I bought my bike with a sprocket setup of -1/+2. My front sprocket is a Vortex 15t and the rear is a Driven 48t. My question is, Does anyone know what length chain I need? I have noticed on my sprocket that the chain I have now doesn't sit flush on the rear sprocket at the back. The top and bottom look fine, but as the chain makes the turn around the backside of the sprocket it leaves an 1/8th inch gap between sprocket and chain. Is this normal? I currently have a gold DID chain on there, if that helps anyone better understand. Looking forward to some answers, thanks in advance.

 

Know the pitch of any of em?

There will be lil side to side play, but dunno about 1/8 worth.

 

Absolutely not! If you're saying that the chain comes away from the rear of the sprocket about 1/8" and its tight near the top and bottom, that's a sign of a severely worn chain. It's also causing extra wear on the sprockets. They all need to be replaced. You didn't mention what bike you're referring to so I can speak to what chain you should get, but I wouldn't be riding until I did.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. It's a 2002 CBR F4i. I don't know the pitch of the sprockets. I do know the chain was replaced in february though. IDoDirt you said the sprockets are being damaged or excessivley worn by this, but they look fine. There's no grinding or rounding off of the sprockets, just the small gap.

 

the sprockets tend to get more pointy than rounded when wore.

 

If only the chain was replaced and not the sprockets, then thats your issue. When you start off with a fresh set of sprockets and chain, they wear together. Change any part of the system, and the new part will not match the worn parts of the system. Such as when the chain streches and the rollers become further apart, the sprockets wear deeper to match the chain. put on a new chain with worn sprockets, and the chain will sit on the sides of the teeth of the sprocket instead dropping into the sprocket teeth like it should since the rollers are now closer together than the old chain. when you replace only on part of the system, it wears everything out extremely fast. You will also run the risk of breaking teeth on your sprocket with your set up since only a few teeth are supporting the entire load instead of it being spread out over the sprocket.

I know its pricey advice, but you really need to replace the chain and sprockets together and start over. Once you do this, properly maintained, it should last you 15,000 to 20,000 miles easily.

I'd also advise not going with a 520 kit. Stick to the stock size. It will last longer and you won't notice any performance gain with a 520 kit, they just wear out faster.

 

Can you post up some photos of what it is that you're describing ? It would certainly help. If I'm not mistaken, the '02 F4i takes a 525 chain. As an example, this chain on my wifes bike has 27K miles on it. It's been well maintained. I'm pulling on the chain in this image to try to lift it off the sprocket. There is some movement, but you can see that the separation from the sprocket is minimal.

 

WoW IDoDirt, your the only person I've seen who keeps a chain as clean as I do.


Moses

 

IDoDirt,

I appreciate the detailed replies. I figured it out today. I rolled the bike back and forth until I saw the seperation again. The seperation only takes place at the master link. Like I said, I bought my bike this way and didn't notice it until recently. I never ride without my gear, but I had to move it the other and heard a clicking noise that I have never heard before, when I looked there was the gap. I assumed it was like that all the way around, until today. Now looking at this photo I realized that it's a -1/+3 setup.

 

This is so embarassing. I keep my bike clean 98% of time, but got caught in the rain the other day and haven't had a chance to clean her up.