Chains - Primary and Drive.

[Mark Fraser]

Just had excellent service from 'The Chain Man' that advertises in OBM.(01299 403668)
Good advice / price, and put's the goodies in the post.When you receive the goods and your happy, you then send a cheque.

 

[bmetcalf]

There is quite a bit of history to various types of twin primary chain, with very bad results from the wrong kind, so be careful.

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Chains

No idea what he told you, but what I've figured out, with help from Jacqueline Bickerstaff among others, is that Renold never made "motorcycle chains", they made industrial chains that had an adequate life on motorcycles. And were cheap. The people who make motorcycle chains are people (Japanese people) like DID and Tsubaki, and if you doubt that, just compare the thickness of the sideplates. Presumably Honda et al were not prepared to accept that since doing it properly would cost more per chain, they should just bumble through by lying to the end user about all failures being down to poor maintenance....
My (76 bhp) Ducati Monster has a DID 5/8" x 1/4" chain which has been adjusted maybe once in 10,000 miles. My Manx Norton has used two Tsubaki 5/8" x 1/4" motocross, non-o-seal chains in 14 seasons.

 

[BlackLightning998]

I've fitted Iwis Megalife

As recommended I fitted and forgot an Iwis Megalife - you don't need to lubricate it, no really, that's what he told me and that's what I do mostly, the odd bit of oil before a long trip. Hardly needs adjusting, great deal.

More expensive at £80, but you get what you pay for.

Stuart

No idea what he told you, but what I've figured out, with help from Jacqueline Bickerstaff among others, is that Renold never made "motorcycle chains", they made industrial chains that had an adequate life on motorcycles. And were cheap. The people who make motorcycle chains are people (Japanese people) like DID and Tsubaki, and if you doubt that, just compare the thickness of the sideplates. Presumably Honda et al were not prepared to accept that since doing it properly would cost more per chain, they should just bumble through by lying to the end user about all failures being down to poor maintenance....
My (76 bhp) Ducati Monster has a DID 5/8" x 1/4" chain which has been adjusted maybe once in 10,000 miles. My Manx Norton has used two Tsubaki 5/8" x 1/4" motocross, non-o-seal chains in 14 seasons.

 

[Mark Fraser]

No idea what he told you, but what I've figured out, with help from Jacqueline Bickerstaff among others, is that Renold never made "motorcycle chains", they made industrial chains that had an adequate life on motorcycles. And were cheap. The people who make motorcycle chains are people (Japanese people) like DID and Tsubaki, and if you doubt that, just compare the thickness of the sideplates. Presumably Honda et al were not prepared to accept that since doing it properly would cost more per chain, they should just bumble through by lying to the end user about all failures being down to poor maintenance....
My (76 bhp) Ducati Monster has a DID 5/8" x 1/4" chain which has been adjusted maybe once in 10,000 miles. My Manx Norton has used two Tsubaki 5/8" x 1/4" motocross, non-o-seal chains in 14 seasons.

Your exactly right Tom in what your saying about Renolds Chains. He also said that within the last three years their chain quality has gone downhill. Tsubaki is what I've been supplied with for the primary and Iwis for the drive chain.

Mark

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Chains, my baby's got me tied up in chains.....

I run Renolds on my Vin. With a Scottoiler, the rear is holding up. However since i bought the chains from an engineering supplier - much cheaper than bike dealers - the seller asked me if I wanted the real Renold chain (one piece rollers) or the cheaper alternative, with "rolled rollers", that Renold had made for them from recycled Morris Marinas in Krapovia, and branded "Renold". I bought the good stuff. It was an interesting insight into "branding". You get a good reputation by making good kit, then having established that, buy any cheap crap and flog it off as high quality branded tackle. A good story is that "the man from Nike" found that fake Nike's (£10) were actually better made than "real Nike's" (£100) so they took the contract away from the "real" factory and gave it to the "faker".

Your exactly right Tom in what your saying about Renolds Chains. He also said that within the last three years their chain quality has gone downhill. Tsubaki is what I've been supplied with for the primary and Iwis for the drive chain.

Mark

 

[Vinthou]

Where does one purchase an IWIS? Neither VOC Spares nor Vinparts indicate what brand their drive chains are.

 

[BlackLightning998]

Try these guys.....

I was recommended these people by Vincent owners - fabulous service and they know what a Vincent needs.

I think my Iwis Megalife was about £85 for the Rapide

http://www.sprocketsunlimited.com/

Where does one purchase an IWIS? Neither VOC Spares nor Vinparts indicate what brand their drive chains are.

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Chains

I think Vinparts offer Tsubaki primary chains. Ask Russell.

