Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Endless chain

At 23K miles I'm throwing in the towel and replacing the chain and sprockets before they start giving me trouble. Also, it seems a good preventive maintenance item prior to the Midwest Rally which will be a 2k miles or longer week.

I've always used master links in the past and never a rivet tool...honestly it's the first modern bike I've kept long enought to wear out a chain. A little technical advice from those of you have would be most appreciated.

I replaced my chain at just under the same mileage as yours, been running a master link chain for 10,000 miles or so, still going strong. Are you asking if you should stay with riveted chains or if it's okay to switch? I think the master link is a fine way to go.

plus, you won't have to drop the wheel to install a master link chain

I just replaced mine with a rivet type master link. If you go this route and you have a simple type breaker/rivet tool, you have to make sure that when you press the plates together (along with the Xrings) you don't over press the plates. If you overpress them you could damage the seals and or cause binding. I used a caliper to verify my plates were the same thickness as the for and aft links. When you rivet, you don't have to compress too much (don't split the pins).

I noticed that some of the new type rivet links available come with what appears to be a couple of wires that you insert between the inner rivet link and outside plates to prevent overpressing the plates (My best guess). Once riveted, the "M" shaped wire is removed giving the perfect plate spacing on the link.

I changed my chain at just under 39,000 kms which is a little over 23,000 miles. My chain still looked good with all seals in place and no real signs of rusting at the links. Some of the links were starting to bind up though. If you worked them, they still moved but rather than take a chance with a long ride scheduled, I replaced it and my drive sprocket. The driven one still looked like new.

I uses a DID ZVM-X chain which is an upgrade to the DID VM2 that my manual said came with the bike. Got the gold coloured one which was the cheapest (not fussy about the colour though). I figured the anodized colour would help prevent surface rust.

The new chain quietened things a lot on the rear/right side as I was getting a bit of a skipping sound (links binding???) on long trips from the chain for the last 500 kms.

I just replaced mine about 2 months ago with the rivit type. I don't think I would have had to drop the back wheel but I was changing out the rear and front sprockets at the same time. I picked up the breaker kit pretty cheap can't remember how much but if you wanna borrow it just let me know, not to far of a ride, might even trow in a beer or few.

I used the clip style link on mine last year, no issues b ut was a pain to press enough to get the clip on.

I honestly prefer the concept of the master link but mostly I think it's because I haven't used or held the rivet tool. The other half of my brain says rivet it on, surely that's mechanically better with no clip to break.

Except I never broke a clip. Or a chain for that matter. So I'm probably not at risk because I don't ride that way. See? I'm back in master link world again. I'll just flip a coin when Fast Eddy's box gets here.

With these bikes, there's not enough power to worry about clip failure so they work fine. I prefer the rivet type, and there's no need to remove the rear wheel, just grind a rivet head, press it out with the breaker and install the new one. My rivet tool has a step that prevents over-tightening the rivet.

With seal ring type chains it really helps to have an installation tool to hold the plates while you install the clip.

got a torch?

I need to replace the chain and both sprockets. Are there any recommended vendors to purchase the kit?

I just purchased a new chain, with sprockets, from fasteddysports.com - eddy's the man.

rattle gun off the front sprocket nut. Use the rattle gun to break free the rear sprocket nuts (loosen only) too while eveything is in place. You'll have to rotate the rear wheel to loosen all the nuts. Then cut the chain. Remove rear wheel, remove rear sprocket, install rear sprocket. Change out front sprocket. Reintall the wheel. Thread the chain on with the ends at bottom. Grease up two of the the o-rings and place them on the master clip post. Insert master clip from rear of chain. Grease up the other two o-rings and place them on the post. Put the plate on. Press it on. Rivet the post. Torque the front sprocket (132 nm?) by using the rear brake to hold the dern thing in place. Bend over the washer.

Riviting a chain on is easy. The hard part would be ensuring the tool is aligned properly. Set it up, torque it a little, back it off then check everything. Then finish pressing the plate on. Same goes for each rivet.

Wipe all that nasty grease off the chain and apply your favorite lube. Beer thirty about now eh?

Thanks, that confirms what I thought I knew I'm still trying work an angle that nets me a new cordless impact driver to complement the air driven one...

It'll have to wait a few days as I'm headed to the coast to take over for my sister. The situation has improved somewhat but mom's still at MUSC in the ICU.