It's not 115. It's whatever the standard size is. I'm assuming it's about 110 or 115...

ok....well i was just going by what you wrote. its 102 links just so u know

oh ok, thanks for that. I think my old bike took a 112 or 116 but I do recall being told that was actually quite a long chain.

I'm going to replace the rear sprocket and see if that fixes the problem. If it does I'll replace the front sprocket as well :)

All the best for Christmas, guys.

Cheers

OK I stuck a new 38 tooth sprocket on the rear and it still has tight spots..

The old rear sprocket had very very little wear on it, the chain has done about 1000kms, the front sprocket has very little wear on it as well.

Any ideas?

How much slack in the chain? You sure it is lubed nicely?

Lubed well every 2 tanks of petrol. About 20mm of slack.

OK guys so I very very much doubt the chain has stretched so early, the front sprocket looks fine, I've replaced the rear sprocket and no success.

I rode the bike up and down my street yesterday and it was shaking like no tomorrow, and my mechanic is still closed for the New Years break.

I'm thinking it may be a problem with the hub. When I spin the rear wheel, when it gets to a certain spot it is harder to turn, and then it makes a little 'cracking' noise and then it is easy to turn again. It's as if there's something small stopping it from moving in a certain spot, and then once it's past this spot it's fine. (and it's not the tightness of the chain causing this. It even does this when the chain has plenty of play in it)

When I gave my bike a good clean up, I did use a lot of degreaser and some warm water with caustic washing powder in it to clean the rear hub (none got on the chain). Could some of it have snuck into somewhere and damaged bearings or something?

Any ideas?

davethetrucker wrote:have you checked the rear hub outer bearing had a similar problem getting chain tension correct with a new c/s kit turned out outer bearing was feked completely.

Take the chain off and spin the hub..you then know whether the chain is at fault.

Then unbolt the rear caliper and spin it..are you sure the brake is not binding?

Then get a 46mm socket and get it stripped and re greased....easy!

You could have killed the bearings but they normally rumble and make nasty noises rather than nip up.

try spinning the rear sprocket slowly with the chain removed and feel for any roughness also try pulling the the sprocket whilst holding it either side and see if there is any excessive movement . the clicking you refer to may possibly be the bearing and not the chain running over the sprockets. i assume both sprockets are fitted correctly and chain has been checked by manipulating every single link by hand also if you have fitted a soft link to join the chain were the pins and o rings prior to fitting lubed or has the side plate been compressed on too tightly as i said earlier in my my case once i removed the rear hub roughness could be felt in the bearing nearest the sprocket after changing hubs problem was solved so could be worthwhile checking this if you,ve done the rest.

CMSMJ1 wrote:Take the chain off and spin the hub..you then know whether the chain is at fault.

Then unbolt the rear caliper and spin it..are you sure the brake is not binding?

Then get a 46mm socket and get it stripped and re greased....easy!

You could have killed the bearings but they normally rumble and make nasty noises rather than nip up.

46mm socket and large circlip pliers reqd also the caliper mount can also seize onto the hub giving problems as well as sticking pistons as cmsmj1 said get it stripped and regreased well worth doing as part of general maintainence anyway on these bikes.