Back in the fall a bunch of us were riding and when when stopped, I asked one of my co-workers if the chain on my Xplorer 300 had too much slack in it and if I needed to remove a link that I had adjusted the tension to the MAX already. He said ,"NAHH, that looks fine to me". The chain had come off at the house right after I got this thing so I just put it back on and had never had any issues with it coming off after that.
So a couple of days ago and friend and I went riding (same trail) and I don't know if it was just bad luck or the fact we had been busting through some mud puddles but after we got back on the trail, I heard a noise and notice my bike was very hard to control and one of the front wheels would spin when I'd take off. So I stopped to see what the deal was. As I suspected the rear chain came off.
Got the chain back on and about 50 feet later it came off again so I decided it was a lost cause.
OK well, the front wheels still pull, maybe this is enough to get me out.
So not fast....
Seems 90% of the traction is on the rear wheels. The fronts will pull the bike but only on flat dry ground or on pavement. All the front wheels do is sit and spin trying to go up any kind of incline. So much for thinking if the rear wheels stopped pulling I could just leave it in 4WD and let the front wheels do the work.
My friend ended up having to pull me back (about 10 miles). These are Kenda bear claw bias-ply tires BTW.
Luckily a trail ranger was on patrol and had a hammer with him so I was able to break the chain using it and a flat head screwdriver. I was afraid the loose chain was going to rub into something and cause further damage.
Question: If you look at the beginning of this video you will see the tread pattern.
Would you call these a "paddle" tread? I was looking at new tires on Ebay and it appears as though maybe the tread is just worn down. Maybe I need to replace them?
What if I end up install new tires on the front that have the same tread pattern as the rears? Would this give me any better traction on rocks and dirt? What if I got a set of chains for the fronts in case this were to happen again?
Or is it the fact there is no weight on the front end and that was why I couldn't get any traction?
I ordered a new rear chain instead of just a new master link since a new chain was only $13 . I know allot of people are going to tell me I need to install new sprockets with a new chain but I guess I need to find out for myself. If the new chain doesn't mesh with the old gears and it tries to slip or whatever I'll take the time to install new sprockets. They are probably not that had to swap out anyway. I'd imagine a clip holds the front sprocket on. The axle sprocket would most likely be the one to give me issues.
The rear shock bushings are busted so the reason it's sitting on the ground like that is because I have the rear shock removed because I'm going to replace the bushings while I am at it.
Luckily my jack will raise the rear end up enough to remove the shock.