Rear chain guide question

[thr3shold]

So I'm moving about 3.5 hours away (200 miles) and I need to drive the bike down there ('80 GS1100ET). The rear guide is worn so it is making that noise. I'm really crunched for time so my question is this; Can I ride it down there with the worn guide or not? What is likely to happen? What can happen? Thanks.
(oops, I seem to have forgotten to mention it is the CAM chain guide)

[fifthcolum]

What's likely to happen? Who knows . . . depends how badly the guide is worn.

What can happen? The chain can snap while you're riding the bike. Although this probably won't kill you, it can seriously f-up your bike. Depending on what part of the chain the guide is rubbing on, if the chain snaps and sends links flying into the crank case, you'll wish you would have bought a bike trailer for the back of your car or rented a u-haul or parked the bike somewhere safe until you could figure out a better way to get it to your new house besides on the freeway at 65 miles/hour with a suspect chain.

Just some things to consider

[TheCafeKid]

heh i wouldnt risk that for a million dollars...if that chain starts to bind, it can do some serious sh!t. I one attempted riding my lil KZ440 to work with a worn chain due to a bad sprocket. By the time i got half way there i was having to limp it there, cos the binding was torquing the rear of the bike to the point it was not stable. and when i DID get to work simply touching the chain to see where or what was binding caused the chain to fall apart in my hand. It's your bike and your rear end, but i would advise against it.

[rphillips]

I'm confused,,, What & where is the rear chain guide???

[mark]

I'm confused,,,

I'm a little confused as well here. How do you know its the rear cam chain guide that's worn? Perhaps your cam chain tensioner isn't working right and it could be a rather simple fix.

[thr3shold]

I know it's the rear cam chain guide because I've already gone the tensioner 'quick fix' route and clunked down $60 for a manual tensioner. I've also popped open the valve cover and looked down there to see the wear on the guide.

[spyug]

Three hours at speed is going to be a recipe for disaster. You might make it but it will take a toll on the engine. With little tension on your chain the cam timing and valve adjustment is going to go off, the bike will start running weird and goodness knows what will happen next. Not worth tempting fate in my mind.

As the guys all suggest trailer it or park it until you can retrieve it later.

Nothing would be worse than getting to your new location with a good bike that turned into a hunk of junk.

Good luck to you.
Cheers,
Spyug.

[hampshirehog]

Whilst I agree with the other posts here I will admit to running a 750 many moons ago with a totally knackered camchain and guides (amongst many other knackered bits) as a student - dead broke and a girlfriend 200 miles away - you know the score. That old bike made more noise than a dustbin full of bones. Never let me down on dozens of runs.

Wally

[chef1366]

When you looked at the guide was there chunks missing or just skinny from wear.

[TheCafeKid]

Sheeesus i thought he was talkin bout a damn drive chain...DOH...ima keep my mouth shut now...

[rphillips]

Me too, I read the post 2 or 3 times, but never saw cam mentioned. duhhhhh.

[thr3shold]

When you looked at the guide was there chunks missing or just skinny from wear.

Just skinny from wear.

[Headphase]

I thought the same, thought it was the 'chain' chain, and was just heading to the garage to figure out where there was a space on my bike where the 'guide' had been

DOH

[chef1366]

The choice is yours. I don't think you'll break the cam chain but you have a chance of bending valves if you jump a tooth on the cam sprockets or crank. How long have you been riding it like this? Is the noise coming from the worn tensioner or a loose chain?

[thr3shold]

I'm not too sure how long. I got ran off the road and unbeknown to me I tore into my muffler and down pipe, so the noise could have been masked. I patched them so I can hear it much better now. I think I remember hearing a noise, but I could be wrong. Anyway, that accident was probably thousands of miles ago (3-5) since I rode it a lot up to my then gf's house (Sacramento - Eureka). I've never taken the engine apart on this nor any other motorcycle so I just don't want to dig into something hairy while under the gun. Thanks for everyone's help btw.