Noob replacing first chain

[Azimuth]

Started off to work a couple nights ago and as I was rolling through a stop sign on my little country road, I found vrooooom, but didn’t go! I discovered I had thrown my chain. I’m guessing I am very lucky as this could have been very dangerous. I got the chain back on and limped her home.

This morning I found that I am out of adjustment so, I’m guessing I need to replace some things. I can do the research here as to brands and all so I won’t open that can of beans, but what is a must replace? Should replacement? And might replace.

Please keep in mind, this is a 2013 manual with just over 12k miles and I have stretched to the max (all original).

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. Happy to still see many of the same names around. Thanks again to everyone!

Jason

 

[davidc83]

The chain required for the 2013 manual is a 520 with 114 links. Check your sprockets to ensure they are good; if not replace. I have 45,000 miles on my 2013 manual and I have replaced the front sprocket (only to see how to do, still got the original which I will use as a replacement when needed); still have the original back sprocket which still looks good. I have a new spare when needed. Should sprockets be replaced at chain replacement is same kind of question as which oil to use, which we will not get into...Your call, your decision.
If you ran out of adjustment at 12,000 miles on oem chain, make sure you are not overtightening the new chain when you get it installed. The manual states/shows proper slack in chain and where to measure the slack (might be on the swingarm too-don't remember as I know what it is and haven't needed to look for a very long time); over tightening can damage the front sprocket spindle (or whatever they call it) and cause the chain to stretch prematurity.

 

[StratTuner]

I use [THIS] chain - (DID 520VX2GB-114 Gold X-Ring Chain
and [THIS] rivet link - (D.I.D Rivet Connecting Link)
[THIS] front sprocket - (JT Sprockets JTF1373.16 16-Tooth Steel Front Countershaft Sprocket)
and [THIS] rear sprocket. - (JT Sprockets JTR1303.43 43T Steel Rear Sprocket)

I get about 10K on each chain.

Must Replace???
You must replace the chain, but I note that all goes well if I replace the sprockets every OTHER chain. (every 20K miles)

NB:
Loosen the nuts on the REAR sprocket BEFORE you take the rear wheel off. It's much easier.

Chain slack:

• find the middle point between front/rear sprocket.
• hook the end of a tape measure on to the chain, hold it place with thumb.
• put tape measure BODY on the ground
• push chain down, holding tape measure on chain
• take reading from where the tape measure goes in to the tape measure body
• push chain up as far as you can
• take reading
• distance between two readings should be 3.5 centimeters

I've taken the slack reading that way with kickstand down and on center stand. I note that there seems no difference between the two. Measure both enough times until you are confident that it is the same or it's not. Make up your own mind.

 

[b_rubenstein]

Sprockets should be changed if they are worn. The chain and sprockets rotate counter clock wise, so wear will appear on the left hand side of the counter shaft sprocket teeth and the right hand side of the rear sprocket teeth. Wear appears as cupping where material has worn away. Having a chain wear out at 10k miles is indicative of lack of lubrication on the chain. Chains are made of side plates, pins, bushings and rollers. without adequate lubrication the moving parts make contact and wear away. I have over 21k miles on my NC. Still on the original chain that's still in the green adjustment area, and original sprockets. While I don't ride in the dirt, I do long, high speed touring, even in the rain, but lube the chain at least once a day and never over tighten the chain.

 

[phoenix02]

I must be doing something horribly wrong with this bike. I get 5K out of my chains. I must be over tightening and the swingarm pivot must be way out of concentricty with the front sprocket. I've had 30 bikes over my 50 yrs of riding and never had to once replace a chain. I'm not anal about lubrication. I got the best tensile strength chain I could find when I replaced this the last time. Still, the chain gets sloppy in a month.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I must be doing something horribly wrong with this bike. I get 5K out of my chains. I must be over tightening and the swingarm pivot must be way out of concentricty with the front sprocket. I've had 30 bikes over my 50 yrs of riding and never had to once replace a chain. I'm not anal about lubrication. I got the best tensile strength chain I could find when I replaced this the last time. Still, the chain gets sloppy in a month.

Chains and sprockets are a consumable item. They will wear out sooner or later. I'm not that good to my chains and get 10- 15K miles on them.

 

[670cc]

I must be doing something horribly wrong with this bike. I get 5K out of my chains. I must be over tightening and the swingarm pivot must be way out of concentricty with the front sprocket. I've had 30 bikes over my 50 yrs of riding and never had to once replace a chain. I'm not anal about lubrication. I got the best tensile strength chain I could find when I replaced this the last time. Still, the chain gets sloppy in a month.

