Chain Replacement - did it.

[nikux]

Hey guys, just wanted to share with gstwin.com, my joy of changing the drive chain. Mine was the OEM chain so has to remove the tires and the swing arm. I must say, athough not so much technically challenging, it was the most physically exhaustive job I have ever done on my motorcycle. A couple of things that helped me.

1. It can be useful to get the exhaust out of the way. The rear calipers come off easy, but the might swing arm nuts do not yield easily and more working space helped.

2. I also had removed the right side (brake side) leg gaurd.

3. The manual says to remove the shock rods and the shock level. I think removing them is unnecessary. I realized this when with all my energy and the basic tools,  I was not able to loosen the nut joining  swing arm to the shock rods. Instead, just removing the nut that joins the shock rods to the shock lever was sufficient to tilt the swing arm and create space for the old chain to come out and new chain to go in.

4. Tying the swing arm and the rear calipers to the main body was a useful thing to do.

All in all a good day spent.

[scottpA_GS]

 

You removed the whole rear end to put a chain on

Wow... 

All you have to do is put it on the center stand, cut off the old chain and put on the new w/ a master link 

You shouldn't even need to take the wheel off 


Or are you saying the new chain was OEM and therefore no Masterlink ? in that case...


Great job 

[dgyver]

Aftermarket replacement chain + clip (or rivet) master link = much easier 

[ohgood]

Yep, sounds like something I'd do.

Yesterday I changed a starter on the truck when all I needed was to clean the corrosion off the connectors.

<shrug> I'm a slow learner.

[galahs]

Even if it was a non-masterlink OEM type chain, isn't all you'd have to do is take the rear wheel wheel and sprocket cover off???

[gsJack]

Chain goes around the front of the swingarm so the swingarm must be removed  from frame or chain must be broken.

[nikux]

Yeah the OEM chain is a continuous one, so one has to remove the rear tire and the swing arm to install it. phew!

[Kerry]

Hey guys, just wanted to share with gstwin.com, my joy of changing the drive chain.

Thanks for sharing! 

3. The manual says to remove the shock rods and the shock level. I think removing them is unnecessary. [...] just removing the nut that joins the shock rods to the shock lever was sufficient to tilt the swing arm and create space for the old chain to come out and new chain to go in.

Thanks for the tip, too.

[sledge]

Even if it was a non-masterlink OEM type chain, isn't all you'd have to do is take the rear wheel wheel and sprocket cover off???

If you are replacing the chain with a cut-length and a clip or masterlink the cover doesnt have to come off. Hook it onto the end of the old chain and just pull it round, it will engage on the sprocket on its own without help.

Each to their own and circumstances dictate but I favour endless chains, ok fitting them means more work but its what I enjoy doing with my freetime and it gives you a chance to inspect the shock, inspect and regrease all the needle roller bearings in the pivots and linkages and get everything under there clean.......plus, if there is no clip in the chain......... it cant break or fall out.

Another tip:..... The bolts that hold the lever and linkage together are the 2nd tightest you will find anywhere on the the bike at 100 newts`max (thats about 70lb/ft in old money). If you are taking them out slacken them all off before the rear wheel is removed and while the bike is still stable. Otherwise you might swing on the ratchet/spanner/breaker a bit too hard while its propped up and watch the bike take a tumble onto the deck as a result.

[scottpA_GS]

.......plus, if there is no clip in the chain......... it cant break or fall out.

WRONG!

Its less likely to break but it still can. 

[sledge]

Hahah we will have to agree to disagree on this one, there are plenty of bikers out there inc` me who have had a clip break on them and there is plenty of evidence to say it can and does happen. There are even some good pics of a broken one in the Gstwin gallery.
After the cost and inconvenience involved when mine failed, I wasnt on the GS5 BTW it was a CBX550f2  and I was 200 miles from home, it was a Sunday back in about 1988 way before mobile phones were commonplace I simply refused to use one ever again if I could at all avoid it and 20 years later I am still doing it.....but as I said......its each to their own and people are free to make their own choice on the issue.
Some people swear by them, some people swear at them, I am one of the latter 

BTW...you dont often see clips on engine-timing chains.

[ohgood]

Hahah we will have to agree to disagree on this one, there are plenty of bikers out there inc` me who have had a clip break on them and there is plenty of evidence to say it can and does happen.
After the cost and inconvenience involved when mine failed, I wasnt on the GS5 BTW it was a CBX550f2  and I was 200 miles from home, it was a Sunday back in about 1988 way before mobile phones were commonplace I simply refused to use one ever again if I could at all avoid it and 20 years later I am still doing it.....but as I said......its each to their own and people are free to make their own choice on the issue.
Some people swear by them, some people swear at them, I am one of the latter 

BTW...you dont often see clips on engine-timing chains.

