suspiciouspackage Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Probably not really the first time it's happened to anyone but here goes. So I went to a job orientation today and when I got there I checked out the bike like normal and saw that the chain adjuster plate on the swingarm with the nuts and washer were missing and the bolt was bent with the swingarm possibly being a little f'ed up. When I took the cover off this morning, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so I'm guessing it fell off while I was riding. Thing is, how? I adjusted the chain about a month ago and went on three rides before today. One of them being a semi intense ride through the canyons and nothing happened. So I was wondering, could I fix this myself? If I can how much would it be for parts and how could I even go about doing this? And if I can't, how much do you think a shop would charge? Photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stefano225 Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Chances are you hit something while riding in the canyons and didn't realized,the nut being loose wouldn't justify the bolt being bent in my opinion.If you can adjust the chain tension on your own you could save on replacing parts and shopping online here is one http://www.yamahapartshouse.com/ .I am sure somebody else will chime in on others sites.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Have you pissed anyone off really bad recently? Do you have any enemies? Does your wife think you love the bike more than her? (jk) Maybe just some neighborhood punk teenagers having fun? For that bolt to be bent that bad and to the outside I would think you would remember when or how it happened because the force it would take to cause that kind of damage couldn't be ignored while riding it. Plus, the nuts are missing as well. Things that make you go hmmmm??? If you can straighten that bolt out, if the threads on it aren't ruined and get some new nuts it would probably work fine but you may want to take it to someone and have it thoroughly checked out for alignment, fractures, etc. Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Chances are you hit something while riding in the canyons and didn't realized,the nut being loose wouldn't justify the bolt being bent in my opinion.If you can adjust the chain tension on your own you could save on replacing parts and shopping online here is one http://www.yamahapartshouse.com/ .I am sure somebody else will chime in on others sites.Good luck.I'm trying to tell myself it didn't happen in the canyons but I'm pretty sure it didn't because that was the second ride. The third ride was from me moving out of my old place and into my new one about 3 weeks ago and I remember before leaving my old place that I checked the bike from front to back because I adjusted the headlight. Unnecessary in a sense but I did it anyway. Either way, I saw nothing different. She's been sitting since then. Maybe I missed it those times I checked but I'm just fairly certain I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Have you pissed anyone off really bad recently? Do you have any enemies? Does your wife think you love the bike more than her?People pissed me off recently but not the opposite (rofl) Only enemy is on the other side of the country and my girlfriend wouldn't dare touch the bike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Have you pissed anyone off really bad recently? Do you have any enemies? Does your wife think you love the bike more than her?People pissed me off recently but not the opposite (rofl) Only enemy is on the other side of the country and my girlfriend wouldn't dare touch the bike What about little thugs/vandals in the hood? Every neighborhood has them. Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cndnmax Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Maybe the nuts loosened up (maybe the locknut wasn't tight) then the plate came out and caught the sprocket bolts. Other than that it would have to have been something intentional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 People pissed me off recently but not the opposite (rofl) Only enemy is on the other side of the country and my girlfriend wouldn't dare touch the bike What about little thugs/vandals in the hood? Every neighborhood has them.Nah, the neighborhood I moved into is pretty safe and the house across the street has two supersports across the street (CBR and R6) uncovered and more in plain sight than mine. You actually can't find mine unless you go that far onto the property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 If it isn't from vandals it's more likely that cndnmax is right if you didn't hit anything or nothing happened as you say. You probably just didn't notice the nuts slowly backing off and somehow didn't hear the plate slapping the hell out of everything. Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiphone Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Maybe the nuts loosened up (maybe the locknut wasn't tight) then the plate came out and caught the sprocket bolts. Other than that it would have to have been something intentional. I've had this exact thing happen on my racebike before and also seen it happen on friend's race bikes on more than one occasion. Especially if you've adjusted your chain fairly recently, all that is going to be is your locknut wasn't tight enough, came loose over time, and viola. Nothing more interesting or intense than that. I haven't had to do this on the FZ yet, but if it's anything like every other bike I've owned, you pull the axle, slide out the bent adjuster, and slide in a new one with a new cap and nuts. Easy. Published 'Chronicles of a Motorcycle Gypsy' a book about my travels on the FZ, and a writer for Motorcyclist Magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 If it isn't from vandals it's more likely that cndnmax is right if you didn't hit anything or nothing happened as you say. You probably just didn't notice the nuts slowly backing off and somehow didn't hear the plate slapping the hell out of everything. I guess it's the only time wearing earplugs isn't the greatest thing in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Maybe the nuts loosened up (maybe the locknut wasn't tight) then the plate came out and caught the sprocket bolts. Other than that it would have to have been something intentional. I've had this exact thing happen on my racebike before and also seen it happen on friend's race bikes on more than one occasion. Especially if you've adjusted your chain fairly recently, all that is going to be is your locknut wasn't tight enough, came loose over time, and viola. Nothing more interesting or intense than that. I haven't had to do this on the FZ yet, but if it's anything like every other bike I've owned, you pull the axle, slide out the bent adjuster, and slide in a new one with a new cap and nuts. Easy. Hopefully it is easy. Thing that really annoyed me is the (most probable) reason for how it happened. Cause I tightened it the best I could. But if I wanted to get it completely snug as in as much as I can without using loctite or something, I would've thrown my wheel out of alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 There is tremendous pressure on the swing-arm, bearings, spacers such that I am surprised the plate getting tangled up in the sprocket moved anything. I'm also amazed that both nuts managed to come undone. If this is somehow endemic, buy a nyloc for the outer one and make sure to tighten it against the inboard one