What a difference a new chain makes!

[CraigArizona85248]

Ok... so I'm one of these guys that tries to milk every last mile out of my "consumable" parts.  I put about 27K miles on the drive chain and sprockets I installed in January 2007.  That was probably about 3 months longer then I should have gone.  I was getting some terrible jerking and snatching when just cruisin' down the road (not under a lot of load).  This is what broke the cast in sprocket attachment ring loose from the brake drum.  I put the drum on the shelf since it's an OEM piece ... maybe I'll repair it someday.  Ordered a new brake drum from Paughco.  Picked up a new Tsubaki Sigma 530 o-ring chain and a new transmission drive sprocket.  Installed all the pieces this evening.  WOW!  What a difference.  The bike cruises without any of the jerking I had become accustomed too.  The Paughco brake drum seems to be as good as my OEM piece too.  No indication that it's warped at all (a common complaint with aftermarket brake drums).

I really gotta be better about not trying to eek out every last mile from each part.  Going on a ~300 mile ride tomorrow with my brother-in-law.  It will be nice to have the pan running smoothly.

-Craig

[ModelABob]

-Craig,

Glad to hear your back in the wind with your Pan.  I'm thinking about going through all the sprockets on my '65 too.
I've got a solid 24 tooth on the engine, stock clutch drum, 22 tooth tranny (to keep speedo accurate) and a 48
tooth rear sprocket.  I'm running a square tube swing arm with a banana style caliper/disc set-up.  Thinking about
going to a 25 tooth engine sprocket to lower the RPMs at cruising speed.  What gear ratios are you running?

AMF/Ride Safe

[Trip]

"cast in sprocket attachment ring" ...ya mean all the rivets came lose???

[CraigArizona85248]

"cast in sprocket attachment ring" ...ya mean all the rivets came lose???

Nope... fixing the rivets would be easy.  The ring that the sprocket rivets too is actually coming loose from the drum.  I've never seen that happen before.  But I have no idea how many miles are on this brake drum.  I've put something over 52K miles on it in the last 4 1/2 years, but before that who knows.   It's an OEM drum so it's been around a few years.

Bob, Luckily I have a DynaGlide I can ride when I have the pan torn apart.  So I rode it to work yesterday while I waited for the parts to finish up the panhead.  Only had to leave her in the garage one day.    I like my Dyna, but it's just not nearly as much fun to ride.  Last time I rode it was back in June and before that was November last year when I took it in for emissions testing.  But it's a nice bike to have for a backup.

-Craig

[ohio-rider]

I've never seen one of those rings come loose either. That could have gotten ugly. Would the area of separation show up clearly in a photo?

Did you have any clearance trouble with the o-ring chain? I was going to try one a few years back and was told they where to wide.

[CraigArizona85248]

Once I remove the sprocket from the brake drum I should be able to get a good photo.  Wouldn't show up at all with the sprocket still in place.  I'll post a photo of it when I get around to taking the sprocket off.

As far as the o-ring chain goes... I did have to shim my inner primary at the back just a little.  I don't use the OEM attachment hardware.  I use a 3/8" fine thread bolt, washers for shims and a nyloc nut at the oil tank and frame connection points.  The nyloc nut lets me leave the connection loose enough that things can move around as necessary, but the nut won't fall off.

-Craig

[panheaddreamer58]

This might be a good time to ask my chain question. Far as I know my 50fl  still has her original chain/ sprocket on it. It has had a rear chain oiler added. I am wondering what my options are to elimate the oil mess I get from the rear chain. Not bad but  I thought if there is a way without  altering appearance, I might try it.

Thanks Jim

[jellero]

i just replaced both sprockets and chain myself, coupled with a belt primary it sure does smooth things out.
phd, most older bikes have the rear chain "harley auto-lube" from the tranny main shaft seal or clutch pushrod seal leaking and don't need any additional oil. are you saying the oiler is making a mess? that's an easy fix.
craig, "What a difference a new chain makes!" i was just saying that last week when i put a new chain on my saw.  all 65cc of raw power (actually pretty big for a chainsaw). now it cuts like it should, a good feeling. i have enough wood for three winters. j

[CraigArizona85248]

Jim,

If you switch over to a o-ring chain you can eliminate the chain oiler and you'll have a lot less mess.  The o-ring chains look similar to stock but look like a "heavy duty" version.  Of course you could stick with a non-o-ring chain and still eliminate the oiler that was installed on your bike.  It would just mean you'd have to do the lubrication yourself.  Would probably be cleaner though.

-Craig

[panheaddreamer58]

Thanks for info. No the oiler itself is not the mess, its is the oil being slung off chain. Craig if I go with the o-ring chain, it don't need oiled? And also can you lead me to a source to get chain and its size? Also are  the stock sprokets ,if good, usuable with the o-ring chain.


jim

[Kuda]

>Craig if I go with the o-ring chain, it don't need oiled?

Not Craig, but I might be able to help a bit here.  The answer is: NO!! The chain must still be cleaned and oiled regularly, just not as often as a non-O-ring chain.  The O-rings aren't magical, they just act as gaskets to keep the lube on the inside of the rollers.  But a lot of your chain wear occurs on the outside of the links (usually from dirt sticking to the chain lube) so they must be cleaned often and lubed occasionally.  The factory chain oiler does a good job, but the one pictured is NOT a factory oiler. Unless there's an adjustable valve on the other end, that's going to over oil the heck out of that chain and make a real mess.  Also, where the drip end is in relation to the chain makes a big difference too.  If you oil the chain right near the front sprocket it'll toss off the oil on the front of the motor. If you re-route it to bottom of the chain just behind the front sprocket, gravity will force the oil into the chain better and less will fling off...

>And also can you lead me to a source to get chain and its size? Also are  the stock sprokets ,if good, usuable with the o-ring chain.

Chain's available everywhere, but the size should be a 530 with either 102 or 100 links, depending on what you're running for a primary belt/chain.  The sprockets don't care what size they are, the roller part of the chain is the same width, but the outside ID is a bit bigger on the O-ring.  If you're using a ratchet top trans, check your clearance carefully, you may have to clearance a bit here and there...

-Kuda
'49 panchop

[jellero]

i use chain wax, much cleaner. just clean the chain, spray it on and it doesn't fly off or attract dirt like oil. j

[CraigArizona85248]

Kuda pretty much covered it.  I'll just add this... you don't oil an o-ring chain with the same frequency as a regular chain.  The purpose of oiling an o-ring chain is to keep water out (the oil or chain wax works to displace water), to provide some protection from metal-on-metal wear at the rollers and to provide lubrication for the o-rings so they don't tear.  The amount of attention required to service an o-ring chain is less then a non-o-ring chain.

I'm able to run the o-ring chain with a 24T transmission sprocket with not need to clearance anything.

-Craig