Where does one purchase an IWIS? Neither VOC Spares nor Vinparts indicate what brand their drive chains are.

 

[Mark Fraser]

Iwis chain

Where does one purchase an IWIS? Neither VOC Spares nor Vinparts indicate what brand their drive chains are.

Andy the 'Chain Man' does Iwis. Phone number on my first posting. My friend bought a Spainish primary chain from him at Stafford yesterday for his Rap. Paid £30.

 

[BlackLightning998]

Spanish Chains....

I'm not familiar with Spanish Chains - unsure of the make or reputation - however I have seen several nasty occurences when a primary chain breaks - usually resulting in a bill of more that £1000.

If price is the driving factor on spending £30 on a primary chain I'd rather buy a named make from a proven source, not to say that it will not break but I'd like to do everything I can to reduce the chance. Not sure what the right price ism but Sprockets Unlimited seem to know what they were about, and I've been very happy with the IWIS.


Stuart

Andy the 'Chain Man' does Iwis. Phone number on my first posting. My friend bought a Spainish primary chain from him at Stafford yesterday for his Rap. Paid £30.

 

[Mark Fraser]

I'm not familiar with Spanish Chains - unsure of the make or reputation - however I have seen several nasty occurences when a primary chain breaks - usually resulting in a bill of more that £1000.

If price is the driving factor on spending £30 on a primary chain I'd rather buy a named make from a proven source, not to say that it will not break but I'd like to do everything I can to reduce the chance. Not sure what the right price ism but Sprockets Unlimited seem to know what they were about, and I've been very happy with the IWIS.


Stuart

I was impressed by Andy. He's been in the business for years and told me that he does get asked to attend bike club meets to give a talk about various chains etc.
I also bought a drive chain for a Velocette Viper. Iwis £27 from the 'Chain Man', Sprockets unlimited were selling exactly the same Iwis Chain for £38.

Mark......

 

[deejay499]

Hi all.
Andy `the chain man`has been a great help for advice and does all the above named chains and even supplies some of the Vincent dealers, so the quality is the same. He can be contacted on drivesol@aol.com
Cheers, DJ

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Chains

I have a Renold (VOCSC) primary, and have never explored the alternatives (10,000 miles so far). Rear chains however, I do know about, and the critical thing is the thickness of the sideplates. I have both Tsubaki and DID on other bikes and both have sideplates twice as thick as the Renold on the Vin. When I replace that I'll replace it with a Tsubaki or DID, which means a 520 (5 x 1/8" pitch, 2.0 x 1/8" wide rollers) instead of the standard 3/8" wide. (In modern nomenclature, the standard Vin would be a 530.) However, since my claimed 76 bhp and no reason to doubt it Ducati Monster uses an o-seal 520, and in 10,000 Scott-oiled miles I've only adjusted it once, I reckon it'll be OK.
Can anyone explain in a sentence what the benefits of X-ring chains are, and what one gets for ones money? I'm damned if I can find out.

 

[johncrispin]

Tom,
Thanks for the exposition re Alan Davies, excellent product and for the amount of work with that double curvature dirt cheap. I think he is completely off the old bike scene now ? Won everything with a perfect bike then quit I was told, another good man who made good Rudge repro tinware Ray Millar has recently passed away also bad news, and as for the Fakirs oops did i spell that ok ? there are lots of them about but we need a good one who can make all these nice dies for us to make our guards etc.
I bought a Tsubaki primary from Vinparts i am sure. atb J

 

[Tom Gaynor]

Guards

Nice to hear from you again, John. I too had heard that Ray was gone. quote=johncrispin;6856]Tom,
Thanks for the exposition re Alan Davies, excellent product and for the amount of work with that double curvature dirt cheap. I think he is completely off the old bike scene now ? Won everything with a perfect bike then quit I was told, another good man who made good Rudge repro tinware Ray Millar has recently passed away also bad news, and as for the Fakirs oops did i spell that ok ? there are lots of them about but we need a good one who can make all these nice dies for us to make our guards etc.
I bought a Tsubaki primary from Vinparts i am sure. atb J[/quote]

 

[Tnecniv Edipar]

Can anyone explain in a sentence what the benefits of X-ring chains are, and what one gets for ones money? I'm damned if I can find out.

This should explain it , http://www.didchain.com/xring1.htm

 

[Tom Gaynor]

X ring vs O ring

They seem convinced, but they don't give any numbers, so I'm not. However (and thanks for this) I now know that functionally X-ring is the same as O-ring, and may be more efficient. And i didn't know that before!

This should explain it , http://www.didchain.com/xring1.htm