Chain question

[finniee]

I'm going to replace my chain in the next month or so, waiting for the crap weather to go before I do this.

What is it I'm looking for in buying a new chain?.
Same pitch?, same length?, I honestly have no clue.

To remove a chain without a split link do I specifically need a link breaker?.

When you buy a new chain does it come a link shorter for the rivet or the split to go into or would I need to remove some from the chain to make it the same length?.

[Snod Blatter]

You want the same pitch and length as is recommended for your bike by the manufacturer, the chain that is on there is probably correct but you can never trust previous owners!

To remove a chain without a split link you can do it nicely with the correct tool or you can take an angle grinder to one or two of the links (the pins that hold the plates together) and then slide it apart sideways.

If you buy a 100 link chain I suppose the actual lengthy piece would be 98 links and the soft links (on the same plate) make it 100, but you're starting to overthink it. Just buy the length you need
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1994 CB250, 1984 CBX250RS-E, 1989 K100RS, 1995 TRX850, 2016 Z250SL

[Wull]

A wee tip for you.......

When the new chain arrives after you cut the old chain attach the new chain to the old chain using a cable tie or by simply using one half of the new rivet link and pull the new chain through.

But its good practise to remove the front sprocket cover and give it a good clean,so if you go this route you don't need to fart about pulling the chain through as you'll be able to do it easily enough this way.
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"Scooters are for men who want to ride motorcycles but prefer to feel the wind on their vaginas"

[mentalboy]

Is it not the done thing to recommend replacing sprockets at the same time as the chain any more?

Chains wear out mostly because of road muck and as they wear the combination of the same muck and the chain (which is also 'stretching' and altering the way it sits on the sprockets). If you put a new chain on old sprockets you run the risk that the old chain has worn the sprockets to such an extent that they will have an adverse on your expensive brand new chain from day one.
Sprocket replacement may be a ballache but they are cheap and it always strikes me as a false economy to replace the chain without doing the sprockets at the same time. (It also gives you a chance to clean out the crud that accumulates under the sprocket cover)
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Make mine a Corona.

[RhynoCZ]

[finniee]

[mentalboy]

[Kickstart]

Hi

For most bikes larger bikes a set of sprockets are dirt cheap compared to a chain. While I have reused sprockets many times on smaller bikes, with a larger bike I would normally just put new sprockets on at the same time.

By the way, most chains are the same pitch but there are different widths as well. With a normal chain with (say) a code of 520, the 5 refers the the pitch of the chain in 8ths of an inch. Hence 5/8" pitch.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[finniee]

I don't have a large CC bike, as of yet. I only have a 125 at the moment.

Anything that goes wrong I'm doing my best to figure out to try and fix myself.

I have been toying with the idea of getting a project bike and learning that way as well.

[Skudd]