edgarjessop12 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Hi, just been cleaning my bike ,UK 2018 900 GT, it has done 13,000 miles, and have just found tiny little bits of rubber coming out of about 7 chain links, also found one O ring stuck in chain lube on the Swinging arm....... I only clean the chain with WD40, and use a Top Class chain lube. This is my 42nd bike and never seen this before. Has anyone else had this problem. Cheers Edgar Jessop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRFan250 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Time for a new chain unfortunately...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo3 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 There have been a few reports about this, consensus is yamaha got a bad batch at some point: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallion Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Yes the same thing happened to my US 2019 GT. Discovered partially torn and missing o-rings at 4K miles. I bought the bike new in 2020 as a new leftover so Yamaha replaced the chain under warranty last fall. I also like you clean my chain regularly with WD-40 and use a good chain lube (Maxima chain wax) so this was very surprising. I also own a 2019 XSR900 that i bought new and has just over 5K miles on it now. I maintain that chain in the same manner and it has never lost an o-ring. It seems likely that the US 2019 Tracers got a bad batch of chains at some point. Perhaps the UK 2018's did also. I would be curious if any 2020 Tracer owners have had any chain problems. 2019 Tracer 900 GT. 2022 MT-09SP. 2002 Buell S3T Thunderbolt. 2016 FJ-09 SOLD. 2019 XSR900 SOLD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilo3 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 5 minutes ago, metallion said: I would be curious if any 2020 Tracer owners have had any chain problems. I'm at 13k on mine, no issues. I also don't clean my chain, ever. I know, the horror. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member texscottyd Posted August 23, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted August 23, 2021 @edgarjessop12 - That's definitely a sign that the chain is nearing end-of-life. 13K miles isn't horrible for a stock chain on one of these bikes, and as noted above there seems to have been a batch from the factory that were worse than others. Get a good aftermarket chain as a replacement, and it should last much longer that the OEM component. -Scott 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern900 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 I had the same issue at 12,000km. Replaced chain and sprockets, although the sprockets weren’t all that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewrenchbender Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Am just over 7k miles on my ‘20. Saw my first black tail hanging out @ 7k..mineral spirits and chain wax every 500-ish… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member roadrash83 Posted August 23, 2021 Supporting Member Share Posted August 23, 2021 I started losing my O-rings around 3000mi and replaced it at around 10000mi. He who dies with the most toys wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmark101 Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 Known issue. Yamaha got a bad batch of chains that were prematurely shedding o-rings. Mine did this after a few thousand miles. Replaced the chain and sprockets and all is good. There is nothing like spending a day riding with friends in the grip of a shared obsession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tktplz Posted August 23, 2021 Share Posted August 23, 2021 10 hours ago, edgarjessop12 said: Hi, just been cleaning my bike ,UK 2018 900 GT, it has done 13,000 miles, and have just found tiny little bits of rubber coming out of about 7 chain links, also found one O ring stuck in chain lube on the Swinging arm....... I only clean the chain with WD40, and use a Top Class chain lube. This is my 42nd bike and never seen this before. Has anyone else had this problem. Cheers Edgar Jessop. I had links sticking at 12,000 miles. My sprockets were alright, just the chain was CHEAP! Got a new chain since the sprockets were ok. Up at 16,500 now and everything's ok. So look at your sprockets. With 13,000 they should be ok. Ain't no fun when the rabbit gets the gun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Trottier Posted August 24, 2021 Share Posted August 24, 2021 I to only got 6000 miles on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteinpa Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 I'm wondering if cleaning does more damage than good. I just liberally spray mine once a tank of gas with Dupont chain lube. 7k miles, still perfect. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidood Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 53 minutes ago, peteinpa said: I'm wondering if cleaning does more damage than good. I just liberally spray mine once a tank of gas with Dupont chain lube. 7k miles, still perfect. I wonder the same thing, a seasoned bike mechanic here says to not clean, just lube. Another thing, the chain from the factory was very sticky and the lube I use (Motul C2) also leaves the chain very tacky/tarry/sticky, instead of just slippery, so I wonder if that stickiness could be somehow slowly tearing the o-rings apart. Its so sticky it almost feels like roof tar on it. And I wonder if this "bad batch of chains" from Yamaha is actually an issue with the choice of lube when the chain is manufactured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wintersdark Posted August 25, 2021 Share Posted August 25, 2021 I've found MUCH better results from just lubing, never cleaning. The closest to cleaning I ever get is to just run a rag over the side plates to buff them up. The theory is that when you're cleaning - particularly with something like WD40 - is that it penetrates and de-lubes the o-rings. WD40 in and of itself is an extremely bad lubricant; it's immediately slippery, but quickly dries to be sticky. But it penetrates and removes grease and oil extremely quickly. And that's exactly what you don't want to do with a chain. Add lubricant, wipe off the outside surface to look nice if you like, and you're golden. Lube keeps it clean anyways. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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