Something Metal Hit My Leg

[Damian]

I went for a quick spin and a trip to the corner store for some Cokes tonight. Just as I was slowing down to get ready to turn into the gas station i heard a "ping" (sound of light metal bouncing off metal) and felt something light brush against the inside of my left upper-ankle just above my boot where my pants had ridden up a little.

My first thought was, "Well, the chain's about to come apart, at least I'm not going very fast." And allowed myself a little wince for what I expected would be a very painful next few seconds. The pain never came and I motored into the gas station and shut it off.

I got down and looked at the chain and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. I expanded my search and didn't see anything out of place with the entire left side. I only live about a mile away from the gas station, so I took it slow all the way home. It's pitch black out so once home, I got my flashlight and still didn't see anything out of place.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is it possible that I kicked up some road debris? I'm going to do a thorough chain inspection before I ride it again, is there anything else specific I should look for?

Thanks!

[steves]

Check the rear axle, and the fittings on the torque arm for the rear brake.

Did you have anything apart back there recently?

It's possible it was road debris...

[87vert]

fairing bolt or one of the metal clips the bolts go into?

[Black_peter]

Yeah, stuff flys around..

If you're new to bikes take it from me. Another key reason to wear your gear is the airborne debris. I can't count the number of times I was glad I wear a lid after some UFO has dinged off the shell or the visor.
So same holds for the rest of your body.

[versionpardner]

Yeah we have log trucks around here and they are notorious for flinging all kinds of crap but mainly rocks. Once a pebble hit my hand and it felt like getting hit with a bb gun and that was through gloves.

[koncsolt]

Could be almost anything. All kinds of things tend to loosen up on bikes because of the vibrations. I lost both of my pipes heat guards on my old GS550 while riding on the highway. I didn't even know I lost them until I stopped and my friend, who was riding with me, told me that they almost hit him. The point is, when the service manual says to check all bolts at certain intervals, DO IT! I was lucky that nothing hit me, but I could have caused my friend to spill. Not good.

[Damian]

Check the rear axle, and the fittings on the torque arm for the rear brake.

Did you have anything apart back there recently?

I tightened the chain the other day, but that's as much as I've tinkered with the rear axle.

The bike is buck nekkid, with all but two of the fairing bolts removed. I'll make sure the two that were there are still there.

Thanks for the advice, everybody. Now that the sun's up, I'll check it over real good to make sure everything's in its place.

[KatanaSoldier]

I am thinking road debris.

[Damian]

...well, not unlike vintage Matlock or TJ Hooker, I solved the case.

I was running some errands and decided to stop to adjust my clutch lever because I had been playing with it recently and I had left it a little loose. I took off the seat to get out my toolkit. When I reached in to pull it out, it dumped all over the ground.

The stock flathead screwdriver that connects to that flat piece was missing (gasp).

I had the tools wrapped loosely in a shop cloth and I guess it slid out. I wrapped it a little tighter and wedged it in a little better.

I learned another lesson the hard way today: Bike off. On Sidestand. Adjust clutch cable. Standing next to the bike. Start it. Squeeze clutch. Kick it in to first to make sure it goes in easy. "Thunk". Engine dies. Confusion. Go back to "Adjust clutch" and try it again. I did this 10 times, adding profanity with increasing volume and frequency before all the features of the sidestand switch really sunk in.

[*01kat600*]

wheel weight maybe?