Cost of Chain and Sprocket Change

[Sinclair48K 16]

Hi All,

 

I asked my dealer out of curiosity what the chain and sprocket kit replacement would cost fitted and he said about £250. Having never had a bike before that needed one Im not sure if that's a reasonable cost or not? I figured a small independent bike shop might do a better deal. Im in the Southend area so any advice great received. I generally do the bike maintenance myself, but somehow the chain replacement and all the alignment needed and tools required puts me off, I know id have it for the future. Thoughts on DIY v shop fitting ?

Edited September 4, 2018 by Sinclair48K

[Guest Hants73]

That does sound about right when I had my nc I asked my dealer the same and they said around the £250 mark.

[Andy m 23,473]

What alignment tools? Lasers, spring loaded plunger weights etc. are just bling for the Charlie's. 

 

Place on centre or workshop stand.

Undo the sprocket nut. Should only need a socket and flat blade to bend the tab washer. 

Cut off the old chain with an angle grinder, dremel, hand file and chain breaker etc. (To misquote Sir Michael: You are only meant to blow the bloody rivet heads off) 

Remove rear wheel and change sprocket with hand tools, may even work with the bikes tool kit. 

Remove front sprocket and fit new one, hand tools

Refit rear wheel. 

Fit chain. Clamp with chain tool then rivet with same. 

Adjust chain using marks on adjuster just as you would at any other chain adjustment. 

 

I don't even own one of those three foot uncalibrated extension bars with numbers on, but if it worries you buy a torque wrench and use it before the certificate expires. 

 

You will put more thought in than any garage mechanic. 

 

Andy

 

 

[temp 359]

£250 sounds roughly double what I would pay for supply and fitting.

[TheEnglishman 401]

A decent chain and sprocket kit is ~£150?  Fitting etc would take about an hour.  A reasonable garage would be what - £60 per hour?  

 

If you can do maintenance then chains/sprockets are easy.  The only alignment tool I use is a 12" straight edge.  My chains last ~20-25k.  I buy ready made chains as this gives me the incentive to take the swing arm and linkage off to check/grease.  

 

There's a million videos on youtube on how to do the work.

[klrman 560]

What is the current thinking on split links? I've always used them on sub 60bhp, sub 80mph bikes, but never on a big, fast road bike. I've never had any issues. I assume they can still be purchased. I'm interested because under my criteria the NC is a borderline case and I'm just coming up to 15000 miles. 

[Tex 36,816]

Well, John McGuinness just won the Senior Classic TT on a 500cc Paton that makes 74 bhp and does the thick end of 150 mph. And it was fitted with a split link.. To be fair, it also had a twist of locking wire around the clip as a pure precaution. 

 

Would I use a spring clip link on an NC? Hmm, possibly not. Why? Because a riveting link is so easy and removes a possible point of failure. Rivet it and forget it for the life of the chain. With a spring clip there’s always something else to check every weekend.  

[Graham NZ 1,186]

When long ago I used spring clips I locked them with a strip of thin aluminium sheet under them and and bent over the front at the top and bottom.  Never gave any trouble.

[Andy m 23,473]

No objection to clip links here, but why use something thats harder to find, isn't as good and needs inspection? A rivet tool lasts a lifetime and meets all the chain sellers warranty criterea.

 

I used to have two links with tubular rivets, each with a bolt pushed through. You tightened the bolts to form the head, the frangible bolts breaking when the head was formed. A great solution for up the desert, but not one I ever had to use. I haven't seen them offered since, but they were F650 (comedy Bavarian rated for a 250 twin but fitted to a 650 Thumper) size, so of little use now.

 

My biggest thing with chains is quality and spec. I will cheerfully buy branded or Honda and it must be O-ring or whatever variants. The difference with the old, crappy chains which are now produced in the third world is amazing. The OE one on the Bullet snapped and the non-O-Ring Reynolds, so called quality thing actually needed the weekly adjustment the manuals still call for and boiling in whale blubber once a month. That's why they had split links, because the materials were ****. The OE one on the CB hasn't been adjusted yet and will probably go unadjusted between pairs of tyres because its big enough for a 750, modern and gets modern lube on it.

 

Andy

[Sinclair48K 16]

Thanks very much for that Andy, I was worried it was something that had really done by a workshop. Are the bolt then not tightened to stupid torque settings? Hate to get it all apart only to find I cant get the sprockets off without an impact wrench !!!

 

Does sound very easy, and the comment about taking more time over it is right, if its your bike then you are more likely to take greater care than a mechanic. 

 

Of course that begs a whole other question what chain to get to replace it? So many brands and whizzy words to make their product sound superior, but really its marketing crap.

[Sinclair48K 16]

14 hours ago, temp said:

£250 sounds roughly double what I would pay for supply and fitting.

Your not in the southend area are you ;-)

[Andy m 23,473]

The CB500* front sprocket is 54Nm, same as the front axle, so shouldn't need the magic nut gun, only a socket and bar. That said, i own an electric impact wrench and could borrow a pneumatic one from work, so do tend to just start with the chain.

 

*can't recall the NC number but think its the same lock washer and wobbly sprocket set up.

 

Andy

[Sinclair48K 16]

1 hour ago, Andy m said:

The CB500* front sprocket is 54Nm, same as the front axle, so shouldn't need the magic nut gun, only a socket and bar. That said, i own an electric impact wrench and could borrow a pneumatic one from work, so do tend to just start with the chain.

 

*can't recall the NC number but think its the same lock washer and wobbly sprocket set up.

 

Andy

Thanks for the info Andy.

