Noise I'm not familiar with...

[hikermikem]

When driving my son's "85 GS550L, I can hear a sound that seems like it's comimg from the the general vicinity of the front sprocket.

The noises I hear are kinda summed up as a combo of the following:

- Whining
- Squealing
- Grinding

At first I though maybe the chain was hitting the guard, but it its not.

In addition, the bike seems to "bounce" or jump a bit when under way. I put it up on the center stand & ran it in 1st gear but it doesn't make the sounds as loudly as when under way. The chain does look like it's bouncing along though, as I watch it move from the rear sprocket to the front sprocket. I believe the chain tension may be a little tight, but it seems to vary as to when I check it. Sag is approx. .500".

All not good I would guess. Any thoughts as to what's going to fail next??

Thanks,

mike

[hikermikem]

Would a too tight chain cause this noise?

[tconroy]

Yes, plus a chain that is out of alignment.Do a google search on chain tension.I think you are suppose to have a 1/4" of slack in the chain but I would not know for sure as I have a shaftie.

[Griffin]

If the chain and/or sprockets are badly worn, they can be noisier than usual as well.

[TheCafeKid]

I've had experience with this a bit. There are a couple things that may be happening. Just like the other guys said, the chain may be out of alignment, it may need adjusting (tight or loose) or, and this is where my personal experience comes in, depending on the mileage of your bike, you may have a sprocket or sprockets going bad (high tooth, bent tooth, twisted tooth) in which case it is causing binding on your chain. One way to check for bind is, after you are sure your chain is aligned properly (or as close as possible, if you have a twisted or bent tooth, it may not align perfectly) and youre sure the tension is correct, put the bike up on the center stand, and in neutral, turn the wheel by hand. Spin it fast at first and watch/listen for it to catch somewhere, it will make an audible click, different from the regular chain noise, and you may see it actually slow or catch somewhere in the chain. If you see that spin the wheel by hand and again listen and feel for where it is catching. Most likely its going to catch twice along the line. If you have any of this at all, remove the sprockets, (start with the front, obviously easiest and in my experience, the more likely offender) and inspect the teeth for twist or bend, then look down the teeth (holding it in front of your face as if you were the chain) and look for a high tooth. If you have any of this, replace immediately, as the binding of the chain will eventually break it, which can cause pain. ( A buddy of my dads was killed when his chain broke at only 35mph and wrapped up in his rear wheel slamming him to a stop unexpectedly, he launched and broke his neck no good at all) From there you can do one of two things, you can either install the new sprocket, and see if this has fixed the binding before you take the rear off, or take the rear off before you purchase a new front. Its quite possible the rear may be ok, but on the other hand the chain binding very possibly did damage to the rear sprocket as well. I was fortunate and only had the front bad, and also very lucky because just two days of riding the chain like that, it came apart in my hand when i inspected it. That could have been bad...

Good Luck!! Hope this helped!

TCK

[TheCafeKid]

Oh one other thing, if you do have a bind, i would deffinately replace the chain as well, while it may not visibly look bad, it may very well have a or multiple bent links or shaved rivets. Thats what had happened to mine, a twisted tooth was more or less shaving rivet heads off little by little.

[tkent02]

Also if the chain gets tighter and looser as it goes around, it can never be adjusted correctly, it is past it's useful life. Any visible wear in the sprockets is too much. Replace both the chain and sprockets as a set, and you may as well get the modern 530 chain while you are at it. There is info here in the GSR.

[hikermikem]

CafeKid - Thanks, very informative stuff. I'm new to the bike maintenance scene, & am learning as I go. I will definately check out the chain & sprockets, I'm fairly certain they are all old & well worn.

I've seen references to the 530 chain here on this site but am clueless as to what that means. I'll research it & check it out. Thanks again for the advice.

Tkent, you're right about not being able to adjust the chain tension - it goes from loose to tight spin as I the wheel.

Looks like the season's over for this bike!

Thanks,

Mike

[tkent02]

Looks like the season's over for this bike!

No, no, it's only going to take an hour or so to replace all three, nothing to it.
And I see you have a GS550, disregard the 530 chain comment, that's for bigger bikes that came with bigger chains.

[Nessism]

No, no, it's only going to take an hour or so to replace all three, nothing to it.
And I see you have a GS550, disregard the 530 chain comment, that's for bigger bikes that came with bigger chains.

You had it right, GS550 uses a 530 chain. Z1 Enterprises sells everything you need. You can save a little money on the chain if you shop around though. I put RK X-ring chains on both my 550's and think they are the best value going in a quality chain.

Good luck.