I get around 18,000 miles out of an NC700 chain (17 from a stock chain, 18.5 from a DID VX2), and I don’t lube or clean it much. I do keep it adjusted on the very loose end of the spec. If I take a 2000 mile trip I don’t bother to lube it until I get home.

Top reasons I can think of for short chain life is over cleaning, especially by using a brush and/or harsh solvents, or running it too tight. We had a poster on here once whose chain was shot at 3000 miles, but it appeared he had destroyed it by cleaning it way too often with a brush and solvents. The o-rings were destroyed.

You can use an inexpensive Motion Pro chain alignment tool to see if you have an alignment issue.

Also, what is your definition of a worn chain? Is it at the end of the adjustment range? Does it have one tight link, so it’s declared done, or does it have 20 tight links before you declare it finished?

 

[summitx]

I must be doing something horribly wrong with this bike. I get 5K out of my chains. I must be over tightening and the swingarm pivot must be way out of concentricty with the front sprocket. I've had 30 bikes over my 50 yrs of riding and never had to once replace a chain. I'm not anal about lubrication. I got the best tensile strength chain I could find when I replaced this the last time. Still, the chain gets sloppy in a month.

My guess is your sprockets are worn. I always replace sprockets with the chain. If not both at least the front. When your old chain stretched it opens up the teeth to the stretched link length. A new chain has almost no option but to quickly stretch to this. Change every 5000 and the sprockets would likely last forever given good lube. Let the chain stretch to max and you likely won't get off without new sprockets.

For the op I wonder if your axel is tight? Even a loose chain does not come off unless you have an alignment issue.

 

[phoenix02]

I'm having to adjust once a month due to sloppy loose. At this rate, I'll be a the end of the adjustment by the end of the summer. I'll start to run it much looser than I have been.

I think I bought a DID last time. I never clean mine either. I put oil can oil on it, like all my other chains. the last chain had several binding links before it got to the end of the range.

 

[T S N]

I replace front sprock when it shows wear.
I have a manual chain oiler, and lube every time I fill the gas tank. Usually get 20,000 miles on a chain. Only clear with a rag and silicone lube spray.
Chain oil is 50/50 ATF and gear lube.

 

[670cc]

My guess is your sprockets are worn. I always replace sprockets with the chain. If not both at least the front. When your old chain stretched it opens up the teeth to the stretched link length. A new chain has almost no option but to quickly stretch to this. Change every 5000 and the sprockets would likely last forever given good lube. Let the chain stretch to max and you likely won't get off without new sprockets.

For the op I wonder if your axel is tight? Even a loose chain does not come off unless you have an alignment issue.

Your sprocket explanation caused me to think more deeply on this subject. My initial conclusion: If the driving edges of the front sprocket teeth all wear evenly, the pitch between sprocket teeth is still the same. The only way for the sprocket pitch to increase, to match the increased chain pitch (due to pin wear), is for the sprocket to grow in size, which is unlikely. So what would have to happen is the rollers of the stretched chain would be positioned differently the across the contact region arc of the worn sprocket, with the rollers against the leading edge of the tooth on one end of the arc, and the trailing edge of the tooth at the other end of the arc. Another view is that the chain would need to start riding higher up on the sides of the teeth.

Here’s another odd, but irrelevant thought. When the chain pins wear, the overall chain length increases when it’s under tension. But if you were to try to compress the worn chain, it would be shorter overall than the original length. Of course, the chain never operates under compression, so that phenomenon would not come into play.

Nonetheless, the sprocket teeth not matching the chain roller spacing is not the ideal situation. My sprockets showed no visible wear at 37,000 miles so I’d guess , in my case, with average chain maintenance they should be good for 50,000 miles before they would affect chain life. Your mileage may vary.

 

[rippin209]

I must be doing something horribly wrong with this bike. I get 5K out of my chains. I must be over tightening and the swingarm pivot must be way out of concentricty with the front sprocket. I've had 30 bikes over my 50 yrs of riding and never had to once replace a chain. I'm not anal about lubrication. I got the best tensile strength chain I could find when I replaced this the last time. Still, the chain gets sloppy in a month.

Out of alignment or over tonight is the only thing I can think of that would kill a chain that quickly.
I didn't get the rear sprocket and the chain lined up properly on my second chain and had a D.I.D. VX2 stretched and done with less then 5,000 miles.