[rjp996 1,091]

My tip for getting front sprocket off is loosen it with the bike on the floor and someone sitting on the bike with break on - as said its not hard to undo - except..... every time i change mine, i always take the rear wheel off then slap my head as I always forget to loosen the sprocket nut first and have to put the wheel back on - I seem to never learn... (a pattern my wife is keen to let me know).

 

Changing the rear sprocket, the nuts are tighter and i put the rear wheel (up right) up against a wall and sit on top of it, that holds it still and can get the nuts un done without to much trouble.

 

Ive don't have a link tool, so have always bought an endless chain, its only 10 mins more time i find to remove the swingarm bolt (undo the dog legs) and slip the endless chain on. nothing against using a tool, just that I dotn have one and by the time I cut the old chain link off etc I dont think its much more work on the NC for endless.

 

 

[Sinclair48K 16]

Thank for the tips rjp996

 

[embee 7,288]

7 hours ago, Sinclair48K said:

... Are the bolt then not tightened to stupid torque settings? Hate to get it all apart only to find I cant get the sprockets off without an impact wrench !!!

…...

Of course that begs a whole other question what chain to get to replace it? So many brands and whizzy words to make their product sound superior, but really its marketing crap.

As said by others, the front g/box sprocket is only "retained" by a bolt and flat washer to stop it coming off the splines, it doesn't clamp it tight. Not desperately tight. I use some moly paste on the splines when refitting the sprocket.

 

As for chain, I'd suggest either DID VX2 or DID ZVM (top spec version), both way better than the OE item. Check out Busters, M&P, Wemoto, Sportsbikeshop etc. for prices. Stick to steel sprockets, alloy are not ideal for regular road use, suppliers like JT are fine.

[SteveThackery 3,090]

11 hours ago, Andy m said:

No objection to clip links here, but why use something thats harder to find, isn't as good and needs inspection? A rivet tool lasts a lifetime and meets all the chain sellers warranty criterea.

 

In the past I've used a "two-chain" system which works brilliantly.  It does, though, rely on split links.

 

Every several weeks, when the chain was covered in gritty filth, I'd open the split link, hook on my spare chain and pull it through, closing it with its own split link.  Then I would clean the old chain as follows.  Get a 4 or 5 litre plastic container of white spirit, and decant (or use) the white spirit until it's about half full.  Drop the dirty chain into the container (remember to close up the split link so it can't get detached), close the lid, and shake vigorously up and down.  The white spirit swishes violently all round the chain, and the chain is shaken, flexed and generally "worked".  Do this for as long as you like, and you can give it several goes over a few days.  You can tell from the sound that the cleaning action is very vigorous.

 

When your arms are tired, undo the lid and fish out the chain with a piece of stiff wire.  You will find it to be beautifully clean.  When it's dry, treat it with your preferred chain lube and store it ready to fit.  When the white spirit is too filthy to work, you can filter it rather than discard it (although, to be honest, it's pretty cheap in the scheme of things).

 

Obviously repeat with the other chain, using one whilst the other is cleaned.

 

Whether any of this is worth doing on modern sealed chains I don't know, but it doesn't take long and it seems more effective than any method of cleaning the chain in situ.

[Andy m 23,473]

The O-rings in a modern chain won't thank you for contact with white spirit. 

 

Andy

[baben 11,698]

What happens with a single sided swing arm as per Tiger? Presumably you can put on an endless chain without removing the swing arm? If so this compensates for how difficult it is to adjust the chain.  Also there should be no alignment issues?

[SteveThackery 3,090]

17 minutes ago, Andy m said:

The O-rings in a modern chain won't thank you for contact with white spirit. 

 

Andy

 

Is that right?  Can you recommend a more suitable cleaner/solvent/detergent?  Perhaps something like Jizer?

[Rocker66 34,375]

1 hour ago, SteveThackery said:

 

In the past I've used a "two-chain" system which works brilliantly.  It does, though, rely on split links.

 

Every several weeks, when the chain was covered in gritty filth, I'd open the split link, hook on my spare chain and pull it through, closing it with its own split link.  Then I would clean the old chain as follows.  Get a 4 or 5 litre plastic container of white spirit, and decant (or use) the white spirit until it's about half full.  Drop the dirty chain into the container (remember to close up the split link so it can't get detached), close the lid, and shake vigorously up and down.  The white spirit swishes violently all round the chain, and the chain is shaken, flexed and generally "worked".  Do this for as long as you like, and you can give it several goes over a few days.  You can tell from the sound that the cleaning action is very vigorous.

 

When your arms are tired, undo the lid and fish out the chain with a piece of stiff wire.  You will find it to be beautifully clean.  When it's dry, treat it with your preferred chain lube and store it ready to fit.  When the white spirit is too filthy to work, you can filter it rather than discard it (although, to be honest, it's pretty cheap in the scheme of things).

 

Obviously repeat with the other chain, using one whilst the other is cleaned.

 

Whether any of this is worth doing on modern sealed chains I don't know, but it doesn't take long and it seems more effective than any method of cleaning the chain in situ.

That’s what I used to do with the chains on my old Brit bikes  except that I would clean the train with paraffin before boiling  it in Lynk lyfe. I think that’s how they spelt it.

[White Skark 114]

You are right Rocker66, I used Lynklyfe as well, what a filthy job, hated doing it, but had to.

[Andy m 23,473]

Mild detergent is about the best thing for rubber. Try washing up liquid or maybe a bike cleaner with less salt to save the metal. If it still works it's win win. 

 

Andy

[klrman 560]

Diesel works well too

[ETEC 6]

1 hour ago, SteveThackery said:

 

Is that right?  Can you recommend a more suitable cleaner/solvent/detergent?  Perhaps something like Jizer?

 

 

Try Kerosene/ Paraffin, it is not supposed to do any harm to o-rings. Plenty of Vids on You Tube with guys using it to clean chains