How many miles is a chain and sprocket good for?
I got like 17k on my oe stuff and wondering if I should look into swapping them out yet.
depends on many things.
Aluminum sprocket or steel? O-ring, Z-Ring, or no-ring chain? Granny putzing around town, power shifting, hard on the gas all the time, clutching up wheelies, do you keep it clean and lubed, is it properly adjusted periodically etc…
A steel sprocket and good chain on a low power bike with an easy rider, say all highway who keeps it clean and waxed properly it can last 20-30Kmi.
I killed a sprocket and chain on my SM625 in an oil change. OEM Aluminum sprocket, OEM shit chain, many, many clutch up wheelies and hard on the gas all the time. Didnt clean and wax it like I should and it was somewhat dirty. More or less I stretched the chain alot, and ovalized the roller valleys on the sprocket, to the point that the tips of each tooth were razor sharp. Had to adjust every 2 weeks until I ran outa room on the swingarm.
I replaced it with KTM’s hybrid sprocket, aluminum center and steel tooth ring and their Z-ring chain. Sold it with them on it with well over 3Kmi and it looked brand new still, chain was even still 2 fingers off the slide tensioned like it should be for my bike. Rode it just as hard as I did every day.
forgot to mention… biggest thing people screw up is this.
They put a new chain/sprocket SET on (replace the front sprocket at the same time too), ride it for 250 - 500miles and forget about it becasue in the back of their head “its new, I dont need to worry about it”. The first 250-500 miles the chain will stretch a ton, and settle in more or less. It also breaks in the sprockets (why you replace them in sets) somewhat too. So people who dont check their chain tension like they should will not adjust it and it will be super loose until they think of it later. You can wipe a few Kmi off the life if you dont adjust it after break in.
It’s all factory Suzuki so I’m not sure off the top of my head what chains on it or material of sprockets.
I do know there is still adjustment left to tighten, I keep it waxed regularly, and well i wouldn’t say its easy riding lol but its not brutal either.
I’ll inspect it more when I pull the wheel to change my tire, and ill give it a good cleaning and see how it looks.
take a pic of the sprocket and post it. Make sure its not missing any teeth, they arent cuped on one edge of all the teeth, etc.
You would be surprised how fucked up a sprocket can be and still propel the bike! LOL One set i removed off one of my bikes, the rear was missing 6 teeth, worst was 3 in a row gone, the teeth looked like crooked icicles and it still made it move forward! Not the safest thing to do knowing it was that bad.
There is non missing I know that, ill snap a pic and post it later.
Search online for sprocket wear, plenty of picts showing what an “out of spec” sprocket looks like. Make sure your chain slag is within spec and lube every 500 miles.
P.S. OP do you have a service manual? everything is in there and it will detail how to measure the chain to see if it is out of spec and sprocket wear.
what’s chain slag? the droop in the chain between the rear and front sprockets?
He meant slack, but yes that’s what he was reffering too.
^^ Yup, that’s what I meant, sorry for the mistake.
Yeah thats the way to check for chain tension. But it varies per bike, design. Some have sliders, idle rollers, etc, so the place to check tension/droop/sag what ever varies.
I always do it by feel, rolling resistance (on a stand) and listening to it, and watching it rotating.
ALSO. Keep in mind that most sprockets are NOT perfectly concentric. Check the sag at different points, as you rotate and STOP the chain. Example. Start at the master link, or mark it somewhere if its a continous chain. Check tension, rotate so the sprocket is a 1/4 turn, check tension, rotate 1/4 turn, check, do this until the chain link made its way back around. you will notice tigher spots and then looser spots. You kind of have to average it out. And tighter is actually worse than loose, keep that in mind too.
did this last week, didnt bother to take a pic there was absolutely no play in the chain and the sprocket still looked minty mint, so i cleaned her up and re-waxed it. thanks for the help.
How did I miss this thread?
Some personal examples
Time to replace chain
Time to replace sprocket
:crackup