- Joined
- Jan 1, 2012
- Messages
- 919
Well, I headed out to work on this beautiful sunny, windless morning taking the long windy route through the mountains. The 961 engine was running like a finely tuned clock! 15 or 16 miles into the ride my rear wheel started pitching left and right. I thought I had a flat tire, so I stopped to inspect it - perfectly fine. Started off again and it continued. Stopped again and checked the chain tension - it was pretty loose. I had no idea how I could tighten it up because I was not carrying a 36mm socket with me. I went to use the adjuster screws anyway and they did move the chain! That was too freaky. I started off one more time and the wobble continued accompanied with a scraping sound. :shock:
At this point I knew I was doing some kind of damage by riding so I parked 'er by the side of a long, sparsely traveled highway and walked 3 miles back to the nearest establishment where I could use their phone and call a towing company. The friendly folks at the restaurant were kind enough to drive me back to my bike. There I stood for another 2 hours waiting for the tow vehicle. Eventually I discovered where the scraping was coming from - it was the wheel bearing rubbing against the swingarm on the axle locknut side (right side).
I have not figured out yet if this problem was self inflicted or not. But before I left this morning I re-adjusted the chain and used the manual spec for torquing the locknut. I just hope the damage is to the wheel bearing or, worst case, the axle. In any case, I won't be riding the 961 for a while. Glad to have a back up bike! :roll:
At this point I knew I was doing some kind of damage by riding so I parked 'er by the side of a long, sparsely traveled highway and walked 3 miles back to the nearest establishment where I could use their phone and call a towing company. The friendly folks at the restaurant were kind enough to drive me back to my bike. There I stood for another 2 hours waiting for the tow vehicle. Eventually I discovered where the scraping was coming from - it was the wheel bearing rubbing against the swingarm on the axle locknut side (right side).
I have not figured out yet if this problem was self inflicted or not. But before I left this morning I re-adjusted the chain and used the manual spec for torquing the locknut. I just hope the damage is to the wheel bearing or, worst case, the axle. In any case, I won't be riding the 961 for a while. Glad to have a back up bike! :roll: