‘The chainjumped off and took chunks out of the rear wheel hub’
Yamaha technician Stuart McIntosh was shocked by a lack of basic maintenance
The omens weren’t good when a 2016 Yamaha YBR125 arrived on the back of a truck at Ecosse Motorcycles in Aberdeen. And as Head Technician Stuart McIntosh helped unload the bike he could see the chain was hanging off. He told MCN: “All the guy could say was that the back wheel had locked up for some reason. But I think he knew why, as it was soon apparent that this wasn’t the first time it had happened to him.” The lock-up had been caused by the chain jumping off the rear sprocket, it then caught on the lefthand chain adjuster yanking it loose. This let the wheel move on one side causing the lock up. The chain was left dragging on the ground. When the chain jumped off, it took chunks out of the rear wheel hub, exposing the sprocket studs. But when Stuart looked more closely he could see some of the damage was weathered so reckons it had happened before. “Although the sprocket didn’t look that bad I don’t think he’d ever adjusted or lubricated his chain and some of the nuts that were holding the sprocket on were coming loose, which didn’t help.” Chain maintenance should really be a weekly task and there should never be more than a couple of inches of play in the chain at its tightest (check a workshop manual or with a dealer for the exact amount of play suggested for your bike).
Stuart was surprised how affordable replacement parts were with the hub just £10.50, adjuster £4.60 and chain and sprocket £62. With labour it was £203 all-in but it could have been half that for a simple chain and sprocket change. “There are so many instruction videos online, it would save riders hundreds of pounds if they just carried out the basic maintenance jobs before something, like this, goes wrong. As well as saving pounds, it could also save a rider’s skin.”
‘As well as saving pounds it could save your skin’