Why there’s more to caring for your chain than spraying on lube
Spannerman Steve Powell was shocked by this nearly new MT-09’s lack of TLC
Messy and noisy they may be, but a chain and sprockets are still the most efficient way of delivering power to your bike’s back wheel… at least they are if properly looked after.
The owner of a 2018 Yamaha MT-09 obviously did not subscribe to this simple mantra and his bike gave the lads at Stevelin Motorcycles in Ramsey a bit of a shock because the chain was in one hell of a state.
‘It was so loose I could unhook it with my fingers’
Mechanic Steve Powell told us: “The Yamaha had racked up 17,000 miles pretty quickly because the owner rides 40 miles every day to and from work – which is fine if you keep up with basic chores.” A chain’s tension should be checked every couple of weeks and adjusted as necessary at its tightest point. It should be cleaned, too. In this case, the chain and rear sprocket were caked in old lube. Perhaps the owner thought until then that lube was like botox injections and all he had to do was cover it in the stuff and the chain would magically tighten up.
But Steve could see the bottom run was sagging like Nora Batty’s stockings as he walked over to wheel it into the workshop.
He said: “I’ve seen some worn chains in my time, but this one was so loose I could actually unhook it from the rear sprocket with my fingers there and then.”
The MT owner paid, literally, for his lack of attention to his bike’s wellbeing. Steve explained:
“It cost him £200 in parts and labour, but how he had got away with his chain in that state I don’t know, as he doesn’t hang around apparently. If the chain had jumped off the sprocket at any sort of speed, it could have snarled around the front sprocket, smashing the sprocket cover and ripping a hole in the crankcases too.”