Hi Guys, lurker for a few months. Question for you guys.
I have a 2015.
About 7000 kms (4400 miles) ago I changed the front and rear sprockets and put on a new chain. Aligned and tensioned it the best I could and took off on a trip. During my trip I started to notice wear on the outside of the rear sprocket just below the teeth all the way around. There is a little groove now where the chain lands below the teeth. The other side of the rear sprocket is fine. And both sides of the front sprocket are fine.
Alignment of the rear sprocket appears to be correct. I know that over tightening the chain is a common KLR error so I'm careful to not over tighten. If anything it is too loose. Uncomfortably loose for my liking anyways which I assumed was probably correct.
Picture 1 and 2: Showing the wear on the rear sprocket I'm concerned about.
Picture 3: Chain tension with rear tire lifted completely off the ground.
Picture 4: You can see that the teeth are not landing in the center of the rollers. The chain is too close to the bike or the rear sprocket is too far out. When I rotate the rear tire through full 360 its the same picture all the way around.
So my question is what do you think is causing this? Is my alignment wrong? I've read that certain non-stock front sprockets can sit closer to the bike (Not as thick) and that sometimes a spacer is required to align it with the rear sprocket. Any truth in that? That is my gut feeling as to what is wrong. The front sprocket is closer to the bike therefore my front and rear sprockets are not aligned. And no amount of my messing with the rear alignment angle is going to fix this problem, or it will just the move the wear to another surface. I'm a little surprised that the inside of the front sprocket wouldn't have wearing though, maybe because the diameter is smaller therefore less of a force to cause wear?
So what does a guy do here? I'm thinking to remove the front sprocket, measure thickness, compare to stock, and make up the difference with a spacer. (if in fact the stock is thicker).
I checked my stock rear sprocket that I took off the bike (had about 22000 km 13500 miles) and it looks great with no wearing whatsoever but that was run completely with the stock 15 tooth front.
Front: Sunstar 520 Steel Front Countershaft Sprocket 16T
Rear: Sunstar 520 Steel Rear Sprocket 43T
Chain: DID 520 VX2 PRO-Street X-Ring Chain 106 link
Appreciate the comments. Thanks.
I have a 2015.
About 7000 kms (4400 miles) ago I changed the front and rear sprockets and put on a new chain. Aligned and tensioned it the best I could and took off on a trip. During my trip I started to notice wear on the outside of the rear sprocket just below the teeth all the way around. There is a little groove now where the chain lands below the teeth. The other side of the rear sprocket is fine. And both sides of the front sprocket are fine.
Alignment of the rear sprocket appears to be correct. I know that over tightening the chain is a common KLR error so I'm careful to not over tighten. If anything it is too loose. Uncomfortably loose for my liking anyways which I assumed was probably correct.
Picture 1 and 2: Showing the wear on the rear sprocket I'm concerned about.
Picture 3: Chain tension with rear tire lifted completely off the ground.
Picture 4: You can see that the teeth are not landing in the center of the rollers. The chain is too close to the bike or the rear sprocket is too far out. When I rotate the rear tire through full 360 its the same picture all the way around.
So my question is what do you think is causing this? Is my alignment wrong? I've read that certain non-stock front sprockets can sit closer to the bike (Not as thick) and that sometimes a spacer is required to align it with the rear sprocket. Any truth in that? That is my gut feeling as to what is wrong. The front sprocket is closer to the bike therefore my front and rear sprockets are not aligned. And no amount of my messing with the rear alignment angle is going to fix this problem, or it will just the move the wear to another surface. I'm a little surprised that the inside of the front sprocket wouldn't have wearing though, maybe because the diameter is smaller therefore less of a force to cause wear?
So what does a guy do here? I'm thinking to remove the front sprocket, measure thickness, compare to stock, and make up the difference with a spacer. (if in fact the stock is thicker).
I checked my stock rear sprocket that I took off the bike (had about 22000 km 13500 miles) and it looks great with no wearing whatsoever but that was run completely with the stock 15 tooth front.
Front: Sunstar 520 Steel Front Countershaft Sprocket 16T
Rear: Sunstar 520 Steel Rear Sprocket 43T
Chain: DID 520 VX2 PRO-Street X-Ring Chain 106 link
Appreciate the comments. Thanks.