Friday, August 01, 2025

Advice Listened To But Not Yet Followed Gives Me A Bit Of A Scare

I've had a piece of good advice from several Lifan KP Mini 150 owners:

Hit the rear sprocket bolts with thread locker and really tighten them down.

Apparently those bolts are the perennial winners of "Most Likely To Loosen Up."

I meant to follow that advice. I don't keep thread locker on hand, but I was planning to do a bit of work in a friend's garage this weekend, and he does. Those bolts were specifically on my "to do" list.

With less than 200 miles on the bike, I didn't expect them to be a problem yet, anyway.

But as I was rolling down a nearby highway at about 55 miles per hour, I suddenly started hearing a squeaking noise, and quickly became pretty sure it was coming from the bike, not the car behind me or truck in front of me.

When I pulled onto a side road, it took me about two seconds to find the problem.

Yep, one of the rear sprocket bolts had worked itself about halfway out (I think the squeak was from the bolt head ever so gently brushing the inside of the plastic chain guard fairing).

Fortunately, I carry a tool bag on the bike. I spent about five minutes re-tightening that bolt and giving the other sprocket bolts a good twist.

No more squeak.

I was planning on riding 30-50 miles just to keep getting the engine broken in, but instead I came home. I'll be over at my friend's garage putting thread locker on those bolts tonight. Until then, the bike doesn't leave the neighborhood.

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