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stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 1:41 am
by Rob Newman
I was adjusting my drive chain tonight after I noticed it slapping a
bit when riding home from work today, and in order to get the proper
amount of play, I had to turn the adjuster nuts in all the way in to
where they couldn't hardly be turned any more. Also the aligment
notches on the wheel where about 1.5mm past the last notch on the
swing arm. The chain was cold too so I'm guessing when warm it would
even stretch out a little bit more. The bike is a 98 with 15k miles
on it and am pretty sure it's the OEM chain.. so do O-ring chains
stretch in their old age? do people shorten them by removing links
over the life of the chain? (sounds dumb to me, but what the hey) or
is a new one in my near future?
stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 2:03 am
by Keith Saltzer
1.5 mm past the last notch? Holy crap man, buy a new chain.
By the way, chains do not "stretch". They are made of steel. The
steel wears a little bit on each and every pin and roller, and then
the chain slack needs to be taken up. Thats why lubing it is so
important. A well lubed chain wears very slowly, and thus does not
need adjusted as often.
If you have the stock gearing on there, 15 front, 43 rear, and you
have the right size chain, (106 links I think), then get a new chain,
lube it often and be happy.
Chains also have a "wear life" or service limit. You measure a
certain amount of links, looking for a measurement that is between
the limits. You can find that info in your owners manuel or service
manuel.
MrMoose
A8 (Barbie and Ken special)
--- In
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Rob Newman"
wrote:
> I was adjusting my drive chain tonight after I noticed it slapping
a
> bit when riding home from work today, and in order to get the
proper
> amount of play, I had to turn the adjuster nuts in all the way in
to
> where they couldn't hardly be turned any more. Also the aligment
> notches on the wheel where about 1.5mm past the last notch on the
> swing arm. The chain was cold too so I'm guessing when warm it
would
> even stretch out a little bit more. The bike is a 98 with 15k miles
> on it and am pretty sure it's the OEM chain.. so do O-ring chains
> stretch in their old age? do people shorten them by removing links
> over the life of the chain? (sounds dumb to me, but what the hey)
or
> is a new one in my near future?
stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 9:58 am
by Apex
< " was adjusting my drive chain tonight after I noticed it slapping a
bit when riding home from work today, and in order to get the proper
amount of play, I had to turn the adjuster nuts in all the way in to
where they couldn't hardly be turned any more. Also the aligment
notches on the wheel where about 1.5mm past the last notch on the
swing arm. The chain was cold too so I'm guessing when warm it would
even stretch out a little bit more. The bike is a 98 with 15k miles
on it and am pretty sure it's the OEM chain.. so do O-ring chains
stretch in their old age? do people shorten them by removing links
over the life of the chain? (sounds dumb to me, but what the hey) or
http://www.chainoiler.co.uk/ which not only lubes
the chain but flings off all the crud
so now I never need to clean the chain (my chain is cleaner now than when I
scrubbed it with kerosene prior
to fitting the oiler) I just need to wipe off the wheel rim on occaison and
it's never needed adjustment since
I started using the oiler.
Fred J
stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 10:09 am
by Keith Saltzer
Hey, your the first person that I have heard of on this list that is
using the Loobman. After looking at everything out there, deciding
that I want to use Gear oil to lube my chain, not wanting to pay $150
for a Scottoiler, and then hearing/reading about the Loobman, I
decided that that was the way to go for me.
How do you like that thing? How often are you giving the bottle a
squeeze and what are you putting in the bottle? And where did you
get it?
MrMoose
A8 (Barbie and Ken special)
--- In
DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Apex" wrote:
> < " was adjusting my drive chain tonight after I noticed it
slapping a
> bit when riding home from work today, and in order to get the proper
> amount of play, I had to turn the adjuster nuts in all the way in to
> where they couldn't hardly be turned any more. Also the aligment
> notches on the wheel where about 1.5mm past the last notch on the
> swing arm. The chain was cold too so I'm guessing when warm it would
> even stretch out a little bit more. The bike is a 98 with 15k miles
> on it and am pretty sure it's the OEM chain.. so do O-ring chains
> stretch in their old age? do people shorten them by removing links
> over the life of the chain? (sounds dumb to me, but what the hey) or
>
> The idea of chains stretching is a misnomer, the wear of the
pins etc
> makes the chain longer
> drive chains are nothing to mess with once they're shot, serious
> consequences arise when the chain
> jumps the sprocket or parts, like the rear wheel locking up at
speed etc.
