master link???

i'm putting new chain and sprockets on the 990, the old chain is an endles chain [no master link] the new chain i got is a 525 xring, it comes with a masterlink that needs to be swedged. here is my delema. i don't have a tool to swedge the link, yes i could use my adjustapeen hammer an a punch [the master pins are counter drilled so swedging would be fairly easy] would have to do it on the bike. but i'm a bit concerned about over doing it, an making it to tight an possibly damaging the o ring. this would completely defeat the purpose of a new chain. i have the old stand by the ''clip type'' master link which i have used on every other bike i have owned without a failure, buuut the directions recomend the swedge type. without the proper tool i think the clip type link is the better option. what are the thoughts of the gallery?????

This peanut gallery says..."yes"

so does that mean in 2 weeks when i'm in the north kootenays for a few days, an the big 990 rips the clip off, you will come to my rescue??

I have been running a clip type for several thousand miles now (990ized 950.)

So far, so good.

I vote for stake it or have someone stake it using something like this Chain breaker and rivet tool You might call Kurt at Blackdog to confirm the 525 pin diameter specification. RK heavy duty and Motion Pro heavy duty seem to be popular for the street and dirt crowd.

I did a quick advanced search over at ADV in the Orange Crush thread. General consensus seems to be stake it or break it.

When I was a kid, we broke links all the time. More often than not, we actually lost clips. Used to carry extra links and clips it would happen so often. But those were on little bikes. Even my first LTD750 was staked.

Nowadays, I wouldn't want to trust a 0.03125" thick clip, sitting in a 0.03125" groove, held in place by only its spring forces. More than 50 HP or 50 MPH and a chain coming apart, whether broke or just a missing clip, is going to cause "something" to happen or leave you stranded. Would hate to think about 100 HP and 100 MPH chain failure.

Oh, also saw more than one recommendation for new sprockets AND chain prior to leaving for Alaska trips.

Have a good one Big Jer




griz This peanut's

i have never had a clip type master fail, an i haven't always been as gentle on things like i am now, but on the other hand i've never had a 100hp dirt bike before either. i agree the stake type is probably better, have to go to seattle wednesday so i will try an pick one up. now the other problem i have discovered. after installing the new rear sprocket, i was putting the rear wheel on an noticed a bit of a shiney spot on the swingarm??? upon further investigation i found that my bracket for my neduro aux. fuel tank had hit the swing arm. but [hehe] some body thought it was to close to the luggage so he ''adjusted'' the bracket.[wonder who that was] so i have ''readjusted'' [bent] the bracket so the fuel tank clears, buuut the luggage is touching the fuel tank now i'm affraid that the luggage bracketry needs to be reworked to provide ample clearence. the fuel cap is a pain in the ass to get on an off anyway so i'll kill 2 birds with one stone when i fix it. that new chain and sprockets sure has turned out to be a pain in the ass!!! but all is well i have jug of pendleton an a little 7up, so i will ponder on how to remedy the problem for tonight.

I put lots of miles on a 500 honda with o ring chain and clip master links. The force shouldn't be on the clip but the bars and side plates. Either way you go take a clip on as a spare.

after careful ''eyeball enginering'' i have come to the conclusion that cutting an welding is probably my best option stay tuned, the hacking and butchering will begin tomorrow

I don't think welding your chain is a good idea.

TheFlying"W" wrote:

I don't think welding your chain is a good idea.

They do things different up North!

Bwahahaha....Yes

well ifen i cant weld that there chain, rekon i'll have to pull a string out of my banjo an tie it together. been hearin from my kin bout a ''delivernce part ll, up the creek without a paddle'' an new banfo strings are hard to come by up here in the '' far north'' so i hate to waste a good string!!

this was the problem, you can see where the luggage was rubbing

oh ya, an this was a bit of a s.o.b. to get the cap off of too.

to remedy the problem i decided to shim the luggage mounting frame out from the bike about 3/8 of an inch. the frame has 4 mounting points an the factory fit was not all that great, so i figured when i was finished the bolts couldn't go in any worse than when i started i started with milling some 3/8 alum. for a spacer.

then a spacer was machined for the last easy part, the other 2 brackets were not so simple.

one of the top braces i was able to bend an was able to get to line up pretty good, the other one was a different story. the last brace was the one that made the fuel cap so hard to get off. there was not alot of places to move it to, there was the turn signal, the fuel cap, an when the top trunk was on also. so i cut it off an moved it back about 1'' an it made the fuel cap much easier to remove.

so now we have some clearence!! also i ended up using the clip type master link . we'll see how it holds up? i also dropped down to a 16 tooth front sprocket, an put some pireli knobbies on front and back. on the 17th of june i'll be heading out for nakusp b.c. for 4 days on the b.c. big trailie ride, 90% dirt road up in the north kootneys around arrow lake to revelstoke, an then to keremeos, an then the headley nickle plate road [ makes harris park look like the wal mart parking lot]

I've used a clip type master link on the 640ADV for over 16000 km without problems. I've worn through 2.5 sets of chains and sprockets in that time. I swap countershaft sprockets on the trail sometimes, and also repair flats, and don't want to carry a chain rivet tool with me.