Chain Riveting Tool?

[Guest]

I just almost changed out the chain & sprockets on my wife's GSF1200S. I bought an RK530 xring chain and the guy at the parts counter told me it came with a clip type master link. I should have known better, it has a rivet type master link. So now I have everything installed except I can't finish because I don't own a rivet tool.
I looked on the Dennis Kirk website and found one for $99.00! The price seems steep but what else can I do?

[Anonymous]

If you look at the other links, you will note that the ends of the pins are peened some. You can put your masterlink clip on with the ends sticking through and put the chain up against something to brace it and use a punch to stake the sides of the pins using a hammer. This works pretty well. You will now have an endless chain and will need to remove the wheel to fit it over the countershaft sprocket and then fit the rear sprocket through it to reassemble. If you don't like this method, you can always buy a master link from a bike store next week that has a slip on clip.

[Pillage]

Thanks George, Good suggestions.
I just talked to a local shop and they told me to come down, spend $6 for a clip style master link, then if I want ride the bike there with the rivet master link in my pocket and they would rivet it on for a few bucks. Sounds like a good idea to me, I wish I had thought of it first!

[rphillips]

Beware buying master links, If you have a 8000 lb. 530 chain & install a 4000 lb master link, then how strong is your chain? Beware of the new D.I.D. rivet type master links. You will need a special D.I.D. riveting tool for them, the southeast region distributor is near me, but told me they didn't know how I could get one. They did say if I would bring my chain & link to them, they would use the one rivet tool they had & rivet it for me. I paid $66 for a universal riveting tool from J.C. Whitney. Works great on all master links except the new D.I.D.

[jimcor]

The last time I checked the JC Whitney and the Dennis Kirk tools were the same product, made by MotionPro.

You usually need a little chain press to install the side plate on the master link. Another $20.

[Anonymous]

It is possible to tap the side plate on with a small drift and hammer...

[rphillips]

Yes, a small socket, slightly larger than the pins works pretty good. Be sure you sure you work back & forth between the 2 pins.

[skreemer]

www.kneedraggers.com sells the motion pro rivet tool with the chain press plates and all the riveting tips for 78$. I was told by my local Honda shop that this should work just fine on the D.I.D. chain... What does the special tool do differently?

This scares me a bit because I just put a brand new D.I.D. O-ring chain on my bike and have done about 700 miles on it. I haven't noticed a problem yet and physically inspect it about every time I get home now since I destroyed my last chain...

[fastpakr]

Use a combination of sockets and C-clamps to press the side plates on, then lay the chain on its side and peen the master link rivet properly.