Chain & Gear Repalcement

[jelo]

For those who might be interested - the dirty drive gear has just over 50,000 miles on it, next to a clean new replacement part. I'd had the dealer replace the chain when it needed to be as I just wanted to ride on - Until now - and they didn't replace any gears along the way. New chain (4th - mostly DID VX2s, but there was an early ~8K? warranty replacement - so realistically ~20K miles per decent quality taken care of chain) and both gears (factory OEM) now - and I learned a lot in doing it. The drive gears appear to be made of a different material that doesn't wear the same as the rear wheel gear. I was pretty good about lubing the chain every 500-1000miles - be aware that that waxy stuff builds up in the cavity around the drive gear and should probably be cleaned out periodically.

 

[TigerDude]

I don't have a calibrated eyeball, but the old one sure looks fine compared to the drawings Honda gives us for inspecting it.

 

[jelo]

Nor do I (have a calibrated eyeball)! You can see that the tips of the teeth show little wear - like the new gear - but the deeper wells and sides of the teeth show some wear.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I have seen front sprockets in much worse condition than that with a third of that mileage. Tbh its condition is quite amazing.

 

[rippin209]

Yeah I agree doesn't look to bad especially after 50k

 

[happy]

I only changed 1 once in my whole riding career.
I must be riding too many bikes for too short mileages.
Ouch.

Sent from my LG-D955 using Tapatalk

 

[jelo]

And for the record - this is the rear-wheel gear - again, just over 50,000 miles. Sorry I don't have the side-by-side pic, didn't think to do that before I installed it.

And maybe just as a follow up - when I go ride it is generally for 100~500 miles on old highways and Interstates out here in Wyoming and Montana - it takes ~10 minutes to get out of town, then it's 60~80mph for extended stretches of road, generally only stopping for gas - not sure how that might influence wear on these parts.

 

[MZ5]

That front sprocket does indeed looks shockingly good for 50k miles. It _does_ look significantly hooked to me, though. Maybe it's camera lens effect, but I think not.

 

[Antarius]

Good ol' steel sprockets. Last forever.

I only run steel sprockets on my street bikes.

Aluminum rear sprockets on race bikes, but for street -- steel. Good work.

 

[jelo]

MZ5 - I think I see what you mean - and it might make sense that the forward front pulling edge of the tooth would likely see more wear than the trailing non-pulling edge of the tooth which might only see wear when coasting / slowing? and probably would not be forces to the same degree as those on the pulling edge.

 

[MZ5]

Yep. Drive sprockets hook 'forward' as they wear. That 'front' side of the tooth experiences much more wear as the roller rolls & slides down and on, and then up and off of it. It's kinda funny, though, that the tip wears much less than the side of the tooth, thus resulting in the hook shape.

 

[jelo]

UPDATE: I replaced the chain at the time I replaced the gears and used the clip-link supplied with the chain - a friend said they work fine, that's what he does. Somewhere along the way on my FIRST ride after, the 'clip' disappeared - it was ~200 mile ride and I only noticed it gone just before I got back home - no idea when it took flight?!? THANKFULLY!! the link was fully intact, just the 'clip' was gone. So I ordered some spare master links and did a little research.
RESULT: I cleaned the outer link plate, link pins and replacement 'clip' with rubbing alcohol, put Blue-Loctite on the mating faces of the outer link plate and clip link and reassembled, let it sit and set overnight. Then I did my best to safety-wire it. I tried to double wrap it with what I had on hand but wasn't happy with the results, so it's just single wrapped.

 

[670cc]

Clips going AWOL is one major reason the rivet type master links are preferred (by me, anyway).

 

[jelo]

I understand that - I have three bikes and could use it on all of them. I want to get a good quality, real chain tool - I hate cutting corners and dealing with marginal tools . . . this was the short term get out there and ride answer

 

[670cc]

I understand that - I have three bikes and could use it on all of them. I want to get a good quality, real chain tool - I hate cutting corners and dealing with marginal tools . . . this was the short term get out there and ride answer

I think the Motion Pro PBR tool is good quality. It's about $78. Yes, it adds to the project cost because you need the tool, then with every chain purchase you'll need to buy the rivet link extra for another $8 or $9. I wish the chain would just come with both link types. It would probably cost the manufacturer another dollar.

 

[jelo]

I have some other Motion Pro tools and will look into it - I was looking at the DID tool but it's more like ~$100

 

[bamamate]

I have the Motion Pro tool and like it. It pushes the rivet out without grinding down the head, sets the side plates and stakes the rivet.

The chains I've bought from sprocket center have come with a rivet master link so I didn't have buy one separately.

 

[Agent]

Well, I too find myself getting ready to replace my chain. I got 17,000 miles out of it, but I guess all good things must come to an end. This morning, when I left the house, I accelerated and everything was right with the world. I come up to the (expletive deleted) speed bump and notice a new "scratching" noise. Scratch, scratch, scratch. It seemed to line up with the rotation of the wheel. Needless to say, I turned around and headed back to the house. I found a very kinked chain, which I thought was odd because I inspected and lubed it Saturday. Oh well, it is what it is. Of course this happens the week it's supposed to be beautiful outside. Looks like I'll be staring out the window waiting for the UPS truck.

 

[jelo]

Update! - that clip-link disappeared along with the safety-wire - AND sadly, it's replacement link and safety-wire on the next ride - - That the chain link didn't fail entirely on me in the middle of no-where - I don't even know what to say?!?

~$100 bucks for the DID Chain tool - which works great - and some rivet links . . . be careful what people tell you that they've done that has worked.

 

[rippin209]

UPDATE: I replaced the chain at the time I replaced the gears and used the clip-link supplied with the chain - a friend said they work fine, that's what he does. Somewhere along the way on my FIRST ride after, the 'clip' disappeared - it was ~200 mile ride and I only noticed it gone just before I got back home - no idea when it took flight?!? THANKFULLY!! the link was fully intact, just the 'clip' was gone. So I ordered some spare master links and did a little research.
RESULT: I cleaned the outer link plate, link pins and replacement 'clip' with rubbing alcohol, put Blue-Loctite on the mating faces of the outer link plate and clip link and reassembled, let it sit and set overnight. Then I did my best to safety-wire it. I tried to double wrap it with what I had on hand but wasn't happy with the results, so it's just single wrapped.
View attachment 29349

I had the rivet chain link but removed a link to shorten my chain and only had the clip type left, I used the write truck and still lost the clip in two days. Reinforced the idea clips suck