that was bloody handy!

[Steve Lake]

Saturday morning started with the sun out, SWMBO out and all set fair for a bimble on #1. some bits to pick up in Norwich (Tinklers yamaha dealers, one of the best, big shout out for Phil in the Parts Dept). kit on, covers off #1 and away we go. well .... on slip road to join dual carriageway, give her some berries to meet prevailing traffic at the correct speed, rev counter off the scale... not going anywhere... me thinking i'm a prat and either nicked it into neutral or selected a false neutral.. no green light, so must be a falsie, clicked up to next gear ... more berries, more high revs more going nowhere ... me thinking i've never managed to get 2 falsies on the trot so pull up at the end of the slip, look back at a long snake in the road that looks suspiciously like a chain .... yup it's a chain alright !! i shout bo!!ocks and deafen myself inside my helmet!.
i'd only gone 2 miles from home, and just passed a friends garage, so pushed bike the 1/4 mile back to garage, and he was still working (he races a renault something in club races, and usually spends saturdays fettling his racer) out of breath, sweating like the proverbial, track down the proprietor (fettling a pair of webers), he laughs, says he hasn't got any chain/links etc, but will put my bike in has van and trot me home, jolly decent of him, and then i remember... i'm a proper biker and i carry a few small spares on the bike, like zip ties, hose clips, allen keys, adjustable spanner, pliers AND A CHAIN LINK!!. from experience i know that, once i have the chain on the rear sprocket getting the link in is nigh impossible without pulling  the 2 halves of the chain together, i do this with a pair of point pliers, and the pliers i have with me .... aint the pointy type!. .... blag some pliers from proprietor and insert the link, now we're getting somewhere..not... i have a 520 'o' ring chain on the bike .... the spare link was a standard 520 ... about to throw the whole lot in the hedge, but wait... what if i just remove the extra width on the o ring links ... chain off, stuck in vice, angle grinder (the bodgers best friend) takes off the .5mm ... chain back on, link in correctly (just, with a bit of mole grip persuasion).. a gentle 2 mile ride home ... in what was now pouring bloody rain ....
lessons
1. if you are carrying spares  A) make sure they're the correct ones, and B ) you have the tools to fit said spares.
2. when i last removed and cleaned the chain (possibly a month ago) i should have used that old racers trick of wire locking the spring link. which i would have done, but i have run out of / lost my fine locking wire, and the thicker stuff just breaks.
3. maybe think about using a riveted chain and investing in a proper tool. ....... as it is it's me that feels a proper tool.

[iansoady]

Was it actually the split link that had broken Steve?

[Steve Lake]

'twas me ole mate!

[johnr]

precisely the reason you shouldnt ever use a split link on a bike. they might have been ok in the era of gutless old brit stuff, but these days everything i fit has a riveted link and ive never had one fail yet.

[Moto63]

Lucky indeedy Steve. Still we have a happy ending and come on WHO doesn’t just love a happy ending 😉👍
Cheers, Michael

[Steve Lake]

Lucky indeedy Steve. Still we have a happy ending and come on WHO doesn’t just love a happy ending 😉👍
Cheers, Michael

there's happy endings .. and there's HAPPY endings ... i'll leave it there... or this post will end up in either Rants, Humour or the courts 

[Steve Lake]

precisely the reason you shouldnt ever use a split link on a bike. they might have been ok in the era of gutless old brit stuff, but these days everything i fit has a riveted link and ive never had one fail yet.

of course you're right, but i've done god knows how many miles, a shedload of track days, never had this happen before, and on this occasion i'm sure that the pillock who refitted the chain after cleaning and lubrication cocked it up ! anyway, i have ordered some new DID 'O' ring split links, and some 0.5mm lock wire, so we'll see how it goes.
interestingly, when i was cycle racing, all my chains were riveted as a split link wouldn't run through the derailleur mech.

so i may well go down the rivet path, i may need some tuition... is there a specific riveting link? do you need a new one each time the chain is removed? anything else i should know ?

[iansoady]

I've never had a split link break although I suppose in Johnr's estimation these have been mostly gutless British stuff including my 850 Commando. But I never reuse them - if I remove the link for any reason I always fit a new one. This can be pronlematic as different makes of chain have subtly different dimensions.

[themoudie]

That made I chuckle! You do do some quirky things bor! 

Riveted chains are all well and good and 'O'ring chains appear to be all riveted. If you split the chain, then a new riveting link is required every time and you need a quality splitting/riveting tool, the majority of Eastern, "Monkey metal" ones available are p*ss poor and fail at the roadside, or in the workshop. I have been through too many to count.

