Ok I was out looking over the bike my wife just bought me and saw that the adjusters where pretty close to the replace mark.....no big deal right? Wrong...I am clueless as to chains. I use to be the guy that took a bike in and said fix it to a shop but this bike for some reason I wanna get my hands in on. I use to be an ASE car mechanic so I am no stranger around mechanical items. Ok so I look at one of the links and it is stamped 525 ERV So is the 525 the width and pitch and all that and all I would need to do is count the links and go buy one the right lenth? I dunno how many links are stock. I think the sprockets are stock but again being a used bike ( 2001 CBR600 F4i ) I am unsure. Would it be wise to replace the sprockets along with the chain at the same time? Ugh!! So many questions and so lil time...lol Thanks ahead of time for any help

 

You have some good questions. 525 is the stock size. If you replace your chain, you need to replace your sprockets at the same time. So they both wear down at the same rate. The stock sprockets are 16 in the front and 46 in the rear. Count the teeth and that will tell you if your sprockets are stock or not.

 

Thanks!! I better get to counting and saving cause I looked at some chain sprocket combo deals and they aint cheap....lol...Thanks again!!! Also what would be a good upgrade chain wise if I am gonna blow some cash I might as well get the best. I have read something about a 520 chain? Would that be a good thing? And as for sprockets....I wanna get a little more low end grunt to help get the front end up. Not worried about top speed just a lil more off the line. Again I aint so bright on chains and sprockets so what would be a good combo that is not too radical but gives a lil more off the line grunt?

 

Fairlane, again some more good questions. The 520 is an upgrade some do, its a differnet pitch like you said,but you really won't see a difference unless you change your sprockets. I did a -1 in the front, thats 15 teeth instead of 16 and it increased my low end torque. I lost a few miles per hour on the top end, but thats not that big of a deal to me. Also, when you change out your gears, you need to get a speedohealer, it recalibrates your speedometer, so you are know your actual speed. About 100 bucks. I got a Vortex sprocket kit with an RK chain, in a kit for 179 ebay. Haven't had any issues. D.I.D., is the most common stock chain. Both are good brands. If you do it yourself, you will need a chain breaker and chain press, also can be found on Ebay. When you take your axel off you need a 27 mm socket and torqued back to 69 foot pounds.

You may not need a new chain, or sprockets, you might just need to tighten up your chain. That will prob save you a few hundred bucks. Don't worry about the replace mark just yet. You can still ride for a while on it.

 

if you do not buy a kit, be sure to get sprockets made to fit whatever size chain you get (520 or 525)

sprockets are based on a ratio between the front sprocket and rear sprocket
closer together = higher top speed
larger difference in # of teeth = more acceleration

also you have the option of o-ring or x-ring
usually it's a little more but go with the x-ring, it'll last between 25 and 50% longer

 

I did the same setup as stephens last winter. I went -1 tooth in the front and kept the rear the same. I got a 525 DID gold chain and steel sprockets. I went with the 525 chain and steel sprockets to get alittle longer life out of them, and I didn't mind the extra couple pounds compared to the 520 and alum. It def helps out the bike and you won't regret. I got my kit here: http://www.sprocketcenter.com/c/1616...f4i-01-06.html

 

That's the best way I've seen it described, thank you.

 

The 520/525/530, is the width of the chain, they all have the same pitch. And 520 is NOT an upgrade, it is a DOWNGRADE, as the chain is weaker than its 525 or 530 counterpart. Check on any mfg.s website to verify, basically the wider the chain, the stronger it is. Like Wildman said, go with a steel rear sprocket, it'll last longer. And to do the job right, replace the chain AND both sprockets together. Kinda like putting a new belt on a car with a bad pully, the belt will wear unevenly, and eventually need to be replaced again, sooner than expected.

 

I did the 520 conversion with a -1 in the front +2 in the rear. Bought a renthal front sprocket which is actually quieter a supersprox rear sprocket which is fricken awsome it is an aluminum sprocket with steel teeth. For my chain I bought a EK Quadra-X Ring 520 MVXZ and of course had to get it in yellow to match the bike

 

I agree with everything you said except the pitch. A chain is measured in 1/8ths of an inch. So a 530 chain would mean pitch (center to center of each pin) is 5/8ths inch. The internal width of the chain (or width of the sprocket) would be the last two numbers or 3/8ths inch. So all the chains beginning with 5 are 5/8ths pitch with the 520 being 1/4" wide sprocket and the 525 being 3/16".

D.I.D. is my personal favorite. I had issues with EK and RK chains ... but to be fair it was on a turbo Busa so maybe they are all close for the F4i. I have a how-to in the 1000RR section that shows the basics of replacing the chain. Should be similar enough to an F4i to get you started.

If you do end up replacing the chain and sprockets take pics and we'll post up a how-to in the F4i section