Chain
 

the chain on my curvy has had it, so i am now looking at new chains and i had no idea there was so many. i did look at some other threads but they didnt really help me.

so this is what i know so fair

chain
length 110
pitch 525


so which is better the o ring or the x ring ? now i think i am right in saying that the o ring is manily used on road and track on sports bikes ect and the x ring is used on crossers so if im right then the o ring would be best.

also dont ask me why but i want a gold chain:P

anyone got any ideas of were to get them from ?

cheers orgers

Re: Chain
 

right for a start, your sprokets are probably shagged as well, have you checked your top one ?

both X and O ring chains are used on road bikes (it's to do with the seal shape on the links), either will do well enough.

virtually all the mail order companies will do them.

Cheers Mark.

Re: Chain
 

checked both sprokets and they are fine. sprockets wernt changed that long ago but chain has never been changed

Re: Chain
 

well if you say so, however it's not good practise to change just a chain as old chains tend to eat sprokets faster and likewise old sprokets tend to kill new chains faster as well, perhaps something to bear in mind.

Re: Chain
 

Yeah with rictus on this one. New Chain and Sprockets at the same time.

Re: Chain
 

I never change one without the other, wear creeps up on you and it's not worth it.
Why do the job twice!

Re: Chain
 

False economy to just change a chain.

O ring / X ring. Either is fine, O ring is cheaper. The manufacturers say X ring is better.

Far better to get a good quality O ring than a cheap X ring. I would stick to tsubaki or DID.

Re: Chain
 

http://www.stealthproducts.co.uk/

boom, look no further! They sorted me out sprockets, chain and delivery for less than £80 on a DID x-ring. MWAHH!!!

Oh and if ya wondered, its gold!

Re: Chain
 

Nicky, if you have an 's' model then its a 108 chain. The 110 is for the N sprocket kit. The N kit will give shaper acceleration, and shade a tad off the top end (Or it will rev out in top) The N kit also has a 46t rear sprocket as opposed a 45t for the s kit (Hence the longer chain.)

As for chains. Its really how you look after them more then the chain in all honesty. I know of people on here that have had over 60k off a basic chain with good lubrication and adjustment.

As standard O-ring will suffice with the SV. Its all i have ever had...ok except a gold one once, but it was all they had.

Also, if you can, get a Suzuki front sprocket. it was advised to me a few years ago by Lord Sid Squid. He reckons they are harder then any pattern sprocket on the market, hence this will give longer chain life. I still have to do this!

Re: Chain
 

The stock ones are JT brand. B and C express sell them.

Re: Chain
 

the rear sprocket looks fine and i dont think it has ever been changed the front sprocket is a renthal one and it is 14t i think and that was put on last year so i dont want to change the front one back one i dont mind to much about.

Re: Chain
 

ummmmmmmmmm looks good myt have to have a look into this

Re: Chain
 

You really should buy the sprockets too, the way a chain wears to the sprockets is unique. So if you put a new chain on srockets which already broke a chain in, you'll ruin the life span of your new chain. At £80 you are a hundred times better off just getting the whole lot replaced. Any bonce with a tool kit and a paddock stand can change their sprockets but you'll need someone with a chain riviter kit to swap the chains over which you'd have to do anyway so tbh. If you dont swap the lot your been a bit silly IMO.

Ask nicely and a local orger may even come along to make sure its all done tipity top if you wanna do it all ya self to save even more money.

Re: Chain
 

given the size difference the front will wear 4 x as quickly under normal use, and the fact you've had an old chain on it would have increased the wear rate somewhat, I know you say "last year", but what's that in mileage, 20k/30k ?

for the cost of a couple of sprocket (and you can pretty much get any size you want) I wouldn't be messing about myself.

Cheers Mark.

Re: Chain
 

Smaller front sprockets are a bad idea.

At one fell swoop you are increasing the force on the sprocket teeth for the same drive force. And, increasing the tensile stress on the chain.

FAR better is to increase the size of the rear, which for the exact same front sprocket tooth pressure and chain tensile stress will give increased drive force!

Re: Chain
 

Just to add...

... and a worn sprocket is much harder on the chain. In some respects, chain life can be limited to that of the CS sprocket.

A tip that I was put onto many years ago was to buy three (or more) counter shaft sprockets with each chain/sprocket set and even out the wear by rotating those CS sprockets in order at each service regardless of wear. Each CS sprocket gets used three or more times depending on intervals and what is done, or not done, to destroy the chain by the time the chain is spent.

Combined with regular cleaning and an oiler it is possible to get exceptional or at least well above average mileage from a chain.

Cheers

Re: Chain
 

There was a write up on ihpva.org (I couldn't find the article) that went into the math explaining this in some detail. The gist of it, iirc, is that the force on each tooth is proportional to the cosine of the angle that each link makes across the sprocket (the sharper the angle the greater the losses) before even considering the effect of the reduced number of teeth and bearing surface area.
From a good chain drive setup to a bad one, we can be looking at a 1-2% decrease in efficiency which may not sound like a lot but that is 1-2% less horsepower to the road.

Cheers

Re: Chain
 

The problem with swapping front sprockets around like this is the cost of lock washers, to do it by the book you should replace the nut each time!

Re: Chain
 

Not a huge problem. There is the book (which I mostly stick to) and then there is real life. I figure that I can use that washer at least six times before I throw it away by only using a single edge on the nut at each change <= I thought everyone did that. That is two washers for each chain/sprocket set.