When to change the Sproket and chain

I've done 33000km on the original chain and sprockets, this has been mainly
riding to work, but I have also done around 12 ride days and fare bit of
twisty work aswell.

The chain has always been well oiled and the sprocket still has good teeth.

I'm just wondering when I should change it? Wait for it to start making
noise? Before my next track day? When it breaks ;-)

The bike I'm riding is a 2003 R6 so doesn't have much torque to stretch
chains.

 

When you can pull the link off the back of the rear sprocket!
Grab a link half-way around the rear sprocket and see if you can pull it
out (radially) off the sprocket. If it moves more than about 4mm it's time
to buy a shaft-drive bike!

 

What , being shafted , its time to hang up the gloves when this occurs

 

I always use the markers on the swing arm as a guide when you run out of
adjustment it is time to change the chain and if the rear sprocket teeth
start to hook it time for that to go to, in the early days of my riding i
remember cutting the chain and removing links and all that did was stuff the
sprockets even quicker - was a bit like a belt drive but the chain slipped
on the sprocket on powering up lol.
Lushy
Mexican macchiato Posse #1

 

and fastest way to stuff a new chain....dont replace the sprockets.

Replace as a set.

 

Replace as a set.
If this a urban ledged or fact? Has anyone actually tried replacing one?
Result bad?
I'm just thinking it may have been the case 20 or so years ago but now?

 

Now.

G-S

 

Yeh, I'll go against convention. Firstly, if you have an owner's handbook,
you might find a recommended guide to use to assess wear... the distance
between a certain number of links v\s a standard.
On my TLR I replaced the chain and front sprocket at
~ 25k kms. I live near the sea, and the air about is particularly corrosive,
so in the cooling down process on arriving home, I think that the chain
draws salty moisture
into the link zone. However for a V-twin, I think that
such a length of life is average or better.
At that time the chain was replaced with a s\hand one from the wreckers, in
good cond. at a good price... need to go to a wrecker of late model bikes,
and get a quality chain. The front sprocket was new. I got another 25k kms
out of that set = 50k kms out of the back sprocket.
The whole set on the bike now, is a matched s\hand set.
It is also worth keeping your eye on ebay, there are some good buys come up
on there from time to time.
I really need to set myself up to be able to change tyres
now, because they remain a big expense, and there are
lots of savings to be made in that department.
Rockit

 

Equipment needed; 1 front stand, 1 rear stand.

....at ~$340rrp for the set and taking $30 as the average fitting charge
for a set of tyres with a 6,000km lifespan, you'll start pulling ahead
after some 68,000km.

 

For a change I agree with IK.

Not because he wants to buy a couple of wimpy little stands:
proper motorcycles have center stands anyway. Just because if you've
got tubeless tyres, changing them is such an utter pain in the arse
that you may as well pay someone with the right gear to do it.

(If you've got tube tyres, and you like travel significant distances,
you probably should learn how to change a tube anyway.)

I take the wheels off and drive to the shop, but that's more so I can
go grocery shopping while they change them than to save money.

-----sharks

 

That's a worry, most tyres on the farm end up with tubes in them for that
(perceived) reason. I'm usaully sitting around in the workshop when the
tyres are changed on my bike, and really it all seems to be so simple.
Balancing the wheel seems to be the most time consuming part of the
exercise. I have a mate who manages it all without trouble.
The costings were a bit off the mark. I have made up 2 rear stands... one is
out of the handle of a lawn-mower; it's braced up, pivots on 2 bits of 25mm
shaft, onto which
4 bearings are fitted; I have a bike that is half cleaned sitting on it at
present.
I get > 12000 kms out of a pilot power front and > 15 out of a pilot road
rear... good even wear all over. The savings that I was looking at was in
the source and price of the tyres, not the savings in the fitting cost..
Rockit

 

That's irrelevant. We're going to insist on solving the problem you
don't have for you anyway.

GB

 

Unless you can think of a technological advance in chain or sprocket
design which
would cause wear on a used part not to accelerate wear on the new
part...

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

Fortunately for you, the great thing about motorcycle tyres is that the
less you pay for them the longer they will last, so the savings are
compounded to your benefit, although the tyres aren't.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R