Front sprocket help

[ninxbrxwn]

Hello all. 
 My drz has been making a little extra noise it seems like. I noticed the other day when riding that I felt like I was hearing a little metal on metal noise. I tried to pin point where it was coming from and it seems like it’s around my front sprocket. I thought possibly it could be coming from top end but I also noticed my front sprocket has very little clearance on each side of it. 
 

it is a 15 tooth sprocket which I know other people on here run that size but it looks as if it’s got out of alignment or something. The one side looks as if it’s run through almost all of the swing arm protector and is about to start hitting the swingarm. On the opposite side of that it is super close to the aluminum where the clutch cable starts going into the slave cylinder? I’ve had the bike about a year and a half. The chain is pretty new but I didn’t put it on and so the marks on the aluminum could have been from a previous issue and already been there I suppose. 
I guess I just wanted to check if that is normal wear on everything or if there maybe something out of whack

(apologies if I’m calling these areas by wrong name, having a hard time thinking of the correct terminology for everything)

[bucket list]

That looks normal to me, a 16 that i sometimes run is even tighter. But as long as you chain slack is in spec and rear wheel is aligned properly shouldn't be a problem.

This is my 15, back from a dirty ride.

[roleyrev]

Do you normally run it like that or do you have the chain guide and sprocket cover off to show us the clearances? The wear on the front looks fairly normal, probably just some crap that's been dragged though that are by the chain.

[S.O.A.N.Z]

looks like you have a leak

[ninxbrxwn]

5 hours ago, roleyrev said:

Do you normally run it like that or do you have the chain guide and sprocket cover off to show us the clearances? The wear on the front looks fairly normal, probably just some crap that's been dragged though that are by the chain.

I have had the little plastic cover and bracket for the front sprocket. I had pulled it off to inspect and then snapped the pictures. Was going to order one of the aftermarket ones that allow you to view it easier without removing anything. Do most ride their drz as is or with some sort of guard for the chain and front sprocket? I’d leave it off but I also really didn’t wanna have the chain fly and hit me or the engine in some off chance it snaps or something.  
 I hadn’t really thought of the fact that it could have been something just snagged in the chain at some point. I know the marking is pretty minimal I had just been thinking maybe I was catching an issue before it got real bad. I’m glad to hear that the wear looks fairly normal though. 
 

 

4 hours ago, S.O.A.N.Z said:

looks like you have a leak

I was sort of wondering if perhaps there was a leak after reading that the seal underneath that sprocket nut can leak. I’ve also had a very small leak from the clutch arm seal almost right above that front sprocket for some time which may give it that look. I had the replacement washer and just took some time getting around to it. Then most recently when I decided I wS going to stop procrastinating , I could not find what I’d done with the replacement washer. It tends to lose a couple drops if that  when I ride it seems like. I make sure and check the oil level pretty regularly and never loose enough to where I have to top my oil off.  
 I had also been cleaning my chain and sprockets up a little but when I was inspecting this so part of the oil look you see is coming from the residual wd40 and chain lube that I hadn’t wiped off 

[DrzDick]

There is a chain roller on the lower side of the chain, it's close to the front sprocket. It has a couple of skateboard wheel sized bearings in it - check that. 

When mine went it would squeak as the bike moved. Took me a while to track the noise down. Even if it isn't the problem you could try to push some grease into those bearings anyway.

[ninxbrxwn]

6 hours ago, bucket list said:

That looks normal to me, a 16 that i sometimes run is even tighter. But as long as you chain slack is in spec and rear wheel is aligned properly shouldn't be a problem.

This is my 15, back from a dirty ride.

Yeah I know the 15 starts to get a little tight up there. Was making me wonder how people even get a 16 tooth one up there. Now maybe it’s just an optical illusion or the dirt on yours makes it more difficult to really tell but yours still almost looks as if it’s got slightly back A little more room still!

[bucket list]

3 hours ago, ninxbrxwn said:

Yeah I know the 15 starts to get a little tight up there. Was making me wonder how people even get a 16 tooth one up there. Now maybe it’s just an optical illusion or the dirt on yours makes it more difficult to really tell but yours still almost looks as if it’s got slightly back A little more room still!

I had ground my swingarm slider a bit so the 16 would slide on and off a little easier.

I change spockets, front and rear, a few times a year, depending on variety of riding i'm going to do. And i've kept my cover and case saver OFF for 5years 50,000 kms. My theory is with a good modern x-ring chain, well maintained and adjusted, you chances of it breaking or coming off, is less than getting struck by lightning.?

 

[The mad hatter]

Make sure your front sprocket nut is tightened to 81 foot pounds as this pulls together your gearbox and second gear bushing and fold the washer over the nut as a safety precaution, also when you tighten up your rear axel 74 foot pounds for chain and wheel alignment twist the nut on by hand keep double checking your adjuster notches as they can move off there mark sometimes, a D.I.D x-ring chain is very unlikely to snap whether it has a master link or it’s continuous as the 520 vx for the drz is also used on sport bikes with larger engine capacity for the track, and if you’ve got a dribble of oil coming from the front sprocket shaft seal then renew it now because if it bursts all of your engine oil will spew out of there in a matter of ten seconds or so and attach itself to your rear tyre, it could be a fun but expensive slide off road, however imagine if your on road you could be heading round that corner and then spew, attach, the sound of scraping metal and then crunch as you end up under the wheels of the oncoming truck or worse still you slide under that barrier and over that cliff, ouch, suddenly the cost of an oil seal seems to fit into the weekly budget ??

