Sprocket change (possible oopsie)

[Hoodoo]

I purchased a 2015 FJ a few weeks ago and it needed a new chain / sprockets. All went well except for two things:

The front sprocket came off easily, but the new one (sprocket center) would seat and I had to hit it with a small wood mallet a few times to get it seated, but I'm not sure it seated all the way.  I assumed torquing the nut would seat it.  See below.  Is this normal / will it wear over time?

 

Also when I was replacing the rear brake, the front bolt wouldn't thread back in.  The caliper also lost fluid from the banjo bolt when I was using the brake to torque the front sprocket nut....

 

How bad did I screw up?

[2and3cylinders]

Tightening the nut should be enough.

The rear brake front bolt with slide pin must not be aligning, try installing it first or with the rear loose and don't forget to clean it's rubber boot and lube with silicone grease.

Not sure about the banjo bolt, try replacing the crush washers with new aluminum copper washers and vacuum flushing and bleed.

[dazzler24]

Hopefully this is not your experience regarding the rear caliper bolt?....

And as long as your nut looks something like this once it's back on and torqued you should be golden.

[2and3cylinders]

Daz

I hope that wasn't your bike!

Can you say GRUNGY?!

 

[johnmark101]

When installing the front bolt into the rear brake caliper you need to push down a bit on the caliper to fully seat it and align the holes.  You can see this by seating the caliper, then shine a flashlight into the bolt hole.  As you push down gently the holes will align.  Partially install the front bolt, then install the other bolt before torquing each of them to specification.

[Hoodoo]

Thanks all for the replies.

So there isn’t any harm in having to tap the sprocket into place?  Do I need to pull it and grease it?

[bwringer]

As to the rear brake: it's super-DUPER easy for the brake pads to fall down a bit and make the caliper difficult to install, plus they'll drag on the rear wheel. Make sure you look carefully at the back side of the caliper through the wheel and make VERY sure both brake pads are fully seated in the correct slot

V-Stroms use the exact same caliper, and this is incredibly common. It's an error-prone design, but not a big deal if you're aware of this and careful.

 

As to the front sprocket, that looks pretty normal IIRC. Make sure you use a new sprocket nut as specified in the manual; it's a very fine thread and a rather high torque spec, and you have to stake it into place. Re-using the old nut is a very bad idea.

You want a tight fit with zero play on the splines, so as long as you didn't have to bang on the thing THAT hard you should be OK. There are bearings and bushings and such back there, so you can't pound on it with a metal hammer. I think a little tapping with a mallet wouldn't have hurt anything.

That said, it would have been best to clean and inspect the splines beforehand. For example, if the old sprocket was a little loose it could have caused some wear you need to be aware of.

 

I also used the same JT sprocket with the rubber damper. I paired the JT sprockets with a much higher-quality, beefier EK chain than the original crap, and found that the larger side plates made a pronounced buzzy noise for a while as they contacted the rubber damper, until the rubber wore down a bit.

I can't tell what chain you have, but it looks like you may encounter this; you can see that the chain is making some pretty good dents in the rubber. The noise is 100% harmless and will stop in a few thousand miles.

Here's a comparison of my bike's junk original chain against the new EK chain I installed... seriously, Yamaha? 20K and it was beyond shagged. The previous owner's dastardly plan to stick the next guy with the chain replacement was successful, but I guess that's a whole 'nuther topic.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by bwringer

[Hoodoo]

It was a D.I.D. VX3 chain, it looks like it will be close.

Paranoia got the best of me so I worked the sprocket off by hand.  There was some dirt / grease underneath and it left some marring on the drive shaft.  Honestly I think it is OK, it just looks like it is at the edge of the specification.  I'm going to see if sprocketcenter will swap it out.  I put the old sprocket on and it was significantly more easy to assemble.

I think the rear caliper issue was brake grease getting on the threads, and when I tried to torque the bolts to the specification it may have overloaded the threads nearest the bolt head.  I'm going to chase it with a tap and see if it can straighten them out.

Shaft:

 

Old sprocket fitment:

 

 

 

[bwringer]

That all looks perfectly normal and fine; put the JT back on there, put it back together, and go ride.

I certainly would not pester Sprocket Center for a replacement; you want those spline tolerances as close as possible.

[Hoodoo]

5 minutes ago, bwringer said:

That all looks perfectly normal and fine; put the JT back on there, put it back together, and go ride.

I certainly would not pester Sprocket Center for a replacement; you want those spline tolerances as close as possible.

I’m finding OCD / catastrophic worry and DIY motorcycle maintenance being hard to do at the same time

 

Thank you all for the help.  Seems I picked the right bike community.

[texscottyd]

3 minutes ago, Hoodoo said:

I’m finding OCD / catastrophic worry and DIY motorcycle maintenance being hard to do at the same time

Honestly, that’s why I do a lot of the maintenance tasks myself…  I’m way more paranoid about things I don’t know in detail.  If I did it myself, I know it’s done right.  Or at least ‘right enough’  😳😀

[dazzler24]

17 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Daz

I hope that wasn't your bike!

Can you say GRUNGY?!

 

It was my bike and it was the 'before' shot.

Here is the immediately 'after' shot...  Hopefully it passes your high expectations and standards? 😉

[2and3cylinders]

I was just shocked you let it ever get that built up!  Sorry...  I see now a presumably new 530 drive set.

Like my whorey color chain? I don't know what got into me.  Even more out of character, I replaced the chain and not the sprockets!!!  I couldn't this time as my time and physical condition are limited, and given the DID 520 ZVM-X wore prematurely (-15k miles?) and because my anticipated low mileage when I'll change the cogs along with the rear tire in a very few thousand miles.

I'm consequently guilt ridden.

Ps Unfortunately no strength, room and time to roll out the also fastest RD400 :-(

[Warchild]

On 8/22/2022 at 12:57 AM, 2and3cylinders said:

Like my whorey color chain? I don't know what got into me. 

 

I realize this post was from last summer, but yes sir, your chain color is positively slutty.  😀

That said, I will not be in a position to comment soon, as I am about to install a chain that is high on the cosmetic  chart itself -  just the other end of the spectrum from your slut-chain. A manly, studly, testosterone-laden EK gold chain with black-enamel  side plates.

[2and3cylinders]

1 hour ago, Warchild said:

 

I realize this post was from last summer, but yes sir, your chain color is positively slutty.  😀

That said, I will not be in a position to comment soon, as I am about to install a chain that is high on the cosmetic  chart itself -  just the other end of the spectrum from your slut-chain. A manly, studly, testosterone-laden EK gold chain with black-enamel  side plates.

First of all where did the name warchild come from

Second and most importantly you don't have the fastest red fifteen