StromTrooper banner

New chain and sprockets with uneven slack

8K views 48 replies 17 participants last post by  madbaz 
#1 ·
Hello everyone,
This is my firs post so please be gentle with me :wink2:
I guess the title says it all. First maybe a bit of a background before i get to point: I have replaced both sprockets and the chain after almost a year of riding (since I bought the bike) and I have put about 10k miles on it within that time. Couple of weeks ago my old chain stretched really badly within only a week or so. I am not an aggressive rider (and 90% of my travels are motorway miles), but god knows for how long the chain was there before i bought my wee so I think it was about time for it to start dying.
I went for this stuff hoping it will give me nice, smooth ride for many miles to come:

(i will just paste eBay titles here)
- Ognibene Silent Rear Sprocket Suzuki DL650 K7-L4 V Strom 07-14 47T
- Suzuki GSXR600 K6-L0 06-10 Ognibene 16T Silent Front Sprocket (STD Size)
- Suzuki DL650 V Strom K7-10 07-10 DID ZVM-X X-Ring Drive Chain (525-118 )

Yes, I wanted one more tooth in the front just for better motorway cruising experience at the cost of some acceleration, and GSXR600 front sprocket should do the trick :wink2:

After taking old stuff off I have noticed that rear sprocket is not worn off too much but front one had its teeth really slim and bent back (probably the sprocket was there since bike left the factory)

With all already fitted in place next thing was adjusting chain's slack. I quickly discovered the slack was uneven. As I was turning the wheel, play rose from 20mm to the point where i could press the chain against the swingarm and further.
I thought brand new set would match together better than this.

Is there anything i could do to make it better? If there is no other choice I will have to ride on it as is, but I would prefer to have things running smoother.
 
See less See more
#36 ·
The front sprocket may wear in, but the rear looks like it may be not be a 525.
 
#37 ·
ah, I think Toshbar is correct. At first I thought only the front sprocket had the rubber (like oem), but now i see the rear also does. And you can clearly see the chain is making contact with the rubber at 3-4 o'clock on the rear, probably preventing it from fully seating on the sprocket.
 
#38 ·
So there's a rubber ring on the rear too, unlike OEM?
 
#41 ·
I have had this with oe front sprockets that have the rubber damper.
The new rubber damper is a slightly larger diameter and it compresses slightly as the side links bed into it.

I tentitively* say it will be fine, after a few miles check and readjust the chain.

* as long as you are SURE the new items are all the correct 525 pitch.
 
#42 ·
This thread has been a good learning experience for me. I like what those rubber dampers do as far as chain noise, never seen them on a rear sprocket. I have taken chain noise for granted and until my latest project with the windshields I never really paid attention to it. Now it is way more obvious.
 
#43 ·
It's NOT incorrect pitch. It appears that way because, as has been said, the rubber is preventing the chain from fully seating down in the sprocket valleys. ALL 500 series chains have the same pitch. The difference between 520, 525, 530 is the thickness, or width between the inner plates.
 
#46 ·
A chain can be quite noisy. It can be a problem for manufacturers when doing noise testing for compliance on new models. Harley Davidson went to belt drive mainly to get rid of chain noise for instance.

If you ride back roads and have noisy tires it won't really matter. Small windshield, same thing.
 
#49 ·
Hi guys. I am back. Sorry for disappearing for so long. Been a bit busy recently including 3000 mile journey around Europe including proper winter conditions in mid April.
The whole thing broke in nicely and runs like a dream. I guess a brute solution has worked in this case. But I was aware of the risks and couldn't find any particular fault in the setup, so I would not recommend tensing chain up and breaking it in like that in any other case unless all other possibilities were exhausted.

Thank you all again for such a great response and all thoughts on that one :D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top