At what point is it dangerous to be a slacker?

[fuzzymemory]

So I pulled up alongside an early model GSXr on my afternoon ride.  As we were stopped at a light, I noticed that his chain was so loose, it was draped down over the rear sproket and resting on the swingarm.  When the light changed, he pulled away and it rose about 3" from the tension.  How dangerous is it to have so much chain slack?  The first thing I did when I got home was check my SV's slack  

[JamesG]

Pretty dangerous.

It wouldn't take much (stiff breeze?) for that chain to come off, jam the sprocket hub and lock up the rear wheel.

I've seen chail failures on race bikes and it an't pretty...

[Lars]

the chain can also snap when he pulls up. The engine winds up the chain until it's tight. This will give a huge shock to the chain wich could snap it.  (Chances are that the chain is pretty worn when it drags so much).

[pizzleboy]

I was showing my (then) GF how to ride her bike.  I was lazy and hadn't tighned the chain in a bit.  She ended up dumping while stying to do a slow speed corner.  The chain fell off, and I had to push the stupid F'N bike about 6 blocks.

I had chain goop all over my hands, so I had to put my socks on as gloves so I could push the bike home.

TIGHTEN YOUR DAMNED CHAIN!!

[The Buddha]

No throw away your chain and switch to belt drive...I am doing this mod but wont be much use to any one else cos I am using a ninja 600 rear wheel and vulcan 800 scootworks.com pulleys.
Cool.
Srinath.

[JasonB]

All I gotta say is Buel Blast...ask those owners about belts.

[john]

My chain was so loose that when I tried a wheelie from standstill it skipped in the sprocket -now that was not good.  A 1000 can really stretch a chain fast.

[pantablo]

A 1000 can really stretch a chain fast.

So can a squid.
:nana:

[Blueknyt]

ok, i have to change lower engine case due to chain jumping, the chain bunched up behind front sprocet cover braking clutch pushrode, sproket cover,and bending shifter shaft, when shaft bent it knocked a chunk of the lower case out and leaks around the shifter seal now. i was lucky, it could have totaly ruined both cases.  As to belt, heheh, lets see 90$ for a used one that could break without warning. verses a new cheap chain for 40$  chain can be put on in 5 mins or less, belt requires the removal of the swingarm pivot, rear wheel,and atleast one shock(if equiped with 2) pullys do wear out faster then sprokets and are more expensive.

[The Buddha]

OK... is that why you want to get rid of the 440's belt parts...I should prolly shut it right here... cos I stand to benefit but I never have put personal gain above information propogation...so here goes...
The very first KZ440 I ever saw had 68,000 miles on it and the motor was right about shot but it still had its original belt and pulleys. The 33mm belt was designed and built in 1980 or so. Then I owned a savage which had a 36mm belt with same design as the KZ...and it had 1500 miles when I bought it and had 15,000 when I sold it...and it never needed anything but checking the tension. Of course I re tensioned it once when I pulled the rear wheel to fit a tire. But I believe it was in near about the same tension as before. I have seen savages with 60K miles...that have many issues (like starter gear breaking off, oil leaking form the head, exhaust leaks etc etc) but nothing with belt or pulleys. Belts dont break wihtout warning...They will skip teeth before they break, and to solve that you need to run it tighter...and usually if even that is inadequate you will shear off teeth before it breaks and it will let you get home with some gentle riding...unlike a chain...you will hopefully know where it is too tight and take it seriously and solve it.
Harley's do have belt trouble...but usually their owners are morons and their dealers dont believe in free information. They put in higher compression pistons, or higher lift cams and big bore kits and hope to get by with the belt that was built for the same 60hp...and then blame the belt. Now Blasts have design issues and I believe they used a timing belt type belt to transmit power. In the last few years belt tech has grown by a huge leap...Gates poly chain GT2 in 8mm pitch and 21mm width will more than do for our bikes...why...Vulcan 800's use the same thing. Those make more power and torque. A 1 inch wide belt will probably be able to transmit 100hp and 100 ftlbs if used with a 40 tooth front and 100 rear in a 14 mm pitch. That's what they put on the Buell Lightning. The older 1.5 inch or 1.25 inch belts on the KZ's will last forever and so do their pulleys. Anyway I agree on the shocks and swingarm issue though but GS swingarm is easy to pull. They have put the Gates Poly chain GT2 on the big yamaha cruiser...road warrior or some like that...the big push rod V-twin motor they make. That bike is like 600+lbs and makes close to 100 ft lbs and 100hp or some like that. BTW torque is what is hard on it...Power makes no diff in actuality. BTW the Buell Blast also has crappy suspension...which actually makes a big diff in belt reliability. On the GS the suspension is crappy only if you are over 150lbs...so switch to Kat shocks or GSXR ones if heavier and you should be good. I would also cut/weld louvers to let air in the sproket cover so it doesn't heat up. have an out board bearing to make sure the front pulley dont slide off the shaft, and use only dual flanged pulleys (unlike the blast) and a pair of guides on the top and bottom...all of which have to be hand made. You may also need to make swingarm mods (probably not... but just in case) to fit the pulley right. The belt drive will be really better than chain when I am done with it.
Cool.
Srinath.

[JasonB]

You would also never be able to fit a wider wheel or tire on the bike without it rubbing the belt. And wider wheel is where the tire choices are at!

[Blueknyt]

no srinath, plz, you like it, its yours. i just mentioned the things that "I" dont like about belt.  some folks have broken chains, or had them come off alot, i have had one chain jump on me and that was my own stupidity or so i thought.

found out that with my clutch mod, and better rear tire, the chain adjusting plates on the swingarm are too weak and bend, this allows the axle to shift letting slack into the chain as well as chicken the wheel, Today i moded the plates and they wont bent anymore even if im pushing 100hp but im gonna design a better lookin set.  


anyway, i dont change chains often, unless its the one already on when i get a bike. i have yet to wear out a chain and i put some miles on my bikes.

Anyway, you got what i want, i got what you want, you can put up with belt, i can put up with chain, everybody is happy yes?