The best tool that I have come across and which is easy to carry on the road or use in the workshop is the  DID 'pattern' one sold by Demon Tweeks and available on FleaBay from other suppliers. The DID tool is the dogs, but costs an arm and a leg.

So, here are the links, Demon Tweeks first and DID second.

Pattern_DID_"Warrior"-heavy-duty-chain-riveting-vice

DID-chain-tool-KM500R   Also to be found on FleaBay!

The Ducati 450 (35-40HP), being old school. will not accept 'O' ring chains, no room in the crankcase casting! So, non- 'O' ring all the time and I have reduced the chain size from the manufacturers ?" x ?" or 530 to 428. They are raced using this lighter chain and with the reduction in mass coupled with a good lubricant EP80/90 oil, maintained with with Bulldog BDX lubricant the chain and aluminium rear, steel front sprockets have all covered over 8,000 miles. IWS chain from the "Chain Man" and sprockets from Nigel Lacey. No, I'm no sponsored by either!    This uses a split link, with the spring clip wired in place. If you have no wire then a slim plastic cable tie works and may need a little more regular checking!

Always stick to a single brand/size of chain for the individual machine. Different brands have different specifications/dimensions for the "Standard" chain sizes!!!!!!    Marketing crettins! 

Hope this helps! Sounds like #1 is getting to be like a Shak' at full throttle on take off, shaking the rivets loose! 

Yew keep a troshin bor. Good health, Bill

[richardeblack]

I have never had a split link fail on my gutless 120mph plus Tridents so might change over to them for the XBR.
I did have a problem on my T160 with the chain coming off twice just down the road. It turned out that, due to me removing the centre stand stop to improve ground clearance, as I backed the bike out of the garage, the chain was touching agains the stand. As I was going backwards the the spring link was just knocked off. I can't remember how I cured the problem but suspect I put the link the other way round so the spring didn't contact the stand.
It might be wort checking for the same thing on your bike before ditching the convenience of the spring link.
Good luck and glad it wasn't as scary as my chain breaking at 75mph on the way back from Stafford one year (no spring link).
Have fun
Richard.

[Steve Lake]

cheers Richard , i think my main problem is i can't remember the make of my chain, and the new spring links i got are DID, but don't bloody fit! so i've now fitted an old one i have and wire locked it. the simple solution is, i think, to get a new chain with link supplied. (if there is such a thing)  or plan B, buy a new chain and a riveting tool.

Thanks Bill ...  i'm assuming the DID 'pattern' riveter is just silver plated whereas the genuine one is solid gold!! you can guess which one i'm going for 

onwards and upwards  ... you know there's a couple of 'shacks' that still do engine runs and taxiing. them griffons with contra rotating props make an awesome sound. one of my abiding memories was flying from St Mawgan to Omaha Nebraska, overnight, and watching the glowing exhaust stubs and flames... the downside .... lifelong tinnitus  ...

[iansoady]

, the chain was touching agains the stand. As I was going backwards the the spring link was just knocked off. I can't remember how I cured the problem but suspect I put the link the other way round so the spring didn't contact the stand.


Have fun
Richard.

I had to do similar on my ES2 as the spring plate was just catching the back of the primary chaincase. It took ages to work out what the regular "tick" was. It's a bit fiddly putting the spring clip on through the spokes but better than having it flipped off.

[Steve Lake]

bit of lateral thinking there Ian 

[themoudie]

the downside .... lifelong tinnitus

EH?   

I'm no bad considering as a youf I was steering a Fowler AA 18NHP on the roads for up to 6 hours at a time. The flanged drive gears on the right-hand side were like church bells and the straked wheels, along with the whirring motion made for a riotous melody! 

Motorcycle wise, excepting the unsilenced racing stink wheels and DMW's, it was John Wittman's 250 Ducati that went to the sound man at Brands and recorded 123 decibals that hurt. OUCH! Going through the tunnel under the track, to get to and fro from the Paddock at Brands was an experience in itself.

The Italian multis and Hondas were brutal as well.

Off for a burble on a Duke!

Good health, Bill

[Steve Lake]

EH?   

sorry. i missed that ....??

as the captain of the shack said ... don't worry about the red hot exhaust stubs or the flames .... the time to worry is when you can't see them .. if that occurs quickly get a life jacket (quickly as there's not enough for everyone) and go to the rear of the kite and sit down behind the elsan..  you're doing this because when we ditch, the elsan will take off and proceed through the aircraft at approximately 110 knots and if it's full it's bloody heavy and a trifle smelly .... enjoy your flight everyone ...