Chain (I think) *clunk* noise

I'm getting a fairly loud *clunk* or *click* noise when I'm underway, that's consistent with chain speed. I hear it with the clutch both engaged and disengaged.

I stopped by the shop, and while they didn't have time to work on it, the guy did say that the chain looked way too tight. I took it home and loosened it up a bit (didn't have a torque wrench for the bolt, how critical is the correct torque on that one?). I was fairly sure that that would clear up the noise, but it doesn't seem to have helped much.

At 25k miles, I could be near the life of the chain, but the guy at the shop said that nothing was obviously worn. I have an automatic oiler (what do people think about those anyway? I kinda like the spray-on chain wax), which is supposed to keep my chain shiny-new for something ridiculous like 7x it's normal life.

The only other clue is that my wife says that the chain "jumps around a lot" under the swing arm when I take off. I'm thinking maybe that my oiler isn't hitting one side of the chain as well, and I have a tight spot.

Any other things to try?

godefroi

 

Inspect the rollers closely, could be a broken or missing one. Oilers are great if you've got one. I doubt you'd get a dry spot with one.

 

My oiler (the bike is new to me today, so I didn't put it on...) tube is kinda, well, not over the chain.

In fact, if the bike is sitting on the sidestand, the oil actually misses the chain altogether. Where exactly is this thing supposed to be aimed?

 

From the looks of the wear indicator on the chain guard(the "new chain""old chain" thing) it looks like your chain is stretched and no matter what you do, it won't adjust right. If I am correct, yo should run out of adjustment toward the rear of the bike before the chain is tight. That means it is time for a new chain.

 

No, it definitely tightens up, it was too tight when I started. I think the angle is wrong on the picture for the guage to be accurate. Loosening the chain a bit, however, didn't seem to fix the problem.