This
is something we commonly forget to check,
so we will go through how to do this properly
as this is extremely important and should
be done on a regular basis. Many bikes will
suffer irreparable damage when a drive chain
fails. Need I mention that when your bike
blows a drive chain the chances are high that
it will knock a big hole in the crankcase
around the front sprocket, possibly lock the
rear wheel and send you for a ride/crash you
will not welcome.
With
that in mind it is always safer to just change
out a drive chain that is marginal. On our
bikes that we do the twistes with allot we
change the drive chain and sprockets with
each full season. These bikes see serious
drive line abuse so this is the price we must
pay for hooking power to the pavement.
First
we must understand the anatomy of a drive
chain. Drive chains are composed of inside
and outside link. Each inside link consists
of two plates, two bushings, and two rollers.
The outside link is connected to the inside
link and consists of two plates and two pins
that are riveted to the plates. Rear drive
chains are either endless or hooked together
with a master link. An endless chain is designed
to overcome the weak point that a master link
may produce. Some chains have O-rings placed
between the bushings and plates and pins and
plates so that each link has four O-rings
to hold in lubrication.
This
is meant to be a basic explanation of the
drive chain anatomy, naturally high performance
X-ring chains are different monsters.
Notice
in the above paragraph..LUBRICATION
is the word. For your drive chain to have
a decent service life it must be lubricated
on a regular basis. Some lubricate as often
as 1 tank of fuel = 1 lube the chain. Then
there are the extremes where some chains are
lucky to see lubrication once a season. If
you are only lubricating once a season then
you should be changing out your drive chain
and sprockets with the start of each season.
Drive
Chain Free play Adjustment:
This
should be set for approximately 3/4"
of an inch. If your chain is set too tight
it will wear at an accelerated rate as well
as wear out your sprockets quickly.
This
means when checking your chain tension adjustment
you should be able to pull and push on the
center of the chain and have no more than
3/4" deflection from the center line
either direction (up or down).
Another
quick inspection many miss is to check chain
to sprocket fit. At the rear sprocket grab
the chain that is on the sprocket and attempt
to lift it from the sprocket. You should not
be able to lift the chain more than 1/4 inch.
If you can it might be time to start looking
into changing you drive chain. I check this
twice a season to make sure nothing has worn
from being hard on my bike. This is something
that takes but a few seconds to do and can
save you lots of trouble.
When
ordering a replacement chain you should also
be ordering a set of sprockets to match. A
new chain on old sprockets will result in
problems with accelerated wear and possible
damage to the new chain. Never mix old with
new when changing these components on your
bike. Also this does not mean change out bad
for marginal garbage parts in groups. This
is very dangerous and with the relatively
low cost in drive chains it just doesn't make
any sense.
