Chain wear - help please

[chasio]

About 500kms ago I had a new DID O-ring chain and JT sprockets fitted on my XF650 Freewind. I did this because the chain was worn unevenly (very variable chain tension) and the front sprocket was pretty hooked so I thought I'd do the lot.

I was inspecting the chain and checking tension yesterday.

The Scottoiler with single sided delivery seems to be keeping the chain correctly lubed. And the lube on the chain when fitted should have been looking after it that far, shouldn't it?

But the chain is already showing signs of uneven tension. That surprises me after so few kms. So I'm wondering why.

The wheel alignment seems OK by eye (I'm not trusting the swingarm marks much but they are about level as it happens) and I also don't know if alignment issues would cause uneven wear anyway...

I'm hoping it doesn't mean damage further up the drivetrain.

What should I be checking for?

Cheers - Chasio

[chasio]

OK the full story is here. No replies so I thought I'd try posting in here (apologies if cross posting winds anyone up).

Basically the chain on my XF650 Freewind (essentially a DR650 drivetrain I believe) is showing signs of uneven tension after only 500kms. I will be pissed off if this is because it is wearing quickly and unevenly and my $200 chain goes south after only a few thousand kms on brand new sprockets.

Is this normal? I'm guessing not but maybe I'm being a nana.

Alignment, cleaning and lubrication all look good to me. Any suggestions?

Cheers for any input.

Chasio

[pete376403]

Are the sprockets concentric on the shaft (front) or wheel (rear)

You could check this by raising the back off the deck and rotate the wheel while holding a pointer so it is almost touching the sprocket tips - if there is any eccentricity you should see it quickly. Do the same with the front sprocket.

Apart from that - take it back to the supplier and let them resolve it.

[puddytat]

It may be slop between the sprocket bolts & sprocket holes....I put a thin strip of an aluminium can round the bolts to take up the slop & so the sprocket is centred ...
Chain tension? Best way I know of getting it spot on is to compress the rear end 'till the centre of the front sprkt,swingarm pivot point & centre of rear hub all line up, which is when the swingarm is at it longest point of its arc.
Hope this helps

[chasio]

Thanks, I'll try that on Saturday.

[NordieBoy]

Ever used a waterblaster to clean it?

[awayatc]

Had my chain wearing "uneven" but that took 7000km's.....

Waterblaster to powerfull indeed, and spray on goo picks up to much sandpaper grit (dirt)

Also throttle happyness doesn't help chain's lifespan much

[puddytat]

Weird, I posted an hour ago about this & it aint showed up, so at the risk of repeating myself.....
Is the rear sproket centered properly on its bolts....a thin bit of alu can round each bolt'll take up any slop
Best way I reckon to check for sure your not got your chain to tight is to line up the centres of the front sprkt, swingarm pivot, & rear hub by compressing the rear....Fat friends are helpful here. IT'll be when the swingarm is at its longest point & dont want to be tight.

[Jantar]

One possible cause of uneven wear is incorrect tension. If this was the cause then its too late to do anything about it other than put up with it. A small amount of uneven wear is acceptable, so check the limits given by the manufacturer. If the chain is out of limit then replace both chain and sprockets.

You don't say just how many thousand kms you have done, so maybe it has already served you well. A bike used on adventure rides will only get one quarter to a third the life of a chain used solely on the seal.

[Skinny_Birdman]

You don't say just how many thousand kms you have done, so maybe it has already served you well. A bike used on adventure rides will only get one quarter to a third the life of a chain used solely on the seal.

Yeah, I'm a bit confused too..

....showing signs of uneven tension after only 500kms... ...my $200 chain goes south after only a few thousand kms on brand new sprockets.

500km or a few thousand? 500km sounds like dodgy alignment or poor tensioning as indicated by the others, or a dud chain. A few thousand km could be aggressive throttle action or use of spray-on goo, also as mentioned above. I find that Scottoiler lube works well on my adventure bike (which isn't fitted with a Scottoiler), as it isn't quite so tacky, and so doesn't turn to grinding paste after a few kms of gravel.

Cheers
A

[The Pastor]

how much chain slack do you have?

[Frodo]

The post is quite clear. After 500km he has uneven wear, and doesn't want it to be toast after a couple of thousand.

My last chain did 34,000km of mostly seal riding, lubricated with a Scottoiler. It still had plenty of wear left and the sproackets were okay. I got a dyno tune done and the tuner adjusted the chain to give about 20-25mm travel (okay for street bikes that he usually tuned, but my bike needs about 35mm). The chain was f*cked by the time I got home 500km later. This was clearly caused by incorrect tension. Should have checked myself, but with 34,500km I'm not complaining.

Story number two. A friend at work has an F650 and put new tyres on. The bike shop misaligned the wheel. This f*cked the chain and the sprockets. The bike shop relaced chain and sprockets.

I now have 3500km on a DID X-ring chain and haven't adjusted it since it put it on.

Hope this helps

[clint640]

Check the axle alignment in the swingarm with a tape measure from the pivot too, don't rely on the marks on the adjusters until you know they are right.

Cheers
Clint

[warewolf]

Slight tight spots would be normal, but nothing severe at such a low mileage. Definitely flag the issue with the supplier now, even if they say "see how it goes". You can still get dud parts these days; Nordie recently had a chain crap out prematurely.

Re: wheel alignment, are you familiar with the string method? Google it, that will give you a much better measure than by eye. Can be tricky with knobbly tyres but can be done.

Are your sprockets in line with each other, like the wheels? You could possibly string-line them like the wheels. Things can get out of line if the rear wheel spacers are fitted incorrectly - eg swapped sides off-setting the wheel - or either sprocket fitted reversed if they are not symmetrical. But that would have to be a long way out to cause issues, especially so soon. I ran the front sprocket on my DR-Z250 reversed to help protect the output shaft seal from mud, the sprockets were well out of line but chain life was still good.

The other comment I would make is that I only check the chain when it is hot. It always seems to have more/ worse binding links when cold, ditto when brand new. (I fit the new chain, set the slack, go for a 10 mins/ 10km ride, then check & set again. Kinda the same process you do when changing the engine oil.) Many of the tight spots found with a cold chain aren't apparent when it is at operating temperature. Not sure if this means it's only tight when cold, or they are obscured when hot.

[chasio]

Hi all

Thanks for all your replies There's a heap of good stuff here that I will get into today.

The DID O ring chain has (now) only done about 600kms on brand new JT sprockets. I'm pretty easy on the throttle (I think), I've never waterblasted it and it hasn't been off road (even on metal) yet.

I've used kerosene and a rag to clean it a couple of times and a bit of WD40 as a light lube afterwards, then just left the Scottoiler to do its thing, tweaking the delivery rate up during heavy rain. When I have inspected the chain between cleaning, both sides of the chain have looked lubed OK to me, maybe the outside (scottoiler side) a bit better.

I'll have a ride and a tinker today and let you know how it goes.

Cheers again - Chasio