What the Balls is this!?!?!

[tom.gabriele]

Took off the front sprocket cover and found this! I have no friggin idea what this is. Does anyone know what this could be? Black, hard "seeds", all uniform size, NOT magnetic. Cant really see where they would be coming from. All told, a small handful of them. What's in my hand in the picture is probably about 1/4 of the total.







Also, the goop around them (I assume just slung chain grease) IS magnetic. Also, I'm pretty sure I just spun a bearing. But that's a different topic. Unless it's related, of course.

[jestercinti]

I have no idea.  Are they tar balls?  Not the tar balls from Alabama/Mississippi BP Disaster, but tiny little balls of tar/gunk?

Animal Droppings?
Tree Seeds?
I saw Gremlins once.  Not supposed to feed them after midnight.  Did you feed your bike after midnight?

[tom.gabriele]

Ha! My first thought when I saw them was "that must have been one small deer!"

It's a solid though. Can't break the balls between my fingers, so I don't think it's any tar/grime/grease or anything.

I just took a pair of channel locks and crushed one - it's white inside, kind of gritty. Kind of like sandstone, but maybe something organic:



So it looks like it could be some kind of seed, maybe...? But why the heck would there be so many of them??  You would think they would have to get onto the chain somehow, and then slung into that casing. And there was hundreds of the little things. And it was 100% these things. If seeds were getting picked up and shot in there, why aren't there any other similarly sized objects in there too...sand, pebbles, etc.

[Somnospeed]

Drop 'em before they hatch in your hand.

[007brendan]

I'm surprised you didnt find more junk in there.  That area of the bike is notorious for collecting all sorts of crap.  Basically anything that could possibly stick to a bike chain will find its way in there.

[tom.gabriele]

I'm surprised you didnt find more junk in there.  That area of the bike is notorious for collecting all sorts of crap.  Basically anything that could possibly stick to a bike chain will find its way in there.

I cleaned in there probably not even 200 miles ago too. Scraped ut a baseball's worth of goop, several rounds of degreaser...

I'm just surprised (and suspicious) that those ball things were the only thing that collected there.

There is no clutch/gear/engine component that would shred and release magic balls like that?  That's my main concern - that whatever it is came from within.

[Paulcet]

I think that was an animal's stash for winter. Where is your bike kept at night?

[tom.gabriele]

My garage/basement. Which has had both doors wide open for...the whole summer now.

An animal would be a good guess.

_______________________

so not what do I do with them? Plant them like magic beanstalk seeds and see what happens?

[mister]

You cleaned it only 200 miles ago? WTF, do you ride through mud or something?

Curious what prompted you to check there again after cleaning it only 200 miles ago.

Michael

[jestercinti]

A while ago, when I had my GS450 1982, I found small screwdriver sockets, pennies, small rocks, and lots and lots of gunk.

Probably a small animal storing something in there.

[tom.gabriele]

You cleaned it only 200 miles ago? WTF, do you ride through mud or something?

Curious what prompted you to check there again after cleaning it only 200 miles ago.

Michael

well, the "baked on" redddish looking stuff has been on there for longer. it was gunk buildup free 200 miles ago. What prompted checking it was a (probably) catastrophic engine failure this past friday. Low oil/spun bearing at least...

A while ago, when I had my GS450 1982, I found small screwdriver sockets, pennies, small rocks, and lots and lots of gunk.

Probably a small animal storing something in there.

I hope so...some OCD mouse only collecting this particular seed or whatever it is.

When I put on the lunchbox, I found acorns in the air filter. and a wasp nest up in the tail fairing. and most recently, a single bee and about a dozen larvae in the then-uncapped mirror hole on the handlebars. that was an interesting find.

[weedahoe]

I think that was an animal's stash for winter. Where is your bike kept at night?

That was my first thought when I seen them also.

Mouse/Mice

[Erika]

Yuck. That's a crazy amount of stuff in there! Maybe a chipmunk is in your airbox. You're reminding me to get exhaust plugs for winter storage.

[Higgins13]

Alien eggs.

[cbrfxr67]

I think Paulcet said it right.  Pretty weird looking either way.

[Malfruen]

Black Sesame Seeds? Can't think they'd take much to throw onto your chain for transport into your sprocket cover. And they sound really tasty! So mice should love the hell out of them!

I'm trying to come to a non-X-Files answer before we move into the more extra-terrestrial.

[Huff1371]

I dug the same looking crap out of a Subaru air filter. I couldn't figure it out either. Maybe some sort of seed pod the you hit with the front. Maybe some sort of canna lily or similar pod.

[adidasguy]

Cottonwood seeds?
Looks about right minus the fluffy top.

[tom.gabriele]

Does CT have cottonwood? I can't say I've ever heard of it



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[Suzuki Stevo]

That has to be some rodent's stash