New Chain, Should I Get New Sprockets

I just went through the chain adjustment section in my owner's manual and I believe it says to replace the chain and sprockets together.

 

Well. There you go ySeven. Varied opinions. Now you decide which way you are going to go. My option has worked well for me while I put over 100K miles since August 06 on the same bike, but I am sure there other people may say the same dealing with the issue different that I.

 

Quit yanking my chain.

 

ySeven, Its up to you really. But if I was going to take someones advice on a webforum, I think I would look at it like this...

In favor of replacing sprockets & chain at same time:
Scubalong - 5,683 posts
mello dude - 2,737 posts
ridrvfr - 1,548 posts
Randy - 6,287 posts
duccmann - 1,158 posts
BadBilly - 5,904 posts
Pliskin - 2,523 posts

In favor of keeping old sprockets on new chain:
mecamind - 1 post

I also know that some of the high volume poster members are also active on VFRDiscussions, so their total post count is actually much higher.

Add to that, we know that Randy has a ton of miles on his VFR and I am betting that the other guys do as well.

Me personally, I relaced them both at the same time. Same thing on my previous bike. Just my $.02.

 

Thats like the "600 mile service, where you get a glorified oil change and a hand-shake for $500.00."

I hate to diminish the skill of sales-man-ship, but it sucks when people give you a snow job, and you live in the sun-belt! farkers!!! :wink:

 

Gotta get some of those one day.

 

lmao:chaingun:

 

Post count doesent mean toffee other than someone spends more time on the computer.
Yes it s best to use new sprockets but it's not essential and it's not gonna kill you. Chains do not stretch
they simply wear. I have no post count but I've built and raced bikes.

 

I agree that high post count doesn't mean that one is all knowing, however if what the person is posting sounds legit I would be more apt to listen to them. Plus, you could always look at their past posts or their profile and see how many times they have been thanked. It's a starting point not the answer.

I have had some interaction with Randy and while he may clever and quick witted, I have also found him to be knowledgeable.

 

If you have the money for both do it and if you don't then I would suggest that you don’t..... Unless the sprocket is worn, in which case you will be buying another chain and sprocket again soon. I have changed my chain 3 times and the sprocket once in 25k plus miles. The first time due to the fact that the bike sat for a bit while I got my other vehicles up and running and it was not garage kept. Got rusty and I also wanted a new red chain because I thought that it would look good. Second time was because of the fact that the red chain sucked royal ass. The third time I changed the sprockets and the chain and I needed both got a good deal on a DID set and went with it. In short do what you have the money to do. I say if you have the cash for both be safe and do both. Maybe you could sell the old one on eBay. There is always someone buying used as is parts on there. You could recoup some of the money you spent on the new set.

That of course is just my opinion.

 

I do believe my manual also recommends replacement of sprockets and chain as a set. I did with mine 1000 miles ago even though I was short on cash and the sprockets didn't "look" bad ( I saved the old ones because who knows - maybe repurpose as giant ninjy stars?) and haven't looked back. I've tried to short cut bike repair in the past and wound up buying the same parts twice or twice as fast.
New sprockets on Amazon only wound up being an extra $50 - $60 so what's the difference in the long run?
I say buy them.
Oh and do the job yourself, what you save in labor will more than make up for the cost of sprockets, maybe chain too.

Oh and "chains don't stretch."? Really guys!? Then what in the hell do you suppose the chain adjustment procedure is for?
Easy verification buy or acquire a brand new bike specific chain and lay it out next to your old worn out stretched out chain and check it for length.


http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_chains.html


Roller-to-Roller Distance Elongation:
Sometimes called sideplate elongation, which is usually technically be incorrect, depending on the circumstances.
Over time, the repeated pulling on the chain and overly tight chain adjustments causes the chain's subcomponents to physically elongate, and the distance between any two roller surfaces increases. Unfortunately, the distance between teeth on the sprocket doesn't elongate the same way, and the result is that only one roller is taking the majority of the force from a sprocket at any given time, instead of sharing it equally among the rollers in contact at that instant. This causes the chain to elongate and to wear at an even higher rate, and causes the sprocket teeth to start wearing unevenly (forming a wave pattern). Over-tightening the chain tension is usually part of the culprit. This form of failure is the most common form of age/wear related failure, and can often be tied into prior seal integrity failures.
diagram of roller distance
To test for this kind of elongation, attempt to pull the chain away from the rear sprocket at the back center. If the chain can be lifted to the height of the top of the sprocket teeth on any brand/model, then it is elongated enough to need replacement as soon as feasible and is causing undue wear. For most street-oriented motorcycles, replacement limit is around 1.5mm of play when measured like this (i.e. - being able to pull the chain 1.5mm off the rear center of the rear sprocket).

Chain elongation test
Cutting Out Links from a Stretched Chain
Because of the roller-to-roller distance elongation issue listed above, cutting links out of a chain that has stretched too long will do you no good -- the chain will still wear just as fast, and the sprockets will get worn down at the same accelerated rate as well. Just because the chain is now physically shorter doesn't change the roller-to-roller distance.

 

Hey jack ass. Take the old chain, count the links and cut your new chain to the same number of links and then lay them side by side and tell me which one is longer. Why do you think you can run out of chain adj room on the old chain. It has strectched jackass

 

Jeeze, chains don't stretch. Belts stretch, cables stretch, chains wear not stretch. Pins/sideplates wear which means if you pull the chain it will measure longer, but you can push it back together and it will be very close to normal length. You couldn't do that if it stretched.

 

Vapid forum troll #10,999 spouting psychobabble!

It's obvious your hell bent on acting like a child instead of using logic to advise the OP. Theres probably a lot of "them" there evil service writers/mechanics on here that appreciate your career insults. Oh! and spell check next time makes ya look neato if things make sense on a post

 

Correct on moto chains, center rollers have mechanical wear as do pin holes, oblong wear causes a stretched/elongated appearance. It was my general word usage at the time i had no idea it would be taken so literal.

 

Hmmm sorry you've had bad experiences, most of the service writers i've met are cool people who love bikes and the dealerships i've worked at had some ex techs as service writers, myself included.

 

I'm assuming you got this settled by now but I thought id reiterate my post below with imagery. Your chain can be replaced without the expense of new sprockets, heres some images to help you understand what wear looks like. Honestly i would say trust your mechanic over a web forum anyday but being informed can't hurt!

 

Most are refugees from the used car lots. The honest ones don't last long and get replaced as soon as the bean counters find out they are even telling partial truths. Looks like you have had "some" number of job which indicates it ain't all what it's cracked up to be.

Family in the car biz and I sold bikes whilst in grad school.

Bad experience? Yep, once and then not again. Next subject:Lazy parts counter assholes who think they know everything.

A minor correction.. Oot is the correct spelling for oot. It is in the Canadian language. A strange bunch to be sure.

 

So how bout changing sprockets and using the old chain. Any takers on that?