[roostafish]

I certainly thought about the brakes, but the noise came from the left side of the engine. I thought for sure it was from the countershaft the first time, but as it did it again, and again, I thought perhaps transmission. My bike sat for six weeks (recovering from ankle surgery) before this trip. The noise happened almost at the end of the day.

Ugh, transmission oil could have been anything. I have been using up my old stock of oil from my previous sponsors. I had leftover Bel Ray, leftover Maxima MTF, and leftover Bardahl. I've had a few oil sponsors over the years, both from teams, and individual, my stockpile is now gone though. I think I dumped the last bottle in yesterday. It's not Rotella. But I have some. I'll use that next.

I hate to be so paranoid, but that '99 six days bike stranded me too many times. The new owner did indeed have the case replaced (for FREE) and I thought we'd heard the end of it. I found out Tuesday that he is now replacing his crank bearings for the 5th time. That makes nine times total. I heard that in the morning before my ride, so you can imagine what that did for me mentally when I heard that screech! Yikes. I've been stewing.

It was certainly not clutch noise, although the plates were stuck together when I took off first thing. It didn't surprise me though, since the bike has been sitting for a month and a half.