- Types of chains for motorcycles
- Anti-theft chains for motorcycles and their features
- Motorcycle chain tensioning
Motorcycles are a popular type of vehicle. Motorcycles are used for a variety of purposes. Motorcyclists use them for riding, as collectibles, and as sports equipment. Whatever the purpose of the motorcycle, it must be remembered that this is a full-fledged mechanism, which must be equipped with all the most necessary things and elements.
Attention: All parts of a motorcycle are important. If your vehicle is dear to you, then it is important to pay attention to the condition of all its parts. One cannot fail to take into account the condition of the chain on the motorcycle.
Types of motorcycle chains
Motorcycle chains are a certain number of metal links that are connected to each other in a special way. At first glance, it may seem that they are a simple mechanism and play virtually no role in the condition of the motorcycle. However, this is not the case. Chains can easily damage any motorcycle if they become unusable. In addition, the safety of the vehicle may depend on the chains. Today there are two types of chains for motorcycles on the market:
- anti theft chain for motorcycle
- ordinary tension, which is required to set the mechanism in motion.
Motorcycle chains are made from high-strength metal materials. For the best performance of any of them, it is necessary to lubricate the links in a timely manner using special oil substances.
The principle of operation of conventional tension chains is to drive the front wheel of a motorcycle. Each link of any chain is put on the protruding parts of the motorcycle. They are popularly called stars.
Motorcycle chains wear out quite rarely. This will take a very long time. Due to the fact that they are made from durable metals, they rarely fail. Therefore, there is no need to purchase too many of them.
Anti-theft chains have a special lock, which makes it possible to leave the motorcycle unattended within the city.
Motorcycle chains types, applications and recommendations
RK is one of the world leaders in the production of motorcycle chains. This company is located entirely (including production) in Japan. The staff consists of 110 people.RK produces various types of chains for all types of motorcycles. The main difference (besides, of course, geometric parameters) of chains from each other is the presence or absence of oil seals and the shape of these oil seals.
Sealless chains are mainly used for motocross and enduro. They are marked MXZ
These chains are currently the lightest cross chains on the market. The chains are made of steel with a high chromium content. For greater strength, connecting sleeves and pins of increased size are used.
The chains are intended for both professional and amateur motocross and enduro.
Stuffing box chains:
O-Ring - marked SO:
The cross-sectional shape of the oil seal is the simplest - a circle. This seal has one contact patch on each of the side plates, to which it fits and holds the lubricant inside the bushing. Of course, for road use such a chain is better than a sealless chain - its service life is much longer, and the chain is very inexpensive. With proper care and a quiet ride on more or less clean roads, it is an excellent choice.
RX (XSO) – Ring
It is marked XSO. A standard chain installed at factories by motorcycle manufacturers. The cross-section of the oil seal has the shape of the letter X (to be completely precise, the letter Zh, but there is no such letter in the Latin alphabet).
Accordingly, the oil seal has 2 contact spots with each of the plates, which allows it to more reliably hold the lubricant (if the outer side of the oil seal is damaged, the second groove remains intact and the lubricant does not escape from the bushing).
Such a chain is certainly more expensive than an O-Ring, but it also has a longer service life. Plus, you can fearlessly operate the motorcycle in more severe (in terms of dirt) conditions.
XW (GXW) – Ring
Marked GXW. The so-called “reinforced” chain. The oil seal has an even more complex shape - two conjugate letters W.
Each plate has 3 contact spots. Accordingly, a triple safety margin compared to the O-Ring. If the two outer rings are damaged, the chain fully retains its properties due to the fact that the lubricant is retained by the 3rd inner ring. The chains are suitable for severe operating conditions, when confidence is important that the motorcycle drive will not fail at the most critical moment.
Schematic representation of the shape of the seals listed above
Graph of the dependence of the service life of chains on the shape of the seals (Under similar operating conditions. The graph also shows chains that are not included in this review, since they are not supplied to Russia).
RK company marks all its chains with a laser (several years ago they abandoned marking using a press, as this significantly reduces the strength of the links). Every 10-20 links are marked RK Japan and the type of chain, for example - 520 XSO.
I would also like to say a few words about chain maintenance. Don't forget to lubricate and, most importantly, clean your chain regularly! Remember that lubricating the chain without first cleaning it preserves dirt particles between the plates on the oil seals. During driving, these grains of sand very quickly destroy the seals, as a result of which the lubricant located in the bushings comes out. The chain begins to stretch.
Here I would like to separately note that the term “chain stretching” is not entirely correct. The plates themselves (unless of course the chain is made of a well-known brown substance) do not stretch. In fact, the connecting sleeves and pins begin to wear out due to dirt trapped in them. As a result, small backlashes are formed in the connections, which, with very small sizes of each of them, can increase the length of the entire chain by several centimeters. The chain breaks, in fact, for the same reason - when the bushings, which are heavily corroded by dirt, cannot withstand it.
Thanks to 4-moto for the materials provided.
Anti-theft chains for motorcycles and their features
In the modern world there are a considerable number of people who are involved in the theft of motorcycles. Therefore, in the city and in any other places, it is necessary to equip your vehicle with high-quality security systems. Chains that are designed to protect against theft allow you to secure your vehicle from the encroachment of third parties.
The principle of operation of such chains is that they securely secure the motorcycle in the place where you left it. For this, a long chain with a reliable and high-quality lock is used. The choice of anti-theft chains must be approached very responsibly so that the protection is of high quality and reliable. When choosing such a chain, you need to pay attention to the lock. It shouldn't be easy to open. Modern chain locks have excellent fastener quality, which not every attacker can handle.
DID drive chain seals.
O-ring. The simplest type of seals and the cheapest. Ideal for off-road motorcycles - because on these models the chain is a “consumable”. On a road motorcycle, O-ring chains last as long as X-rings, and are usually a couple of times cheaper.
X-ring. It is quite expensive to install such chains on motocross motorcycles, but they are just right for road and touring motorcycles. All manufacturers unanimously say that the X-ring type of oil seal provides longer service life for the motorcycle chain.
The need to replace some good DID chain with a chain from a Soviet motorcycle, such as IZH or Voskhod, can be caused either by a break or stretching of the chain far from civilization. The term “far from civilization” will be used to refer to those parts of our vast homeland where there are no motorcycle spare parts stores, because a real TROUBLE biker needs nothing more from civilization, and where there is nothing to repair his horse, there is no life!
