Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Chain Break?

Has anyone here ever broken a chain while riding? What happened/happens?

Nope.. never have, thank goodness.
Well.. when they break they either sling off and leave you propulsion-less or wrap around one sprocket or the other possibly damaging the crankcase (and possibly trans) or lock up the rear wheel. None of the scenarios are particularly pretty.

Once many years ago I witnessed a guy on a very old 650 yammie.. He was going to show off with a burn out.. Rev-Rev-Rev- POP the clutch.. The bike didn't move, but the chain rolled right out of the rear and spun it's self into a nice circle.. Almost fell off my cycle with laughter. V.

Had one break on my 66 TR6C chopper years ago and fixed it along the road with my chain breaker and a mater link. It got jammed up behind my rear sprocket and was tough to get out but no damage and rode that chain a few more years.(might still be the one on there) It can bunch up around the front sprocket and break cases though.

Thankfully, I've not had a chain break (knock on head, I mean wood... aaaah, same thing!). It's pretty rare I figure.

Never happened to me, but did to a buddy of mine, years ago. He was going down the highway on a 500 Kaw and the chain broke. Wrapped and locked up the rear sprocket, slid sideways at 50 mph, scared the bejesus out of him! Of course, like me, he was broke most of the time, and I hate to think how many times he'd taken a link out of the chain to adjust for normal stretching. (Just as a funny story, his "ole lady" kept a tight reign on him, really tight. When she was home, or knew about it, she didn't like him going very far away. At times she only let him ride on the road in front of the trailer, a hard packed gravel road about 1/2 mile long. So sometimes, I would hear him winding the old two stroke 500 Kaw up and down the road, over and over, down the road and up the road, down the road and up the road....She WAS good looking, but by the time she finally kicked him out, his "jewels" were pretty much shrunk to the size of a couple of peas. EARLY peas.

Broken chains and broken balls... could make a song outta that story, Rich!

I had a chain on my old 70s 650 Yamaha break on me. I just rode the bike from upstate New York all the way to San Diego, fully loaded, 3,000+ miles and 5 days of riding. Got into my brothers driveway, shut the bike off, hopped off the saddle and watched as the chain just unrolled and fell off the bike. Pretty lucky I guess. That Yammer was a sweet bike and very good to me.

Riding on Hwy 26 from Baker City back to Portland a couple of years ago, one of the guys I was riding with had his chain break not far past John Day. I was right behind him. He has an '03 (I think) America. Fortunately, it hit his saddlebags as well as his fender (he does have a chain guard). It took a small chunk out of his fender. It could have been the back of his leg.
He has traveled a lot on his bike, and said it was the first time he had ever been stranded. Unfortunately we had no cell service, but some kind people in a farmhouse let us use their phone. He was towed to Bend (the closest "real" town), and fortunately a Yamaha or Honda dealer was able to fix him up the next day. Of course, since it was a Sunday, he was stranded in Bend over night. I imagine that was a heck of a tow cost too, about 200 miles, plus another night in a hotel. He seem to take it all in stride though. I would have been fuming.

~Brent

If he had a chain breaker and master link or 2 he could have been back on the road in short order and finished his ride minus a tow bill and over night stay.