Timing chains are bathed in filtered, recirculated oil, and hopefully never know what water or sand is. The torque applied to them is a fraction that of a motorcycle final drive chain, and only momentary. The constant torque is very low, provided the cam shaft hasn't embedded itself in the head.

Motorcycle drive chains are exposed to sand, salt, water, rocks, and road debris. They have to withstand constant changing torque loads. They're poorly maintained generally, and usually show signs of evil rust.

The only reason for replacing a timing chain is not for wear, but because guides and tensioners that hug it warmly and keep it from slapping have been spent.

Not wanting to use a clip is cool, but comparing a timing chain to an exposed motorcycle chain as far as clip vs riveted is just wild man. Wild !

[sledge]

Hahah we will have to agree to disagree on this one, there are plenty of bikers out there inc` me who have had a clip break on them and there is plenty of evidence to say it can and does happen.
After the cost and inconvenience involved when mine failed, I wasnt on the GS5 BTW it was a CBX550f2  and I was 200 miles from home, it was a Sunday back in about 1988 way before mobile phones were commonplace I simply refused to use one ever again if I could at all avoid it and 20 years later I am still doing it.....but as I said......its each to their own and people are free to make their own choice on the issue.
Some people swear by them, some people swear at them, I am one of the latter 

BTW...you dont often see clips on engine-timing chains.

Timing chains are bathed in filtered, recirculated oil, and hopefully never know what water or sand is. The torque applied to them is a fraction that of a motorcycle final drive chain, and only momentary. The constant torque is very low, provided the cam shaft hasn't embedded itself in the head.

Motorcycle drive chains are exposed to sand, salt, water, rocks, and road debris. They have to withstand constant changing torque loads. They're poorly maintained generally, and usually show signs of evil rust.

The only reason for replacing a timing chain is not for wear, but because guides and tensioners that hug it warmly and keep it from slapping have been spent.

Not wanting to use a clip is cool, but comparing a timing chain to an exposed motorcycle chain as far as clip vs riveted is just wild man. Wild !

Errrrmmm........tend to disagree...lets get techie...

Chains transmit torque, from one shaft to another via sprockets but they are not subject to the forces that torque generates and that a shaft would be subject to ie. twisting and shearing. Chains are subject to stress only in the form of tension due in turn to mechanial loading, thats the engine pulling it one way.....and overcoming the inertia required to get parts moving, thats overcoming the mass of the bike and its rider and getting the wheel moving, which is why they stretch in use. Oil and constant tensioning will never reduce the amount of tension a chain has to transmit nor will it reduce the amount of tension it will be under. It will however prolong its life by reducing friction and wear within its moving parts. Timing chains are subject to the same shock and cyclic loads that drive chains are, they are moving at different rates, accelerating masses and are subject to inertial loads when masses de-accelerate.

Manufacturers and Design Engineers avoid clip type masterlinks at all costs whenever possible, because they know they are potential failure points. The very slight clearance between the pins and the side plate on the clip side allows the pins to move apart slighty when the chain is under tension, this leads to the side plate on the opposite side flexing by a tiny amount, over many cycles and subject to other factors such as temprature and the make up of the steel, stress fractures form and the plate ultimately fails.

When it comes to this subject there are two types of bikers....those that use clips and masterlinks and have never had an issue with them, call them group A thats where you are.
Then there is group B, those that have had a link fail on them and wont use them again....thats me.
When someone in group A loses a link ( it does happen, google "snapped masterlink" and see how many returns you get) and , is stranded miles from anywhere in the pouring rain, gets a lump smashed out of the crankcase or locks the rear wheel up at high-speed and skids down the blacktop on their ass for 100yrds they tend afterwards to rapidly move into group B. Over the years I have seen many people move from A to B, but the strange thing is I have never seen anyone go from B to A.

If you think links are safe, reliable and dont fail.....take a look at this, note its the fixed sideplate thats failed.

http://gstwins.com/photogallery/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=113

As I said earlier, each to their own and its your choice.

[ohgood]

ok, i read your reply again, since it was linked to in another thread.

that's an interesting bit about group A vs group B. i may just transition myself, but have been doing well for a few thousand miles on a clip master now.

this picture you linked to:


is really interesting. what makes it interesting to me? the gunky pins, the fact that it wasn't the slip link that failed, and the fact that there are no ROLLERS on that master :|

that last bit seem odd to you too ?





(sorry for the thread revival)

[Paulcet]

Rollers may have been removed before bringing it into the house for the picture.