So my chain broke while riding! GREAT!

[tussey]

Did you ever figure out if it was the actual chain that broke or simply a master link failure?  My guess is the mechanic did a poor job of riviting the master link on.  If that is in fact the case, I'd say the mechanic was very negligent (and very lucky you didn't crash).  So negligent in fact that I would strongly consider a new mechanic.  It is also possible he used a clip style master link, which most would also consider quite negligent for street bike use.  [although the GS is pretty low on HP so it may not be THAT big of issue.]

Ok so I dropped the bike off yesterday. The man was amazed. He's an old and weathered man and but he knows his stuff. Been working on bikes for 30 years. He said it's the first time he's ever seen a chain break like mine. It was not the master link. It was just a regular old link that simply snapped in the middle. You can clearly see where it broke. He says he puts on chains on R1's and R6's for guys who do wheelies and what not. Never seen a chain break like mine. He said the problem may be the sprockets or that the tire isn't aligned properly with the engine (i.e. causing sideways tension on the chain). I will get back to you when he calls me.

[belome]

WOW, that is amazing.  Quality control dropped the ball on this one.

[tussey]

WOW, that is amazing.  Quality control dropped the ball on this one.

Just got my baby back from the mechanic. Here is what happened. The place that installed my new battery ( I don't go there anymore) didn't attach a clear plastic tube to the little acid outlet drain on the right side of the battery, so acid was dripping on my bike internals. It managed to drip on the chain. The chain was also cracked in several other places which really shocked me. He didn't give me tha chain for free but it was at cost and he charged no labor to put it on which is good.

[Wrecent_Wryder]

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[daneilah]

The shop that services my bike told me that a really quick way to wreck a new chain is to have it too tight.  For wear on a chain, it's much better to have it too loose than too tight.  Obviously way too loose is also bad.

Also, and this is just speculation on my part, do you need to break in a chain?  i.e. go easy on it for the first couple hundred miles because that's when it does the most stretching?

Interesting observation about the battery overflow drain tube.... when I was reinstalling my wife's battery after winter storage I noticed that there is an overflow port on the battery, but the drain tube is missing from the bike... I'll be looking into this some more now!

[scratch]

Also, and this is just speculation on my part, do you need to break in a chain?  i.e. go easy on it for the first couple hundred miles because that's when it does the most stretching?

Yes, just for the first 100 miles.  Being really smooth with the clutch helps.  Check the chain every day.  I just replaced mine Monday, and have had to tighten it one adjuster nut facing, each day, so far.  My commute is 14 miles and I have a 115 mile group ride, Sunday (1,021 turns).