[San jo]

Looks like the teeth are digging into the swing arm

[DM400]

I would not run with out the chain guard. I threw a chain at 40 miles an hour and if it hadn't been for it I think I would have cracked the case for sure. No more clip master links for me.  ?  Good luck.

[ohiodrz400sm]

15 tooth is the stock size for the dual sports.  If it is digging into the slider, you might want to put the bike on a center stand and check for play in the swingarm bearings.

[Support The Movement Inc]

Everytime I've had that problem my chain was too tight. Try to loosen it some and see if the noise disappears 

[ninxbrxwn]

19 hours ago, DrzDick said:

There is a chain roller on the lower side of the chain, it's close to the front sprocket. It has a couple of skateboard wheel sized bearings in it - check that. 

When mine went it would squeak as the bike moved. Took me a while to track the noise down. Even if it isn't the problem you could try to push some grease into those bearings anyway.

Shoot I didn’t see this before. I’d read about those rollers and actually meant to inspect those as well must have slipped my mind. Will try and give those a look tomorrow. 

 

4 hours ago, The mad hatter said:

Make sure your front sprocket nut is tightened to 81 foot pounds as this pulls together your gearbox and second gear bushing and fold the washer over the nut as a safety precaution, also when you tighten up your rear axel 74 foot pounds for chain and wheel alignment twist the nut on by hand keep double checking your adjuster notches as they can move off there mark sometimes, a D.I.D x-ring chain is very unlikely to snap whether it has a master link or it’s continuous as the 520 vx for the drz is also used on sport bikes with larger engine capacity for the track, and if you’ve got a dribble of oil coming from the front sprocket shaft seal then renew it now because if it bursts all of your engine oil will spew out of there in a matter of ten seconds or so and attach itself to your rear tyre, it could be a fun but expensive slide off road, however imagine if your on road you could be heading round that corner and then spew, attach, the sound of scraping metal and then crunch as you end up under the wheels of the oncoming truck or worse still you slide under that barrier and over that cliff, ouch, suddenly the cost of an oil seal seems to fit into the weekly budget ??

Damn dude. Descriptive sprocket seal failure there. Don’t manifest that on me lol. 
 What’s the best way to be sure it’s good? Just clean area up well and go for a little ride? 

 

4 hours ago, San jo said:

Looks like the teeth are digging into the swing arm

The teeth are close but they have not hit swingarm yet. There is a little glare in the pic that almost looks like the metal from swingarm being visible, however it’s not. I did personally think it was chewing at it some but seems general consensus is that it’s some normal wear I guess. 

 

3 hours ago, ohiodrz400sm said:

15 tooth is the stock size for the dual sports.  If it is digging into the slider, you might want to put the bike on a center stand and check for play in the swingarm bearings.

I had it on a stand but I’m not sure I inspected the swing arm bearings enough really. Best procedure for this is to just give it all a wiggle when on the stand? Or should I go about it another way? 

 

1 hour ago, Support The Movement Inc said:

Everytime I've had that problem my chain was too tight. Try to loosen it some and see if the noise disappears 

That was the other factor I’d noticed. The chain isn’t to old and it was put on when I had it in the shop. It seems like the chain could possibly use a little less tension but my rear is at zero on the adjusters. Or first notch so I guess ima have to buy another chain or one of this kits to give it more anymore slack. Oh the joys

 

[ninxbrxwn]

8 hours ago, bucket list said:

I had ground my swingarm slider a bit so the 16 would slide on and off a little easier.

I change spockets, front and rear, a few times a year, depending on variety of riding i'm going to do. And i've kept my cover and case saver OFF for 5years 50,000 kms. My theory is with a good modern x-ring chain, well maintained and adjusted, you chances of it breaking or coming off, is less than getting struck by lightning.?

 

That’s probably true I just been really hesitant about somehow &%$#@!ing this bike up but I do try and keep it pretty maintained so maybe I won’t put em back on. Or at the least buy a aftermarket one where its still more accessible and you can view it with out having to remove it like the plastic oem

[roleyrev]

4 minutes ago, ninxbrxwn said:

That’s probably true I just been really hesitant about somehow &%$#@!ing this bike up but I do try and keep it pretty maintained so maybe I won’t put em back on. Or at the least buy a aftermarket one where its still more accessible and you can view it with out having to remove it like the plastic oem

Yeah a guide is recommended.  I broke the OEM chain on one of the past DRZ's 15 years ago, the chain guide at the front around the sprocket saved the day.  I have both a 14 tooth guide and 15 tooth guide for the dual sport.  I guess you don't have to run the plastic sprocket cover - I personally would have one though.  I have two aftermarket types.