while holding it steady. > I would've thrown my wheel out of alignment. I'm not following you. First set alignment using the inboard nut. Then test tighten rear axle to say 35ft/lb and re-check. If good, then torque axle to 55-60ft/lb (personally I don't see the point of the spec calling for 76). Re-snug the inner nut - not uncommon for it to have moved. Then hold it steady with a wrench and tighten the outboard one. Should never come undone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YZEtc Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 What procedure did you follow when tightening the chain adjuster nuts and the wheel axle nut? In what order did you do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suspiciouspackage Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 I followed . I just mirrored pretty much everything he did, minus the adjustments for my own bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YZEtc Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 You need to tighten the axle nut first, then the adjuster nuts get tightened down upon the adjuster plate. You didn't have enough tension on the adjuster nuts and they backed off. Sounds like you did it backwards and is why you were concerned with throwing your alignment off when tightening down the adjuster nuts. Tightening the axle nut first won't allow the adjuster nuts to throw your alignment off while giving you a solid feel when tightening the adjuster nuts since the axle won't be able to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member avanti Posted October 10, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted October 10, 2015 Was it hit--just grazed--in the parking lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregjet Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Number one DO NOT STRAIGHTEN THE BOLT!!!!!!! Buy a new one... The MT/FZ is becoming known for nuts and bolts not being properly secured. both overtight ( and stripped) and not tight enough. It had all three on the MT. Stripped engine bolts, bolts so tight they turned the middle of the allen socket out and bolts and nuts that were hand tight. It is getting to the stage ,I reckon , where we should have a sticky in several areas of the forum telling people to check the tension on every nut and bolt when you get the bike. Besides my engine mount ( If I hadn't found it it and helicoiled it, eventually it would have cracked the engine block ), the worst one was someone reporting that their axle was completely loose and the nut sitting on the end of the threads when they saw it after noticing the handling was getting sloppy. Loose bars and bar clamps is another. Looks like there is something seriously wrong with the processes of attaching stuff in the factory. Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Sure this bike isn't build in some "new to industrial arts" country? Not to rag on non-Japanese manufacturing facilities (Malaysia and Philippines make lots of hard drives and precision components), but torque control has been standard industrial practice for how many decades now? And the handle-bar thing is just mind-blowing - what loser backyard neophyte thought putting a nut on a stud was an acceptable solution? I don't know where Yamaha found this latest crop of chassis engineers but they need to be sent back to remedial engineering school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator mjh937 Posted October 12, 2015 Global Moderator Share Posted October 12, 2015 It seems that most of the problems with undertightened parts are from what the dealership assembles. I went to a local mechanic for my 600 mile service and he said everything was good. My dealership is apparently better than a lot of them out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwpowere36m3 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 It seems that most of the problems with undertightened parts are from what the dealership assembles. I went to a local mechanic for my 600 mile service and he said everything was good. My dealership is apparently better than a lot of them out there. Same here, the only loose fastener I found was a brake line bracket bolt (Allen) on the front fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I've had wrenches on much of this bike and have not really found anything loose or way too tight. Maybe I got a well built example. My experience with working on either my bikes or other's after they've been in shops has been simple - everything that was touched was way too tight. Back in the 50s and 60s my father would take a brand new car to his mechanic to have it looked over, top to bottom. Have a friend who's brand new Tuono 1100 Factory got really hard to find neutral and then wasn't shifting well. Turns out that the clutch throwout bearing was omitted during assembly - Stuff happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregjet Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Rick, The reports I have been seeing on this and another forum and on the Aussie MT07 facebook page report more mistightened bolts than any I have ever seen for any bike anywhere. That includes a Sachs 150 I had as my first race bike ( no laughing Jack Miller raced one). It seems pretty common and when you add things like the fork bushing, you really start to wonder... Not sure this is an engineering problem though Pattonme. At least not at the design phase. Seems to me to be an assembly quality control issue , like Korean and Chinese and Indian bikes had or have. Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Rick, The reports I have been seeing on this and another forum and on the Aussie MT07 facebook page report more mistightened bolts than any I have ever seen for any bike anywhere. That includes a Sachs 150 I had as my first race bike ( no laughing Jack Miller raced one). It seems pretty common and when you add things like the fork bushing, you really start to wonder... Not sure this is an engineering problem though Pattonme. At least not at the design phase. Seems to me to be an assembly quality control issue , like Korean and Chinese and Indian bikes had or have. Oops, forgot about the fork bushings - yep, mine were also wrong and thru the expertise (thank you Pattonme) at hand here, now fixed. That one's hard to place blame on Yamaha as the similar wrong bushings have gone on Kaw 650s and maybe others. Somewhere along the line, someone will wake up on that one. Gotta agree, everything is serviced/built in too big a hurry. Even with big dollar bikes like that Aprilia apparently. The motor in my last BMW, a 1996 K1100RSA, was missing locating dowels for the front cam journals from the factory - there pressed in and just don't fall out. That motor self destructed after I traded it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattonme Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I was referring to putting in a naked stud, and then a 'loose' nut on the underside. Guy over on FZ09 had his handlebar riser just come loose and swivel. He had no handlebar and no way to do any steering inputs. The stud had backed out of the lower half of the riser. I can't say all older bikes had a better design but I know of several that put a proper bolt thru the riser (it can't drop thru) and a nylock or other anti-vibration nut on the underside. Even if the nut were to fall off, the bolt would still be there and you'd have to physically lift the bars up to render the bike unsteerable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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