lotta chain noises here...I pulled the front wheel on a blastoff and tried to hold it up heard a POP,wondered what the freakin f that was...checked it out and couldnt find nothin. thinkin maybe its time for another chain maybe sprockets for my rocket???
any suggestions on what kind to use???? I do enjoy riding on one wheel when I get into the mood and thought about goin up a few teeth on the rear but dont really under stand the ups and downs of teeth on rear and front sprockets???

Jon,

Tell me how many times you lubed your chain? Every few tanks? Every 300miles? Maybe once every 2K miles?

Count 20 links on the top rung of the chain. You will have to remove the chain guard. Hang about 10lbs of weight on the lower rung so the upper rung is tight and is climbing the sprockets for this measurement.

Drive Chain 20-link Length:

Std: 12.50 to 12.53 inches or (317.5 ~ 318.2mm)
Serviceable Limit: 12.7 inches (323mm)

If you exceeded this limit, replace sprockets as well. Rub both hands together. Which palm stayed cold? OK, now do we de-squid ourselves and change chain is always change sprockets?

Want a trick? If the new chain needs to be broken-in, you do not follow normal slack. You use more slack being over 1/8th inch or more than normal. This will stop a lot of the high spots you may be feeling? Not only do you measure the 1st and 21st pin, but you move the chain about 4 times to see how square the wear is?

If one measurement is within spec, it is that high spot is what you just checked. The low spot or what you hear down the road is a, Whaaaa-whaaa sound of the pitch of the change in high to low spots on a too dry a chain.

Here is one simple direction. The more teeth you have on the rear sprocket, the easier it is to wheelie.
The next direction is, the lower in teeth you have at the rear sprocket, the better gas mileage.
Front sprockets sort of blend what is too radical at the back and more or less is a combo where the changes can bring the wheelie down to a less aggressive, quick stand up.

Sort of like instead of a light switch coming on, the two compliment each other to sort of bring the wheelie to a more control-able throttle apply.

The drag/wheelie guys will clean up my explanation and give you more how it feels if you use this counter with this rear sprocket combo and then choose your weapon from there. Ask for a link count so you have enough chain and sprocket when buying replacement parts.

If you think that knock is chain related, inspect each roller at the links. See if one is distorted or a tooth hangs up on either sprocket as you roll the wheel slow and statically by hand.

* Last updated by: Hub on 7/5/2009 @ 11:36 PM *

hey hub,believe it or not I lube the chain about once a week. I do NOT lube the entire chain,by putting it on the rear stand every time though...Ive only put 2k on the bike since Ive owned it. So who knows about things before I picked her up. gotta make the time tommarow to get this pipe on,and will do a nice chain inspection.

Does the 14 have a clutch hub with a damper in it or is it a solid hub? If it has a damper then that may have been what you felt when the damper was doing it's job. If it is a dampered hub the only way for it to quit is make the chain adjustment on the tite side.
That is my dampered clutch hub (no pun intended) lesson for the day.

If you lube and spin on the outside, this flings off on the centrifugal. If you lube the inner plate/roller and outer plate/plates from the inside, this pushes the fluid out to the outside. So, if you just stand behind the chain at the rear sprocket and spray, you only half way lubed on the wheel spin.

I use lithium grease and pack both sides with a toothbrush. 7,300 hard miles and I cannot pull the chain away from the sprockets without a lot of force on a link.

Plus, I am like Kruz. I doubt I adjusted the chain twice since I've owned it. The one time I did, was too tight. So I had to loosen it. I could tell by the quality of the shift at the transmission > If you can believe that.

* Last updated by: Hub on 7/6/2009 @ 9:17 AM *

Almost 12,000 miles on the OEM chain and I've only adjusted once. Lube er up on the stands every 500 miles. Riding style makes a big difference here, lots of racing starts in lower gears puts a lot of stress on the final drive, look at the driving force curves, first gear and WOT gives over 1100 lbs of force, fifth and you're down to about 500 lbs. I'm more into roll ons in the upper gears where torque multiplication of the gear box is not as much of a factor.

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 7/6/2009 @ 12:03 PM *

Good news is the way the service manual looks the clutch hub has no damper.

Its an 06...dont know bout a damper...My riding style is kinda mellow,compared to some of the guys Ive rode with.One of em told me that it wasnt good to ride around all day and only turn more than2k Rs on the tach if I missed a shift. 1100 pounds of force causes me problems if not used REAL PROPER like...I like to pull the wheel stand her strait up sometimes...but I dont ride the whole dang block. bike wasnt desingned to run with the engine vertical...even Ive got enough sense to know this will cause an issue with oiling sooner or later.