Simple tip for long trip...
 

Pack or zip tie a spare set of sprockets to the frame of your bike. No need to carry a chain as you can get motorcycle chains virtually everywhere, but sprockets specific to your bike? Much harder.

Yup ! Great tip ! I'm struggling to find somewhere to ziptie my sprockets on my frame though. I might ziptie them to the plastic side panels.

Getting a 525 DID X-ring everywhere might not be so easy !

You can buy crappy chinese 520 chains everywhere which stretch and double the wear on your sprockets ;)

You mean like this:


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/IMG_0025.jpg


Loads of people have said to me "don't leave them there, they'll be stolen". That's why I put them on the panniers rather than on the bike. The panniers come off at night.

Better yet, fit a steel rear sprocket. Will outlast several alloy sprockets. A front sprocket is easy enough to carry.

Good tip beer

A friend of mine somehow managed to carry his spare chain and rear sprocket for his Tenere between the bash plate and engine, worked a treat.

This gap is usually left intentionally as a buffer in case your bike hits some stones, logs or something hard. The gap is the security to stop damage to the engine. If you take up the gap then in the even of an big knock to the bash plate then the sprokets or chain stored their will be the first thing to hit the engine rather than the flat bash plate.

If you don't hit anything or have a knock to the bash plate, then all is well.beer

Plus it would distribute the load/weight more evenly rather than storing them in the Panniers.

CORRECT! I cannot imagine the amount of JB Weld and beer cans you would need to fix that kinda damage at the side of the road.

crash bars make usefull tool mounts. the bash plate had a bunch of tire levers, some mole grips and an an adjustable spanner in and around - just not centre front. these all stayed on the bike with no theft problems

I ziptied sprockets to my frame. Now im in Capetown, they look like they came off the Titanic ! Rather rusted and ragged but they would polish up ok !

Ahh, now there's the rub!
The sprocket in the photo above was oiled, wrapped in old carrier bag plastic then the plastic was taped up with insulating and then gaffa tape. It came out like new!, same was done to my clutch plates etc and they were stashed somewhere (subframe?) with no problems

I put it low

http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2594138.jpg

Good tips, but I'm afraid I'd have to disagree with point number 1 for some types of trip. You need to have a rough idea of where you are going but you can ruin a trip by having it all planned out - you start to feel you 'need' to be somewhere and that removes some of the freedom. I'd say try and stay as loose on plans as possible, that way you can't ever be late or behind schedule!

Obviously if you've booked a flight/visa etc that's a bit different.

In terms of weather you need to know whether roads will be shut due to snow or if you're going to be riding in 40 degree heat but on a long trip if it's going to rain it's going to rain, 'force majeur' as the French say!

IMO I'd use stainless hose clips instead of zip tys.....less chance of snapping off etc

:)

.

Dunno about that. My tool tube was attached with three SS hose clamps. They stayed shiny, but all three broke, one at a time. After riding around for a bit with a bungie cord holding the tool tube, I installed three gigantic, fat, thick zipties in Curitiba, Brazil. 20,000 miles later all remained intact.

Yes!

It's an old thread, but people reading it might be left thinking that it's a really good idea (to cable tie sprockets to your bike). It isn't, because they will eventually snap and the sprockets fall off. It might take a while, and if you ride predominantly on tarmac or well graded roads you may never experience it. But why take the chance?? You should only really need to carry front sprockets as a rear sprocket should last at least 30,000 miles if you take care of the chain. One or two front sprockets take up hardly any room in your luggage, or possibly your tool kit.

New sprockets and chain in Brazil, ouch...
 

I wish I had taken a set of sprockets with me when riding clockwise around South America. A tooth on the front sprocket chipped off in Brazil. The recommendation was to replace both sprockets and the chain. The bike had ~20,000 miles on it, so I did it. Got a new air filter and had the road tires I was carrying on the back of the bike mounted, swapping out the off road tires. Total bill ~$1000.00 at a BMW dealer in Sao Paulo (w/ 10% discount.) Foreign parts are hit with hefty import duties in Brazil. And BMW dealers generally get it right the first time and charge a premium. I just wrote up this one to the cost of adventure. Now I'm home and looking at sprocket prices and realize if I had carried my own spares, I would have saved several hundred dollars and simply paid for labor.

Limits and space restrict how much you carry. There are hundreds of trade off and decisions. I left with street tires on the bike and a spare off road front and rear tires across the back seat. I switched these tires out a few times, depending on road conditions. In some countries it was absolutely cheap to have the tires swapped out. I also carried spare inner tubes. On my LAST riding day in Mexico I ran over something and punctured the rear tire. At that point I had ~30,000 miles on the tube and replaced it instead of patching.

Zip ties will not fatigue like metal as they are plastic, but they are not as strong and are easier to cut.

the choice is yours.

each has pro's and con's

Chain NUT here ...
 

YEP ... Old Post ... but a very good point above!
Front sprockets wear about 3 to 1 vs. rear sprocket. But if your chain is a cheapo or worn out ... it will ruin a good sprocket in short order. Keeping a fresh front sprocket on will extend chain life substantially.