 

Of the two the TPR (the top one) is the strongest most robust one. The PSR (the bottom one) is the most pretty and lives on the SM.  I have the OEM one off the SM in the spares department.

 

[bucket list]

7 minutes ago, roleyrev said:

Yeah a guide is recommended.  I broke the OEM chain on one of the past DRZ's 15 years ago, the chain guide at the front around the sprocket saved the day.  I have both a 14 tooth guide and 15 tooth guide for the dual sport.  I guess you don't have to run the plastic sprocket cover - I personally would have one though.  I have two aftermarket types.

 

Of the two the TPR (the top one) is the strongest most robust one. The PSR (the bottom one) is the most pretty and lives on the SM.  I have the OEM one off the SM in the spares department.

 

Those look nice Roley, but some of riding I do is in mud, roots and grass that would plug up around that sprocket area, which I think would be worse for things and plus I don't wear my bell bottom pants while riding, so it stays off for me. ?

[The mad hatter]

20 minutes ago, ninxbrxwn said:

Shoot I didn’t see this before. I’d read about those rollers and actually meant to inspect those as well must have slipped my mind. Will try and give those a look tomorrow. 

 

Damn dude. Descriptive sprocket seal failure there. Don’t manifest that on me lol. 
 What’s the best way to be sure it’s good? Just clean area up well and go for a little ride? 

 

The teeth are close but they have not hit swingarm yet. There is a little glare in the pic that almost looks like the metal from swingarm being visible, however it’s not. I did personally think it was chewing at it some but seems general consensus is that it’s some normal wear I guess. 

 

I had it on a stand but I’m not sure I inspected the swing arm bearings enough really. Best procedure for this is to just give it all a wiggle when on the stand? Or should I go about it another way? 

 

That was the other factor I’d noticed. The chain isn’t to old and it was put on when I had it in the shop. It seems like the chain could possibly use a little less tension but my rear is at zero on the adjusters. Or first notch so I guess ima have to buy another chain or one of this kits to give it more anymore slack. Oh the joys

 

Yeah it was a good description aye! Ha ha and yes just give that area a brush around with some degreaser or petrol and a rag to clean the area, if you have an x-ring you   don’t need a lot of lube mebby just enough on the seals behind each side of the links but don’t soak it in lube as that causes splatter, if your sprocket seal is busted or on its way to being busted it will dribble for a while as a warning but you’ll have a decent bit of time maybe, I base that last bit of comment on my own experience mine was dribbling for a month or so, at first I thought it was the gear shaft seal so I ordered one of them and that took two weeks and then during a general clean I realised it was tracking down from the sprocket seal so I was up for another two week order and a rampant search on ThumperTalk where I found the appropriate info to deal with the situation, I replaced mine in around twenty mins, apart from general tools you’ll need an impact driver for the metal seal retainer, don’t wreck the screws as it’s very important that you put it back on, it stops the seal from blowing out of position, also check that there either Phillips or JIS before you give them a gentle hit, if I can be of more help just ask and I’ll do my best to help you out ?

[roleyrev]

11 minutes ago, bucket list said:

Those look nice Roley, but some of riding I do is in mud, roots and grass that would plug up around that sprocket area, which I think would be worse for things and plus I don't wear my bell bottom pants while riding, so it stays off for me. ?

I completely understand.  I Have been known to "out with socket" and whip it off whilst standing in mud up to my shins. The default position is leave it on as we have way more stony / rocky ground than mud bogs - that said, I seem to find mud bogs down gnarly little tracks.  Leaving on is just my default. 

[Support The Movement Inc]

7 hours ago, ninxbrxwn said:

Shoot I didn’t see this before. I’d read about those rollers and actually meant to inspect those as well must have slipped my mind. Will try and give those a look tomorrow. 

 

Damn dude. Descriptive sprocket seal failure there. Don’t manifest that on me lol. 
 What’s the best way to be sure it’s good? Just clean area up well and go for a little ride? 

 

The teeth are close but they have not hit swingarm yet. There is a little glare in the pic that almost looks like the metal from swingarm being visible, however it’s not. I did personally think it was chewing at it some but seems general consensus is that it’s some normal wear I guess. 

 

I had it on a stand but I’m not sure I inspected the swing arm bearings enough really. Best procedure for this is to just give it all a wiggle when on the stand? Or should I go about it another way? 

 

That was the other factor I’d noticed. The chain isn’t to old and it was put on when I had it in the shop. It seems like the chain could possibly use a little less tension but my rear is at zero on the adjusters. Or first notch so I guess ima have to buy another chain or one of this kits to give it more anymore slack. Oh the joys

 

Well I would first check and see how many links you need I recently rebuilt a kx65 and in the manual it calls for 110 links (that includes master line as well being the 110th one)  then the chain slack I believe was 1.8-2.2 inches (domt quote the chain slack numbers going off the top of my head from what I think I remember) I'd check them. to see if they are both correct before I spend unnecessary money but I do have a kx85 I'm rebuilding currently and I have the same problem noise and rubbing near the front sprocket but mine is definitely from.the chain, my adjuster bolts are froze to the frame so I have to figure out how to break them free