The Weakest Link?

I still use split links on my chains. Only lost a chain once, in the fucking middle of the Nullabore of all places!!!
Can't remember what the cause was. Luckely I had the original chain to replace it with to get me back to WA. The end result was a twisted crank
 
motoddrob said:
I still use split links on my chains. Only lost a chain once, in the fucking middle of the Nullabore of all places!!!
Can't remember what the cause was. Luckely I had the original chain to replace it with to get me back to WA. The end result was a twisted crank
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Probably a big brownie or mainland tiger flung up by the rear wheel, Rob!
 
Motoddrob:: Lucky you didn't loose a leg in that episode !
Always check your weakest link and chain tension before mounting 'o)
 
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In the late '70's I was following a mate on a Ducati 860 across the Hay plain at night when his chain broke. All of a sudden there was a shower of sparks as the chain hit the road. Luckily the chain had just neatly wound off the font sprocket and fell to the ground, no damage whatsoever!
I do know why that happened. Some chains were not that great back then and he inexplicably decided to buy 2 cheap chains for the trip thinking if they wore quickly he'd just replace with the new spare! Of course he didn't consider them breaking which was almost a certainty if you saw those chains (which incidentally I told him when he showed me his great purchase). At least we were able to put his other one in the torchlight and finally reach our destination.............
Anyway times have moved on and the quality of chains is exponentially better now.
 
Laverda SF said:
Piranha: No such thing as a self lubricating chain. I believe Honda claimed it true on one of their dirt bikes were users neglected to clean their chain regularly and Honda dropped the promotion ;o)
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The concept ‘Self lubricating’ was the when you lubed up the chain the excess lube exits when in motion) via the inner plate holes, and then lubes the rollers and inside of the outside plates.

Dunno if it worked as claimed, but sure you’ll understand the concept. Be it right or not.
 
When mine went I was passing a car, I'm doing the ton when it went bang. Unfortunately it doubled up and jammed between the casing and sprocket. Lucky it didn't create a hole!!!
 
Had a rear chain break just the once , on the Mirage .........

This was back in `84 when sealed link chains were still a relatively new idea .

It was a Renold branded chain , but actually made in the USA if I remember correctly , and I was overtaking a line of three or four cars near Knockdown in Gloucestershire .......

As I passed the lead car , I suddenly lost all drive ..... and my first thought was that the clutch had failed ...... I managed to coast to a stop in a lay by at the side of the road , and realised then that I had no drive chain ......... I also had no chain guard to speak of ..... the part of that which remained was a mangled mess .... ( at least it had done it`s job by preventing the damage from spreading any further ) ....... although there were some gouge marks in the rear wheel chain cush drive hub ....... ( should still be visible to this day if the current keeper cares to look .... ) ........

As I was stood studying the damage , one of the car drivers I had just passed came walking along carrying the chain ........ At first I was worried he was going to tell me that it had flown through the windscreen and decapitated grannie , or something ....... but he had just stopped to pick in up from the road and wondered if it was still any use to me , which was good of him , but it wasn`t ..........

The AA got the bike and me home .........


That chain must have cooled off a bit by then .........

There was a story Mick Grant told about retiring from a TT when the chain went AWOL on his KR750 Kawasaki whilst riding over the Mountain ....... He looked back to see a spectator had jumped down from the embankment to pick up the chain as a souvenir , and laughed his head off when the spectator dropped the chain as quickly as he had picked it up , waving his blistered hand in the air ...........
 
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One of us lost a chain passing a huge truck on a Snowy ride 60 km east of Cooma on the Snowy Mountains Hwy. I watched it happen, no drive out there beside that truck, not fun. The bike got picked up by a tow truck, and, lucky me, being the only one out of maybe 15 riders who had pillion pegs still fitted, got a Pillion for the next 150 km. Luckily, Steve B headed down the next day with a spare chain and again lucky it was an RGS. Way easier to get a chain on an RGS than a 180.Lucky all round.
 
Hi Hamish. Holes in plates are oft used in the pushbike world. When i [in other words, my knees] were capable, i used chains that looked to be more holes than metal. External and internal plates were both hit with a hole. Quite simple to work out stress/stain across the crossections. Just depends on what tensile force the manufacturer decides is the max likely to be encountered.
 
Haggis said:
Hi Hamish. Holes in plates are oft used in the pushbike world. When i [in other words, my knees] were capable, i used chains that looked to be more holes than metal. External and internal plates were both hit with a hole. Quite simple to work out stress/stain across the crossections. Just depends on what tensile force the manufacturer decides is the max likely to be encountered.
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Makes sense for one-cyclist-power applications, but I've never seen one on a motorcycle, particularly one as heavy as an SF, Paul.
I'd hoped to see you on Sunday, it was a great day.
 
EK chains are from Japan, widely available here and many series have lightning holes in the inner side plates, they say for better heat dissipation as well as weight saving. Excellent chains.
 
Haggis said:
Hi Hamish. Holes in plates are oft used in the pushbike world. When i [in other words, my knees] were capable, i used chains that looked to be more holes than metal. External and internal plates were both hit with a hole. Quite simple to work out stress/stain across the crossections. Just depends on what tensile force the manufacturer decides is the max likely to be encountered.
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And even hollow pins - bicycle chain technology has progressed incredibly, along with m/cycles. Compare the thing on my old back-pedal brake single speed Malvern Star in 1964 with a modern 12-speed high-end chain.
 
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