Front sprocket

[pitternator]

As part of my ongoing refresh of my gen1, I am replacing the chain and sprockets. Its actually the first time I have had the sprocket cover off since buyingthe bike in 08 and was expecting some force to remove the sprocket nut , but it was almost loose ! The copper tab washer was in place, and the nut  came off very easily.I was quite surprised to see a lot of wear from the sprocket , as the rear is almost like new ( 37 k miles !)...but the front is u/s...and the teeth very thin indeed, and visibly hooked .The chain itself is not totally worn out , but it was a bit of a shock to see how bad the sprocket was. Food for thought as if it had got any worse, possibly  the chain could have jammed, should one or more teeth collapse.... :eek

[devilsyam]

yeah john mine was loose too seems to be a common issue hence the tab washer - i went dug the oe sproket out and measued it out of curiosity the renthal was 8.44 and the stock was 8.99 wander if this plays a part in it as i do recal tightning to spec

glad for the tab washer lol

[Fazerider]

Sounds like you got to it just in time.
The rear sprocket wears much slower (unless it's made of a different material), forces on the teeth are far higher on the front because it turns the chain round a much smaller radius. And, of course, the wear is distributed over far fewer teeth. Some folks change the front mid-way through the chain's life to compensate.

[VNA]

Yup my front sprocket was not exactly tight.  I put the new un on with a bit of locktite.

One thing I noticed was the big increase in noise going from the OE sprocket to a renthal.  Took a good while to get used to it.

Dunno how much the stealers want for the OE sprocket though.

[1967fazer]

Can recommend not putting an early R1 sprocket on the front, as someone did on mine. When it came to changing it, I found the sprocket loose with a lot of rust on the shaft, showing it had been loose for some time! As has already been said, thank goodness for the tab washer. |Fitted the correct Fazer sprocket and no problems since

[cable tie]

I will second the lose front sprocket mine was very lose with only 10k on the clock and it was only the tab washer stopping it from unwinding itself, i brought a genuine fr/sprox £40 ish i think,  im lead to beleave if you fit a new chain (DID for me) its advisable to replace sprox as well .

Dave 

[pitternator]

Ta lads. I have bought a RK gold chain with renthal sprockets, all in about £90 off ebay.I will see what the renthal front sprocket sounds like b4 goin OE.When I last changed them ( 2003) on my previous gen1, I cant recall a noise issue. I still have a 15 T front sprocket in me garage that I tried for a time but found the cruising speed raced the engine a tad too much.I have just removed the swing arm and put chain into a local shop to get it made up. Swing arm came out sweetly, but little evidence of a so called strip out and relube which my yam dealer claimed to have done last year !
My biggest observation is just how much crud there is which cannot be reached by routine cleaning. TBH although I swear by a hugger, it dont stop this happening. My feeling is this strip of rear wheel, suspension linkages and swing arm really needs to be an annual thing to keep it all clean. I also am considering abandoning my wet lube system on the chain. I know it gives great chain life, but creates a lot of crap around the front sprocket / swing arm/ back of engine.

I also have been done a bit by a german supplier of unpainted huggers on ebay...the one I got looks very much like an ermax one,but  is not a good fit , and will need the tabs bending down a bit by the fixing bolts on the offside of the swing arm.....its fibreglass, so is strong ,and I bet it will fracture in time with constant pressure on it .I probably now will have to get another ermax one, which fits well at least , but even in black is £80.I will email the supplier to see what they say, but probably wont get any satisfaction.Return post to deutschland will probably be that much it wont be worth doing it.... I will dig out the details, so if any others get tempted they will know what they are getting for their money. :\

[VNA]

I found the renthal sprocket very noisy compared to OE, but you eventually get used to it.

I do like to check the front sprocket every year.  Ever since I discovered I was riding about for 100's of miles with little holding on the sprocket on my Fazer600 other than chain tension and the cover plate.  I did go a little pale when I removed that cover.




Threads were totally gone and the nut was just happily bouncing about.

[VNA]

Oh are you sure that chain is equivalent to OE spec Pit?

DID ZVM chain is usually over 100 quid alone.

[cable tie]

:agree  I have done the cheaper chain option once and it wanted adjusting to often and lasted 5k and it was done so this time i went down the DID 530ZVM-X they say its the strongest chain you can buy and twas on my zx12r so got to be good however £140  :eek

Dave.

[pitternator]

not sure tbh, but that  first OE chain has lasted 37k miles...so if this one lasts half that I will be happy. It is a gold chain, maybe not X ring standard but definitely O ring chain.Given my front sprocket was very badly worn, I will be checking it annually from now on.....the lack of wear on the chain masked this problem !
I dont think I need to go to full spec ( £140)...but will see how it goes.

I just picked up chain from local dealer who has put the soft  link in it  nicely , ( a tool to do it costs £39)so a few quid to have that job done well is actually a saving .Should get the bike back together over easter , and will let you know what I think to chain and k tech sussies.

[Phil TK]

I will see what the renthal front sprocket sounds like

My front renthal is very noisey. Do you remember in the kids programme Captain Scarlet when the 'Angels' went into a nose dive -it sounds exactly like that same noise on the overrun and it's annoying. I'm seriously thinking of replacing the Renthal with a Yamaha one.

[ghostbiker]

I ran a renthal front and didn't like the noise. I kept it on as it wasn't that bad to.get me spending cash LOL
I swapped to a JT front now and its better but still not as good as oe
If I remember the oe has a plastic damper on it? Didn't someone once try to remove it and fix it to a renthal to quiet it a bit? Can't remember the outcome though LOL

[pitternator]

dont think so, the main diffrence is the OE one is thicker in the middle. The renthal looks well slim by comparison.Given wind noise, ear plugsin and  exhaust roar, its gonna have to be feckin noisy fer me to notice ! ...I remember some guys claiming they could hear " tyre noise" once...well I never have. will let you know when I do get the bike back on the road....weather this weekend is shite too...

[VNA]

OE one has big foc off nylon insert.  I assume that absorbs vibration and noise.

Yes the renthal is noisy, wind noise, free flow exhaust etc, and all I can hear is the chain and sprocket noise.

Nae drive chain noise with the OE sprocket.

[paul1606]

Reading this post does the OE sprocket with the plastic damper also come loose ?? or is it only aftermarket sprockets, cos i'm wondering if the aftermarket ones are loosening off due to the damper missing.

[VNA]

My OE on the Fazer600 had nowt holding it on, just chain tension and the cover.

When I replaced the OE sprocket on the thou, the tab washer was still in place, but the nut was not tight.

Loctite nut lock, torque it up, and hammer the tab down sweetly and it should be fine.

[paul1606]

Reading through other yamaha forums, apparently yam has done an upgrade nut its 12mm deep instead of the 9mm stock one (it also has a slightly deeper recess) http://www.bikesandtravels.co.uk/default...20Lost%20S upgrade part number is :

90891-10124

[pitternator]

neither OE front sprocket on my 2 fazers had plastic inserts....so dont know where you have got this from ?...my first was a 2001 model, this one is 2004. Is yours a later model ??

ref noise again ....I have never heard any chain noise at all on fazers( or any other bikes )...just too much other noise going on...be interesting to try to listen to it now ! 

[ghostbiker]

Def had a plastic/nylon bit on mine the first time I changed it.  I brought the bike with about 2k miles on it so know it was OE. 2004 model.