I decided to replace my own drive chain (per the counsel of Vicious Cycle) so I picked up a new chain through them, and removed the old chain. (It makes sense to me to put my eyes and hands on as many parts of the bike as possible between now and the trip, so that when something goes wrong, I've got some familiarity with how things work.) When I went to remove the front sprocket cover both of the bolt heads were stripped. One came out with some firm coaxing. I tried to remove the other using the "easy-out" method, but it turned out to be not so easy; and then didn't work. So I used an angle grinder to create a new head, and then backed it out. Removing the sprocket cover revealed the next surprise: both of the sprocket bolts had worked their way out of the front sprocket and plate.Most of life's enthusiasm have their own dedicated websites these days. It turns out that "vintage" japanese motorcycles have more than a few. I have settled in as a newbie at The Single Overhead Cam 4 Forums. So I posted a few pictures of what I found and asked for their opinion of the implications of this discovery. Their prognosis: no big deal; apply lock-tite when I replace them and consider replacing the sprocket as well. So it looks like this small project is expanding a bit, but I think I should be able to pick up a set of sprockets and be back on the road by this weekend. I'm hoping to ride out to Camp Yamhill for FaithQuest.