The other KEY THING here is to start your trip with a brand new, high quality X ring chain. I like DID 525 X ring vm2 on my DR650 ... I use mostly OEM sprockets and change front sprocket at about 8 to 10,000 miles ... or sooner
depending on conditions. (water & mud very hard on chain/sprockets)

I've run through 3 DID X ring chains ... each did around 25,000 miles ... and each used 3 front sprockets and just ONE rear sprocket over those miles.
All were kept CLEAN and OILED.

If you start with NEW, high quality parts ... then you should easily make 20,000 miles before a chain and new rear sprocket are needed. So plan your
service stop for somewhere that carries parts for your bike and sells QUALITY X Ring chains ... which last about 30% longer than O ring chains.

Cheap chains will eat new sprockets and fail in around 10K miles, depending on use/abuse.
bier

I've always zip-tied sprockets and spare levers to my frame. Usually under the rear subframe where you can't see them.

Never ever lost one or had zip-ties fail.

You HAVE to use the proper thick industrial zip ties though. They're more than up to the job.

It's when people use too few or too small zip-ties, is when they fail.

I think the biggest weakness of zip ties is that they're obviously must softer than metals. They will snap eventually if being chaffed or melted if near exhausts.

Lock-wire is another good solution but more fiddly and usually marks everything and rubs paint etc.

Is 525 the most common chain width to run in terms of finding chains abroad and spare links etc if required?

Depends where you are... Most smaller bikes will probably run a 520.

And in some countries, they're the only bikes you will see.


I know I'm jinxing myself here but I've never had a chain snap in my whole life. That's over 15 years of riding, hundreds of thousands of miles. On and off-road, racing etc...

If you buy a GOOD quality chain and have it PROFESSIONALLY fitted, keep it adjusted and lubricated, it won't fail...

The only times I've ever seen snapped chains are when they've been so rusted they're practically rigid or crazily over tight/loose.

The other failure reasons are chain rollers worn down to the metal or missing all together.


It's not rocket science to prevent all of these scenarios and is the most very basic of maintenance and is unforgivably stupid if you're going on a long bike trip.

It's like people killing their bikes by running out of oil..... I mean.. REALLY... !!! REALLY !!!!

You wouldn't jump into a leaking boat to cross and ocean or ride a camel and never feed or water it.. ~~

Okay I'm ranting.. :)

"You wouldn't jump into a leaking boat to cross an ocean" - i would suggest that Ted has never been on a gambian boat then :innocent:

Hah. Bad analogy perhaps..

Didn't know the Gambia had an ocean to cross ? ;)

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[QUOTE=*Touring Ted*;457788] Didn't know the Gambia had an ocean ? /QUOTE]

Badaboom-Tish! Only the Atlantic Ted but what the heck! :rofl: :smartass::blushing:
Time to update your gps methinks!
p.s the chain trick is to buy a high quality DIX-X (or Z for extremes) chain and have it professionally riveted shut.
That way you have to drop the swing arm to fit it and take the opportunity to grease those bearing which seldom see any (especially if -m-wobble-U have anything to do with them! doh- sheesh!)

Spot On! Totally agree!

Bertrand,
When was the last time you replaced a chain? Been a while, eh? :helpsmilie:
I agree with with using an X ring chain, and Rivet link. Absolutely no good reason to use an old style clip type master link. If done correctly, a rivet link will not fail.

But to my point ... NO REASON to remove swing arm to replace any chain, ever. Most Japanese bikes come from the factory with an "Endless" chain. Swing arm need NOT come off for replacement. I can break the chain in under one minute with my simple, Made In China, $5 tool. This one is 30 years old:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Z...65_kmrfP-L.jpg
New aftermarket chains are not "endless" type. Only need be fit, cut to length and riveted up. Done! :D

I also bought an inexpensive Rivet link tool and with some practice, can now install a new Rivet link. Not a big deal.
But it is a good idea to pull the swing arm and grease those bearings ... maybe once every 3/4 years? More if rain riding a lot or crossing lots of rivers.

[QUOTE=Bertrand;457792]Ahhhhhh alas. I know the gambia has an atlantic coast but a country does not 'have' an ocean to cross. My level of pedantic 'smartass' was two steps ahead..;)

Well it might as well be an ocean - they have a river which splits the country , sort of . Read what you said and the ferry that crosses it sprang to mind immediately :(

Its all in good humour......

I wish I'd been to the Gambian.. :'(

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Ted , you really havent missed much , its knocking on the door of the worse country i have ever been too . Best thing about it was a small road side shack run by two lads from seirra leone who had fled the conflict . Highly educated and very scathing about the politics of africa - many hours learning from those who know . :smartass:

Around here, the majority of bikes run 420 chain, 520/525 is usually special order.

And the last time I had my chain 'professionally' fitted, the mechanic didn't tighten the sprocket lockring nuts properly, which could have been somewhat disastrous.

As for leaking boats, jury-rigged pumps or baling buckets are pretty common on the inter-island bancas and fishing boats that will get you to smaller spots.


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Take less.

Pardon the rant too; however tigershel in deference to 'Touring Ted', an unfed and watered Camel definetly will not get you far...

Cheers from a land of camels bier

He obviously wasn't a professional..

And I think you understood the metaphor ..

Save travels. Ted
He obviously wasn't a professional..

And I think you understood the metaphor ..

Save travels. Ted