Proactive drive chain replacement?

[HOPONPOP]

Hey all,

G'day (for you Aussies).

I was wondering this morning what happens when a drive chain breaks and if it's potentially bad (aside from possible being stranded somewhere way out in Bum-Fuk) do you long time riders replace the chain as a matter of routine maintenance? Can a broken chain at highway speeds cause big time damage to either the bike or the rider or adjacent motorists?

I searched for threads relating to this but didn't see what I was needing.

Thanks and please offer your comments.

[Calvin Blackmore]

I had a chain break once on a dirt bike

it broke the the engine case very nasty business.

[koolaid_kid]

Yes, it can cause significant damage. The least of which was mentioned in the prior post, breaking your case. It could potentially wrap itself around your wheel, sling off and hit someone else, etc.
The rule of thumb is when it approaches the end of the adjustment range, put another one on there.

[walt]

All I can add to the previous posts is. Replace both the chain and sprockets as a fresh unit.

[Nessism]

The best way to judge a chain is to measure the length between a specified number of pins (look in the manual for exact details). If the chain is elongated beyond the specification point, replace the chain. No sense in replacing more often than necessary. Sprocket life is more difficult to judge - or maybe not if you just replace the chain/sprockets as a set. If the chain is significantly elongated, the sprockets are sure to be junk. If you catch the chain right at the replacement point the sprockets may well have life left.

Hope this helps.

[isleoman]

To have an actual 630 drive chain break must be a pretty rare occurrence. When I ran 630 chains on my 1100 I would usually have to change them every 10K mikes just cause they got so clunky that I no longer enjoyed driving the bike. I'm sure I could have gone another 10K or more on each of those chains without having them break.

Having a master link clip come off is a much more common occurrence. Best way to prevent that is to do a quick pre-flight check everyday or better yet replace it with a rivet type link. I've had that happen twice to me and my buddy at work just had a brand new master link U clip break in half. If you are using a clip instead of a rivet link I would at a minimum wrap it with safety wire to prevent it from easily coming off.

Whats surprising to me is that 530 chains seem to last twice as long before they get unacceptably clunky. I regularly get over 20K out of DID ZVM2 chains on both my bikes. Don't know why, they just do. I don't over tighten them. Thats a sure way to reduce the life. I also lube every 400 miles or so with chain wax after cleaning with WD40 sprayed on a rag. Many people just use WD40 for both tasks (cleaning and lubing) I'm concerned it might thin out the lube the manufacturers put inside the links however I have no proof of that. On the Fz1 site they debated this ad nauseum and most of the WD40 lube promoters were getting better than 20K miles also.

[Dan Ruddock]

The thing to watch for is the o-rings, when you lose the grease held in by the o-rings the chain will wear and lose adjustment rapidly. You will also see reddish goo around the links from rusty grease. I like adjusting the chain all the way lose and then pushing the links together looking for play in any of the links. When I find either of these I replace the chain. Most of the chain stretch is caused by worn links and not by steel stretching. Dan

[chef1366]

He said elongated HeHeHe.