I need to replace my chain. How many links are in the stock chains?

 

Chains usually come with 120 links in the box and then you cut them for your application. The F3's have 108links.

 

So your telling me that the links aren't already per cut per applications? That sucks!

 

If you're planning on replacing your own chain, then you'll need certain tools to do it. The factory chain on your bike is an endless chain. Meaning no master link to speak of. You have to grind off one of the rivets and use a tool like this to press the rivet out.

http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/...riveting_tool/

Well, if have access to this tool, then you'll have no problem with sizing the new chain to the proper length. It takes only a few minutes to grind off the end of a rivet with a drill and grinding stone, then use the chain tool to push it out. It's not like doing a chain on a bicycle with a little snap clip on the master link. The chain tool here is also used for pressing on the new master link for the new chain and then riveting (expanding) the end of it to keep it from coming off.

 

you can find chain and sproket combos that are pre-sized. I was able to get a kit from bikebandit and the chain was precut. You've got to do some searching.

as far as resizing goes. I've used a dremel to grind off the rivet and used a flat head screw driver to pry it off (I was removing the chain from the bike). And putting the master link on only takes a chain press. It's really simple. Check out www.cbrworld.net there is a tutorial on it.

 

I was just in the Honda dealership up here in Warsaw Indiana and the service guy showed me a new master link that is out. He said the it only works with EK chains. But its called the EK screw type masterlink. Now this could be old technology. But to me, its a first. And if you order the right package your chain will be pre-cut to your bike and you just put the masterlink in, whatever kind of masterlink you choose.

http://www.ekchain.com/access.htm

 

I'm not so sure I'd run right out and get that "screw type" master link. I thought the same thing, and it sounds great in theory, but in practice it's another. The idea is that the nuts on each of the pins "presses" the side plate on, and then you snap the end of it off with pliers which leaves a shoulder where you place a really tiny "O" ring. The side plate is pressed on really tight, so I think the purpose of the "O" ring is just to keep dirt away from the outside of the pin where it goes though the side plate. The problem comes when, as you're tightening each of the nuts on the pins, just a little. Working back and forth so the side plate "walks" onto the pins. The amount of force required to turn the nut generates a large amount of latteral force as you try to rotate the nut with the wrench. Subsequently, the pin snapped off before the side plate was all the way on. Not only that, but the pin snapped off where the little "O" ring was supposed to go, not at the outside place they had indicated.

I contacted EK, and they sent me a new "Screw Type" master link forfree(which is why I can take photos of it now in the package), but they (meaning EK) recommended that I use a standard riveted style of master link. They said it was stronger and more secure. They suggested that the "Screw Type" was more for emergency use. Attached are some photos of this type of link. The photo's of the master link on the chain show it with the nut on and off the pin after it broke off. The photo of the one in my hand show the 2 locations where they put grooves in the pins, 1 where it should snap off, and the other for the small "O" ring after the side plate is all the way on.

This is just my experience with this type of master link. I love EK Chains and have purchased additional chains from them ( a purple one in fact).


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The chain off my F2 parts bike had a clip that slipped onto the pins after you put the side plate on. The one on my F3 was endless.