Drivetrain Issue

[Sentinel]

My bike is a 1983 Suzuki GS450E

There's a rattling noise coming from the area or my drive sprocket. The rattling noise matches to speed of rolling, so when I'm going slowly it's a kind of slow grinding or clanking sound and at speeds over about 65 Mph it's a howling sound. I had a look at the drive sprocket itself recently and all the teeth looked good, but I'm wondering if it has some kind of cush-drive rubber thing going bad or even a bearing there going bad. What do you think it could be? What should I pull apart and check on?

Any help is greatly appreciated of course.

 

[gpd211]

How tight do you keep your chain? A tight chain will wear bearings quickly. How old is the chain and sprockets? Also what type of chain is it (o-ring, x-ring, other)?

 

[chuck hahn]

Loose nut, but most likely worn down sprocket teeth and stretched chain arent meshing very well anymore.

 

[Sentinel]

How tight do you keep your chain? A tight chain will wear bearings quickly. How old is the chain and sprockets? Also what type of chain is it (o-ring, x-ring, other)?

The chain was installed about 6 thousand miles ago and hasn't been overly tight. It's an o-ring.

Loose nut, but most likely worn down sprocket teeth and stretched chain arent meshing very well anymore.

Last time I was in there a few weeks ago the teeth looked good. There could be some stretching of the chain I suppose. And the nut sounds like a good thing to check on. Thanks