Yesterday, I got up early to ride somewhere cool and watch the sunrise. Just one of those things I like to do on a motorcycle. Things I would never do if I had a less exciting mode of transport. (No one gets up an hour before dawn so they can drive their sedan to a cool place to watch the Sunrise.)
I had a fun ride out to a nice vista point in the predawn light, it was glorious and I enjoyed watching the sunrise while the moon set behind me.
After the sun was up I got back on my bike to return the the real world… and I did with a heart breaking quickness. I thought I felt like I had a loose chain, but since I just had the new engine put in I thought that a loose chain made no sense. I spent a few seconds wondering if I was imagining this weird drive train lash feeling when everything went pear-shaped. A loud clattering from my chain and then I was whipped in the back of my left leg as my chain spun up and smacked me in the leg.
I pulled to the side of the road and was greeted by this sight.
The Chain isn’t supposed to be one long piece and looped up like that.
Not what you want to see on the road behind you.
I knew it was bad right away. I’ve heard the stories and read the posts and the growing puddle of oil was not a good sign. However, I was in the middle of nowhere and decided figuring out a way home was the immediate concern. Luckily I have some amazing friends and equally amazing wife, so soon help was on the way even if an hour or more away. Morning traffic in the Bay Area at 7 AM isn’t conductive to getting around quickly.
We took it to Nichols where I was greeted by my sympathetic mechanic who helped take off the chain and inspect the damage. It was as bad as I feared. Badly cracked case and a cracked drain plug. While I was initially ready to blame them, he stated they typically don’t break chains since they’re taking off the sprocket to replace the engine.
Not the crisp clean engine it was a week ago.
He’s looking into solutions, but it won’t be cheap and there are no easy options.
I’m really bummed. Motorcycling is a pretty big part of my life and I enjoy it immensely, riding is my therapy and helps keep me sane. Not being able to ride through this is pretty annoying.
Beautiful Day… made very heart breaking.
Motorcycles and the Cynic 
This is terrible. The cracked case must have been caused by the whipping chain. I hope the fix will not be too costly.
Sadly it’s likely to be very costly. It’s a labor intensive project and a new case isn’t cheap. I’ll post up when I know what I can do.
Thanks God that you were not hurt when the chain snapped. Would replacing it with another engine make more sense /
Seen a few chains break but they never caused damage like that. Lucky I guess. I feel your pain hope the repair goes well and doesn’t break the bank
Oh dear….. I’m very happy you’re not hurt tho. I’ve heard stories where similar incidents have not ended with a bike upright on the side of the road. Best of luck x
Yeah, I was pretty lucky. I suspect after the BMW incident I had some final drive failure good karma.
Pingback: How I Replaced the 620 Engine in my Ducati Monster with a 695 | Motorcycles and the Cynic
Pingback: A Year Ago: A Sad Day for the Ducati Monster | Motorcycles and the Cynic