Chain wear............

I have an 07 Vstrom 1000. I love the bike even though it has to be one of the ugliest bikes ever built. It's got a ton of down-low torque, is drop dead reliable and has been a joy to own and ride. For those tha don't know, it's a 1000cc water-cooled, fuel injected, chain driven, V twin with twin pipes. They classify it as an "adventure bike" but to me, every bike is.

I just turned over 18,780 miles last night and as I stepped it on to its centerstand in the garage, I thought about my chain. It's still the original chain. I lube it (even though it's sealed o-ring) every couple of hundred miles and always have. The rule of thumb is to replace the sprokets with the chain. At 10,000 miles or so, I installed a larger rear to get my rpms into a sweet spot when riding a few hundred miles up and down Route 95. The chain at that point showed only the initial breakin wear plus a very small amount of stretch.

At 15,000 miles I pulled the front sproket cover to take a peek at everything and the sproket looked brand new after I cleaned all the junk that had accumulated there. I measured a bit more stretch but not very much.

I thought about all this as I rotated the wheel while spraying the chain lube on....and thought about the fact that I usually lube it when it's warm from riding although I'm not sure how much impact that has on anything. It's still well within the specs for stretch but it's getting closer.

I'm beginning to get nervous about the miles though. Sometimes a chain won't stretch, it will just break. I carry a master link for my chain even though it's an endless chain....it will if it breaks<LOL>. I guess that I've gotten my moneys worth out of it and should just go ahead and buy a new one before I have to dig that master link out of my topcase 250 miles from anywhere!!!

jeff

 

Most people don't look at their chain like you do. Sounds like you are on-top of keeping the chain cleaned, lubed and adjusted. Those are a chains worst enemies. Since your chain and sprockets show miminal wear and they are inspected regurly, keep on riding. If you are doubting their condition and your saftey.... replace them.

 

No, not at all. I've gotten over 20K from a chain on my Norton, non-o-ring, and it's not the chain-friendliest bike in the world.

I would go by the standard wear test, keep it maintained (as you have) and don't fret.

STANDARD WEAR TEST:



Grasp chain by a pin where indicated, pull straight back. As long as you don't expose more than 1/2 the adjacent teeth by doing so, you're fine. If you "reveal" more than 1/2 the tooth, start shopping.

A lot of times "properly" worn sprockets won't look worn until extremely so, and you can't necessarily see the play that develops between the rollers and pins. I've always gone by the above test.

 

I think that you both are correct. I ultimately quit roadracing because I couldn't stop thinking about front tire blowouts after losing a friend to one....it gets into your head and you can't get into the "zone" then kills your lap times. Riding fast became a matter of courage instead of fun. This is kind of the same thing with much less consequences of course. Everytime I ride the bike, I wonder about the chain. Yes, it's probably good for another 10K or so but as my sweetheart said night before last, if it worries me enough to write about it, then "for God's sake, just go buy another one"....LOL. I guess I need that once in a while...for someone to tell me what I already know to get my butt in gear.

jeff

 

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

Wise words from the ever studious Schoot

 

The chain is probably fine, but in my experience in MX racing: if you're worried about something on the bike breaking, your not paying very much attention to the track. In other words listen to the little lady and just replace them, peace of mind goes a long way on a long trip.

 

That is a great bike (and fits me real well BTW :wink: ); very well thought of on the AdvRider forums too. If the typical chain life question is REALLY bugging you, you should check in with the V-Strom riders (http://www.vstrom.info/) or Strom Troopers (http://www.stromtrooper.com/) to see what mileage seems typical.

 

Zap, thanks, I got to admit, as ugly as it is, I love that bike! I've been a member on both forums since 07 but thanks...the new chain is on its way!

SLKid- Your car? Belong to http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r170-slk-class/ ?? I've had my 230 for several years now and it's a reliable as a rock and a blast to drive too!!

jeff

 

My Dad has had chains jump of the sprockets on his 550 back in the day, and has known people who have stripped the teeth from sprockets, snapped chains and even snapped the chain and had it wrap its self round the back wheel or jam its self in the sprocket cover. The only reason for this is my dad at the time was in a poor financial position and had to run his chain and sprockets right down to the last miles.

My case was the same with my TZR50 the chain and sprockets where worn out and on the maximum adjustment, I have no money so I had to take 2 links out of the chain, get some longer adjusters, clean the chain and both sprockets re lube and grease and was going to turn the rear sprocket over but there are groves for the sprocket tabs on one side only so that was out of the question. Set it all back up and hopefully will be good for another couple of 100 miles or so, until I can get £35 together to buy a new one.

I would not recommend doing this ALLWAYS buy a new chain and sprocket when the old one is on its last adjustment, I had to do this as I had no money and leaving it as it was would have put it in danger of coming of. Only if you really really have to.

 

I never thought of the Strom as ugly, just different.

Did a test sit a couple of years ago at a dealer on the wee-strom, the ergos felt just right.
Just a wee bit tall

 

The wee(650) is much more popular and Zuk has stopped building or at least importing the Vee (1000) into this country. It just never built the same following as the 650. The only thing after nearly 4 years of ownership that I don't like is the same thing I didn't like the first time I rode it....it's heavy (450-460) and carries the weight high.

I stand 6 foot even and it was tall enough for me that when I had the rear preload knob screwed it for carrying my sweetheart (120 wet), I had to toe touch so I found a guy who fabbed lowering links. You can get up to 3/4" lower without having to mod the side or centerstands. It made a surprising amout of difference....as does the type of riding boots that I wear. The bike is a tractor though. Fast enough to supposedly turn high 11s but more importantly to me....never ever breaks.

jeff

 

There's a good number of strom owners on the Concours forum. It sounds like they have similar weight and CG's. I guess if you're used to one, the other is not so bad.

 

Well, I guess if you ever start writing about your "sweetheart"....... :roll: :roll: (j/k) :lol: