and one returning problem

[Drew Blanchard]

Last year, the Geeper developed a weird "tocking" which could clearly be
felt through the footpegs.  It varied with road speed; gearing/rpm didn't
make a difference.  The consensus here (and from the dealer) was worn
damping ring rubber; dealer also thought the chain was a bit loose
(although I disagreed).  The weirdest part of all this is the fact this
problem very clearly began when I took a fairly heavy passenger (approx 200
lbs) for a ride.  I have no idea what the cause/effect of this could be,
but figured maybe this had stressed the old rubbers.  So, I replaced the
damping ring when I installed the new tires.  Glad I'd just bought a new
can of silicone spray, too, but with things that snug I expected the old
clanking/tocking problem to be gone.

Wrong.

It was back.  With a vengeance.  Things between 43 and 52 mph were
downright worrisome.  I immediately stopped at the dealers (Roadside
Motorsports in Williston VT - I *love* these guys!) for some advice.  One
of their service techs asked a few questions, then followed me out to the
bike.  He quickly looked things over, and asked my permission to move the
bike into the shop to check some things out.  Less than 10 minutes later,
he backed the bike out and sent me on my way after loosening the chain.

Bear in mind, I only wanted advice.  He took it upon himself to leave the
counter, bring my bike in, adjust the chain, and sent me on my way with a
smile (and no bill).  Have I mentioned how much I love these guys?

Anyway, the clanking/tocking was immediately much better, but not totally
gone.  It's obvious the inside of the chain has been rubbing or hitting
something more than just the sprockets, as that side is much shinier and
more polished than it out to be.  It sounds and feels like something is
being hit right by the front sprocket, an area we can't normally see.  The
chain itself rides much too close to the top of the swingarm than I'd like,
but there isn't much I can do about that.  The question is, WTF?

I could loosen the chain even more and see what that does, but this is
really annoying.  Is it possible the rear wheel is a bit out of alignment
with the bike, and that's somehow causing the problem?  And, again, the
fact this so clearly had an originating cause (and which seems to make no
sense) suggests something else is going on.

Thoughts?

Drew in VT
'96 GPZ 1100