Gearbox / Chain Issues & Rear Shock Advice

[donkeybanana]

So the bike has been running lovely as far as I can tell, with one or two oddities.

First, the rear shock seems to be wound all the way out, but still has a ridiculous amount of sag. I'm guessing the air res is completely ruined by the look of it and I have my eye on buying a Hagon monoshock. From what I've read its probably more wise to go the extra 100 quid for a brand new shock as opposed to getting the old one refurbished.

Does anyone have any advice on which manufacturer to go with, or have any good/bad experience with Hagon? Or does anyone have any advice on how to make sure the rear shock is completely dead before laying out for a new one?

Depending on the weather, the bite points maximum effect changes position with regards to the clutch lever. Wet weather makes for a more tame bite point around the midway mark, but dry weather means I need to release the lever all the way.

Second, my gearbox/clutch/chain is making some serious noise in certain situations. At low speed with the clutch lever released completely, the chain seems to sag and then snatch constantly and makes a load of noise in doing so. The effect is less pronounced when using the clutch obviously, but I'd expect the bike to either stall or move at the speed of the engine. Instead it feels like a horse trying to throw me off. I will be replacing the chain and sprockets as they've not seen much love since I bought the bike earlier this year, and the chain wasn't looking great then either.

Now that I write this down, its just dawned on me that this could be caused by the engine misfiring or not firing on all cylinders. The bike does seem less mental than when I first bought it, but that could be me just getting used to it after only ever riding a 125. or am I talking out of my arse?

Any advice is highly welcome.

[speedy231278]

People seem to regard Nitron as the rear shock of choice if you have the budget, but aren't extravagant enough to have a suitable Ohlins unit modified to suit your bike. Some people rate Hagon shocks, other people slate them, I guess it depends on what you are used to and how you ride.

Clutch sounds a bit weird, I would have thought the bike point wouldn't change due to weather, the only thing I can think of is that maybe the cable and/or operating mechanism need lubricating so a bit of water kicking about might ease things up a bit. Having said that, the springs are pretty heavy, so I'd have thought they'd overcome a sticky cable or arm on the way out.

I would think that a sagging and clattering chain needs tightening, or throwing in the bin. You say the chain and sprockets haven't had much love, well, I'd start loving them! Adjust the chain as per the book, and see how you get on. If it goes slack quite quickly and starts rattling about, then it's scrap. NC30s and 35s don't have cushions under the sprocket like bikes with conventional double sided swinging arms, so the chains get battered even when everything is set up right. Best advice on keeping a chain happy is to get a Scottoiler. You'll pay about £70 for one and it'll take a few hours of patience to fit it, but in my case it paid for itself very quickly. I replaced the chain and sprockets on my NC35 shortly after I got it, and they were finished after about 15000kms. I put the oiler on shortly after getting replacements, and 60000kms later, no word of a lie, I'm only on the second chain since and it rarely needs adjusting. This might be partly down to my choice of DID gold X-ring chain as well. Not cheap, but lasts longer than the O-ring equivalent which I have also used.

Not sure that the issues with the clutch and/or chain would be down to a misfire. You're probably getting used to the bike. When I changed from my TZR125 to my RVF400, it didn't seem much bigger or faster, but when I had to go back to the TZR for a bit after being punted off by some blind van driver, the difference was outrageous! I do notice that it seems quite flat these days, partly because it's fuelling pretty badly right now, and it's getting generally tired, but you'd still be surprised and how quick these 400s will take off if you have time to look at the speedo.....

[donkeybanana]

Thanks for the reply speedy. I had figured along those lines, just needed a bit of reassurance from another NC30 owner. Much appreciated!

Didn't realise the bike chews through chains at a higher-than-usual rate, will look into getting some kind of longevity plan in place - like cleaning the bugger!

As for being quick, the bike did blow my mind within the first 30mins of buying it, and I knew then that I had made the right decision buying the potential lemon. She still goes very fast, but I'm embarrassed to around town due to the silly (yummy) noise made by the ART exhaust she came with

I will check the Haynes manual tonight and see if I can't give the chain a little love to get it through the rest of the week before I replace it.

[donkeybanana]

For a bit of closure, it turns out that the chain was stretched, a *lot*

Got myself the c-spanner/chain adjuster from David Silver Spares - part #89201-MR8-000 if anyone needs one - and the hub had already been wound pretty muh all the way back. I got around a 1/20th turn out of the adjuster, which didn't look like much when I was doing it but had a massive effect on the chain and behaviour of the bike.

Bike's in the shop now after a farce with the wrong sprocket kit being delivered, and I can't wait to have her back to her usual well-mannered, stupidly-quick self

[speedy231278]

I got a c-spanner from eBay. Much longer handle than the Honda one and makes it nice and easy. They tend to get full of crap and on one occasion it was whipped out and cleaned - the difference was ridiculous. You are right about the movement though, a tiny change on the adjuster takes up a hell of a lot of freeplay, which can be awkward when you have a sticky one, especially when the previous owner used a length of studding to adjust the bloody thing and damaged most of the castellations!!

[donkeybanana]

I'm with you there, whoever worked on this one has managed to round off one of the teeth making it impossible to adjust the other way from the top. Bit of a nightmare to have to get under the bike to adjust when swapping out the chain!

[speedy231278]

On fleabay, there's currently an NC30 swinger, linkage, etc starting at £19.99 - given the silly price of the adjusters (and the bearings if you are unlucky to lunch one) it might almost be worth taking a punt on!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-HONDA ... 4abbe25e96

Collection only, but if you're not too far away. I'd be tempted, but I have a 35...