I've heard of several cases of people not properly tightening the bolt on the axle adjuster, having it come loose, then having the plate pop loose and getting it caught in the sprocket.
Have any of you heard of an axle adjuster plate breaking like mine did yesterday?
I'm guessing that a contributing factor was insufficient torque on the axle bolts, but I don't really know what caused this. Under hard acceleration in either first or second gear, I felt something slip, then strange sounds, then the chain was off. Fortunately the chain only gouged up the end of the swingarm and didn't damage the engine or anything else.
Anybody know of a good source of replacement axle plates, besides the local Ducati dealer?
Here's a photo of what it should look like - on the right side.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/scottrnelson/Ducati/RightAxle.jpg)
Here's the broken side. Notice that the bolt is still there along with part of the adjuster plate. It bent out the end of the swingarm a bit. I'll need a big hammer and a few other destructive tools to clean this up.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/scottrnelson/Ducati/LeftAxle.jpg)
What came first?
Did plate break, causing the chain to come off?
or
Did the chain come off, breaking the plate?
I think you're on the money with the axle bolts not being torqued enough.
Does the axle normally not show threads past the axle bolts when torqued on your bike (as in your pic)?
I know on the DSS monsters, a couple threads show when torqued.
Quote from: DarkStaR on July 10, 2009, 06:55:46 AM
What came first?
Did plate break, causing the chain to come off?
or
Did the chain come off, breaking the plate?
I'm certain that the plate broke first.
I loosened the axle in an attempt to see if I could straighten it back out. I didn't bother re-tightening it for the photo.
If the axle isn't tight enough, most (or all) of the chain tension force ends up being carried by the adjuster plate.
Seems it's not beefy enough to handle it.
Those plates look a little different from the usual Monster stuff, but I suspect a Monster one would fit.
I'll try to remember to check at the shop later today to see if I've got one...
holy crap. I'm checking the torque on my axle and adjuster plates ASA I get home!