Front Sprocket wobble ?

[mxmatt]

Hi all,

I am curious and would like to ask a front sprocket related question to those who have swapped out their chains and such.

I have recently purchased a 89 Hawk and noticed that there was a slight gridning sound (intermittent in synch with the chain's movement). I ended up finding 2 things.

- The front sprocket area guard was slightly loose
- The front sprocket has a bit of lateral free-play.

The sprocket itself is in good solid condition, I am concerned that the retaining plate may be worn.

Is a bit of play normal on these bikes ? I am used to Cir-clips on my KTM that keep the sprocket tightly in place, and they also (in that bikes case) keep the output shaft seal secure.

The nice thing is, I don't believe that my chain is all that bad, so I intend to re-install it, do a test ride with no guards in place (see if that was my grinding sound) and save my new chain for later in the year.

[Doc]

Nope, not supposed to get any wobble.

[mxmatt]

That's what I thought.

I ordered a retaining plate from my local honda dealer. For only $9.00 it is worthwhile to get this resolved!

It's too bad you cannot use a cir-clip on these, I have a bunch for my KTM, but again, that is a totally different bike!

Thanks Doc!

[jaysun0ne]

depends on how much play or maybe im just not understanding you completly.

i can tell you i had something very similar to what you described. it turned out to be a streached spot on the chain happens when a older chain sits for to long. the spot around the front sprocket gets messed up. and when you use the bike it makes this wooshing sound every time the front sprocket comes incontact with the damaged part of the chain.

if your current plan doesnt solve the problem i would get a new chain.

[MrDude_1]

not on hawks, but ive seen on other bikes where that appears to be the case, but really the output shaft is loose... id look carefully at the shaft while you have the gear off.. see if it wiggles in ways its not supposed to.

[mxmatt]

Thanks for the further input.

I looked at the output shaft first for play, leaks, and signs of extra wear and found none.

I think my issue is simply a worn locking plate. I may add a thin washer to the new one to place between the plate and sprocket for a touch more rigidity, but I will see how the new one locks in first.

I think my grinding sound was something else though. I took off the really gunky chain and spent about an hour cleaning it (it looks new now!). The RK chain is in excellent condition, and all of the O rings are in tact and look great.

I cleaned off about 2 packs of gum worth of junk inside the front sprocket guard, and found that it was actually loose in the first place!.

After I put everything back together (without the new locking plate which is on order), my grinding sound appears to have gone away.

I will have to ride it tonight to be sure though!

[Abquid]

Front sprocket wobble

I noticed this with my front sprocket when I replaced it--I researched it on the old HawkGT.com archives and the consensus there seemed to be that a little wiggle was normal. I haven't had any problems since...