns, so there are no dry spots.

Before lubing the chain, clean it with Varsol or similar solvent and make certain it is completely dry before putting any lube on the chain. Use a hair dryer to be sure.