weird sound from front sprocket area

got a 2013 wrr with about 3000 miles on it now and theres a weird kinda metal grinding noise almost like a bad bearing is thier a bearing behind the front sprocket i can replace i have a warrenty but they wont cover it because my rear rim bent from a big fat pot hole in the road. i havnt pulled it apart yet cuz of work but any advice or tips would be great

   thanks

How is your chain tension?

Why would a bent rear rim from a pot-hole have anything to do with warranty covering grinding noise from front sprocket?

I have had the same sort of noise ever since replacing my OEM chain & sprockets.  Chain tension is good - I can't find anything wrong.  I just chalked it up to a noisy chain/sprocket combo.  Hope I'm right.

"I have a warrenty but they wont cover it because my rear rim bent from a big fat pot hole in the road"


I call BS on that. That is like telling me my truck isn't covered on warranty because I have a scratch on the side of it or a dent inside the box from hauling stuff. I would be looking at a new dealer myself. If there is something f'd up there it would have nothing to do with a dent in the rim...unless I am mistaken.

I can see how they are trying to talk themselves out of it. a bent rim could also mean a hefty crash, resulting in other damage to for example the front sprocket. of course the warranty doesn't cover crash damage, so they get rid of you real easy.

pretty stupid from the dealer, as it must be obvious the bike doesn't have any other physical damage it would have from a crash big enough to bend your rim. I'd go look for a new dealer. any yamaha dealer will cover your warranty, not just the one you bought the bike from.

Find a local wr250r rider. 

Offer them a case of beer to swap rear wheels for a few days. 

Take bike to stealership and have them look at sprocket/noise. 

Then trade rear wheel back and pay off your debt with beer. 

the sound was there foe a week prior to the bent rim but i thought it was a loose chain then after having the rim off to look at it and replace the blown out tube and tighten the chain tension its still there and sounds like it might be getting worse so this situation sucks and i would glady offer a local 250 rider a case of beer but just moved out here and dont know anyone here so im out that one

Did a local stealership actually tell you that a bent rear rim voids your warranty for something motor related? 

Or are you just assuming that's the case?

they told me because of the bent rim their is a 90% chance they wont cover it but ive found another place out here thats helpinme out

SCL09TREX wrote:

they told me because of the bent rim their is a 90% chance they wont cover it but ive found another place out here thats helpinme out

Be sure to report back what they find. 

You should drop off a burning bag of dog shit on that first dealers door step.

How many miles on the bike?  I would pull the front sprocket cover off (three 8mm bolts) and have a look at the bottom side of the chain slider.  Could be it has been eaten away and the sound you hear could be the chain eating your swingarm.  Hope this is not the case.

chuckP wrote:

How is your chain tension?

N8 wrote:

I have had the same sort of noise ever since replacing my OEM chain & sprockets.  Chain tension is good - I can't find anything wrong. 

Old Blue wrote:

How many miles on the bike?  I would pull the front sprocket cover off (three 8mm bolts) and have a look at the bottom side of the chain slider.  Could be it has been eaten away and the sound you hear could be the chain eating your swingarm.  Hope this is not the case.

When you say "chain tension is good" what do you mean by that? 

Good relative to standard street bike tension - or good according to Yamaha's recommended procedure where it looks almost too sloppy when compared to normal street bikes? 

A chain that's too tight will cause damage quickly. 

On our bikes, looser is better than tighter for swing-arm damage potential. 

What chain and sprocket set did you replace the OEM stuff with?

For me I used:

"Primary Drive 520 ORH Gold X-Ring Chain 520x120"

Steel sprockets 13/47.  I think the front is a Renthal and the rear is a PD.  I also replaced the slider when I did the chain & sprockets.

My swingarm did have some damage from the original set.

My tension is good as best as I can tell.  It's definitely not pulled tight thru the full suspension travel, but it's not sloppy either.

The noise has not changed since I put them on and I have put at least a thousand miles on.  No louder or quieter.

You got swing-arm damage in less than 3000 miles???????  

Or just slider wear?

Both but I'm not sure where you got the 3,000 from.  My bike has 13,000.  9,000 of which were by the previous owner.  I replaced the original chain/sprockets at around 10k.

SCL09TREX wrote:

got a 2013 wrr with about 3000 miles on it now and theres a weird kinda metal grinding noise almost like a bad bearing is thier a bearing behind the front sprocket i can replace i have a warrenty but they wont cover it because my rear rim bent from a big fat pot hole in the road. i havnt pulled it apart yet cuz of work but any advice or tips would be great

   thanks

 Oops... I thought you were op....

oill have a better update thursday cuz im gonna have someone take a good look at it so ill let u know