Using a automatic chain oiler and pepper tension and alignment I've gotten 28,000 miles out of the exact same chain

 

[showkey]

These chain and sprockets threads are similar to oil. This early and often chain replacement started early in this forums life and continues.

Sorry but replacing the chain at every 5000 miles to save the sprockets is just short of ridiculous.
Maybe it’s time to repost the judgement Criteria of chain and sprocket wear again. There are numerous pull tests and measurement techniques to judge the chain.

As mentioned it’s not difficult or unusual to get 10-30k on a chain and many replace the sprockets every other chain. That means sprockets can easily go 20-60k. miles.

 

[StratTuner]

... and many replace the sprockets every other chain.

'Delighted to hear riders I respect think it's OK to change sprockets every OTHER chain.
After reading all this, I think I'll go a little on the LOOSE side of 3.5 cm play...right now, I go a little tight.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I'm in the same camp as 670cc. I don't neglect the chain but I rarely give it a good cleaning and I never use brushes. My chains always outlast my tires so over 14K but I usually change it at the same time for convenience sake. I change the sprockets every other chain. I usually buy the D.I.D package deal and my last two chain came with both the "rivet link" and the "master link clip". The last two chains I have just went ahead and used the master clip link with no issues. Makes it so much easier the next time when it comes to changing the chain.

 

[Azimuth]

Update:
Thanks to everyone for the tips. I have successfully replaced both sprockets and the chain. In evaluating the original parts, both sprocket were pretty badly worn and the chain was loose like a snake. Probably 2/3 of the o-rings were missing, many were in the side cover near front sprocket. I’m sure that chain adjustment played a huge factor in the early lose of this chain, though others have commented on the shortish life of there original. I used a pro-motion alignment tool this time and was surprised as to how far my alignment was off by “eyeballing” it. Likely had been off for awhile. Also, having never adjusted a chain before, I was likely 2/3 through the chain life before I started making adjustments. That was sometime after the first tire change and had likely run extra loose for a long time. Thanks again to the support of forum members.
Jason

 

[rippin209]

Glad to hear it worked out.

With tires chain and battery in good working order your unlikely to run into problems on your NC.

 

[Hondo53]

Get a Motobriiz automatic chain oiler that fits neatly under the back seat and put a $30 JT racing chain with NO O-rings on it. O-rings work against you if you have an oiler by keeping oil out of the interior of the chain. The chain and the oiler cost about the same as an x-ring chain and the chain will last longer IMHO. After that you save $60 to $80 bucks each chain change.
PS. After the original lube in a ring chain is gone its gone. Then external lube does almost nothing because that lube is held out by the rings. Especially chain wax! It sits outside and does nothing but prevent exterior rust. Think about it.
Carefree and Clean Operation- Motobriiz Motorcycle Chain Oilers

 

[showkey]

General consensus says other wise on oring vs no oring chain........If you do think about, don’t damage the orings, clean lightly and only oil enough to keep rust away. But these discussions Hashed and rehashed here and every other forum....similar to engine oil

O-ring Chain vs Non O-ring | MotoSport

Drive Chains: O Ring/ X Ring Vs Non-O Ring Standard Chains >> BikesMedia.in

 

[summitx]

Update:
Thanks to everyone for the tips. I have successfully replaced both sprockets and the chain. In evaluating the original parts, both sprocket were pretty badly worn and the chain was loose like a snake. Probably 2/3 of the o-rings were missing, many were in the side cover near front sprocket. I’m sure that chain adjustment played a huge factor in the early lose of this chain, though others have commented on the shortish life of there original. I used a pro-motion alignment tool this time and was surprised as to how far my alignment was off by “eyeballing” it. Likely had been off for awhile. Also, having never adjusted a chain before, I was likely 2/3 through the chain life before I started making adjustments. That was sometime after the first tire change and had likely run extra loose for a long time. Thanks again to the support of forum members.
Jason

Jason, you had some good luck there, gods were looking out for you. Many of us likely learned why you replace a chain by having one break under power and destroy an engine case.
I run on the loose side of the spec. I use 35 to 40mm in mid chain movement. I'm just north of you in Canada so kms but I just adjusted my chain for the first time (stock chain) at 18,740 km. Was way loose when adjusted, 70mm but was just time in my mind. Really having good luck with the wax chain lube. Never clean mine. Also watch your alignment. Always double check after you tighten the axel. Especially as things wear the alignment (and chain tension) will change as you tighten things up. Work with you adjusters and alignment tool a few times to get the best alignment.