>
> Your chain sounds like it's beyond toast, replace it and both
sprockets
> ASAP. If you take a close look
> at the sprockets you'll see the wear, if you put a new chain on worn
> sprockets that chain will not really
> work as it should and it'll wear out prematurely.
>
> O Ring chains last longer than a standard chain because as long as
the O
> rings are intact the innards are lubricated
> but you still need to clean, lube and adjust the chain religiously
or end up
> spending $$$ and have the hassle of
> changing chains and sprockets.
>
> I'm not a big fan of changing out chains and sprockets so I
replaced mine
> with an X ring and used Suntour sprockets which are a very hard
steel alloy
> and fitted a chain oiler, I used the ridiculously cheap ($ 27.00
incl.
> shipping) Loobman oiler
http://www.chainoiler.co.uk/ which not
only lubes
> the chain but flings off all the crud
> so now I never need to clean the chain (my chain is cleaner now
than when I
> scrubbed it with kerosene prior
> to fitting the oiler) I just need to wipe off the wheel rim on
occaison and
> it's never needed adjustment since
> I started using the oiler.
> Fred J
stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 10:17 am
by Lujo Bauer
Another alternative is the HawkeOiler. Even though I don't use it all
that much these days, I wouldn't trade mine for either a Scottoiler or a
Loobman.
-Lujo
Keith Saltzer wrote:
> Hey, your the first person that I have heard of on this list that is
> using the Loobman. After looking at everything out there, deciding
> that I want to use Gear oil to lube my chain, not wanting to pay $150
> for a Scottoiler, and then hearing/reading about the Loobman, I
> decided that that was the way to go for me.
>
> How do you like that thing? How often are you giving the bottle a
> squeeze and what are you putting in the bottle? And where did you
> get it?
>
>
> MrMoose
> A8 (Barbie and Ken special)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
stretched chain?
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 11:05 am
by Dave Watkins
On August 21, 2003 01:00 am, Keith Saltzer wrote:
> 1.5 mm past the last notch? Holy crap man, buy a new chain.
>
>
> Chains also have a "wear life" or service limit. You measure a
> certain amount of links, looking for a measurement that is between
> the limits. You can find that info in your owners manuel or service
> manuel.
>
El Krokko sells a "Go No-Go" gauge for a very minimal price. If the gauge pins
fit snugly it's fine if the chain is loose it's time to replace. See Big C's
website for info.
--
Cheers,
Dave Watkins Voice: 403-701-5746
Abacus Technologies Fax: 403-266-0626
dave@...
http://www.davewatkins.net
"For all your hardware, software and networking needs"
arai sales nklr
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 12:37 pm
by E T
As a new owner who's currently getting all the stuff to personalize my KLR, I've got to disagree with Gino and put Great Value at the top of the list. With the KLR and other (older) bikes that I've had, the mechanic never saw it until inspection, so the only service the shop provided was getting/having parts on hand. Maybe it's different with other bikes/customers but to me attitude and service are the same thing. My dealer would never lose or haggle over the sale of a can of chain lube, we're only talking 5 bucks here. My dealer also wouldn't have to haggle over the price of the tires if the cost were not significantly more in his shop than the price of the tires and shipping and inconvenience of waiting for them to be sent from a mailorder warehouse. I know that bending a price on one thing to one customer starts a slippery slope, but it also is a show of good faith to the customer that you're willing to work with him. I mean, if you're not willing to work with the customer
why should he be willing to work with you? I think you've got the right idea in offering value added benefits but flexibility on higher dollar purchases is a lot more tangible and immediate. And, speaking of tangible, I think most of us would rather buy the item we've got in our hands than order it from a catalog, all things being equal, so I don't know where this idea of "catalogs are better" comes from.
At any rate, if Arai changed they're selling practices to help keep the local shops in business, I might just be willing to give them my cash. As my grandfather used to say, "it's just like buying a $100 saddle for a $10 horse", only this time it's my head!
Eric
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