Hey everyone,

So some one before me performed a 520 chain conversion. I ran with the same conversion, and went up two teeth. Well, I'm now sick of it. I'm blowing through chains quicker than tires, and it's a headache.

I'd like to go ahead and move up to 530 chains, and curious what options are available that work with our front sprocket and our rear wheel. I'd even be willing to buy the fancy aluminum and steel combos if I can find them!


So anyways, please post your experience, what products you used or know to work, and if you can links to online stuff so myself and others in the future can figure this all out!

Thanks in advance!

 

Okay campers, here is what I managed to find:

Stock Gearing - 15 F 43 R

www.indysuperbike.com has 520 and 530 sprockets for the F2. The 530 stuff runs roughly the same price. The advantage of 520 is slightly boosted acceleration. Gearing up I'm sure compensates for this, and given that 520 chains only last 6k miles, while 530 goes for 20k, I'm sure you can see which chain is the best for people who street their bikes.

They do also carry a 530 Super sprox rear sprocket, which is steel teeth on an aluminum carrier. Seems the wisest to me, but the purchase price is over double that of the 530 aluminum sprocket, which for $11 more can come in a chemically treated and anondized stronger lasting setting.

Given though that when a sprocket wears out, the chain should be replaced to, chain replacement comes down to the weakest link (pun, har har) in the equation (Sprocket life, chain life).

 

Sprockets should be usually be replaced in pairs as well. The wear on the sprocket is due to minute elongation of the chain, either in materials or space between pins/plates. As the distance between pins increases they wear into the teeth and change the overall pitch/shape of the tooth. It can't happen on one end without happening on the other - alloy sprockets also wear faster than steel, accelerating the process.

In bicycling, there are gauges you can use to check your chain stretch every so often, you just put it in between rollers, and use the gauge to see how much your chain has elongated relative to when you installed it. Doing this, you can change your bike chain before the stretch gets too significant. If you stay on top of it, you can swap chains before the wear on the teeth gets too bad, saving you from having to replace the whole drivetrain as often. I average 3 chains to 1 full drivetrain swap that way . Is this possible to do with MC chains?

 

Okay so sprocket wear will correlate to chain wear then?

 

I'm basing it off the cycling world, but the principles should be the same, although I could see a softer aluminum sprocket just simply wear out quicker without the chain wear.

then again - I'm no motorcycle mechanic - ask one of those guys if it is more common to replace just a rear, and have the front be fine.

 

I have spoken with mechanics, and they say fronts being solid steel and also not the point of stress for hard acceleration and engine deceleration are rare to go bad. The rears however I've heard should be changed with the chain.