XBR 500 Chain and Sprockets.

[Oldtimer]

Hi Folks,
After having my bike for 4 years+ the rear chain is getting decidedly tired so I come to you PRO's for advice on the most suitable chain & sprocket kit to get, or chain & sprockets from different suppliers. I want something 'MID' range pref 'O' ring variety.
I look forward to your valued opinions.
Regards
Mike
PS I cover about 3-4000 dryish miles a year
 

[themoudie]

Aye Mike,
For what my pennyworth might be worth. Regina or DID 'O' ring chain with JT sprockets, available as a kit from Wemoto and other suppliers. If you put "chain sprockets" in the 'Search' window in the top right of the page, you should be able to view all of the posts containing these words! You could further refine the serach by adding XBR to the search. I am also pretty sure that SteveC#222 and others have recently had a 'discussion' about this and can point you in the right direction. I run one of those SRX beasties and found those combinations work for me.
All the best, Bill

[timbo]

Yep, I concur 

[SteveC#222]

You want to fit a decent 'O' ring or 'X' ring chain - the Wemoto DID/ JT sprocket combo is a good bet. Cheap chains don't last. It's also worth fitting a chain oiler- the Loobman oiler is cheap and works well. I've had mine for ages and it's still only half worn.

[iansoady]

I don't think O or X ring chains really need lubrication. The one I had on my Hinckley Tiger 955i with something like 100 bhp was still in excellent condition at 20,000 miles when I sold it. I'd adjusted it once in that time and only given it an occasional spray with Wurth chain wax.

A decent view of it here just before I sold it. Note it looks quite slack - Tigers like them that way......

[timbo]

Just out of interest, can you over-oil a chain? I brush on chainsaw oil, and how I know my chains are well oiled, is that the rims of my back tyres are black with oil. Helps preserve them too 

[Oldtimer]

Thanks folks, given me room for thought. Hum! 'X' ring 'O' ring no ring at all -ouch!

[Propellor]

Just out of interest, can you over-oil a chain? I brush on chainsaw oil, and how I know my chains are well oiled, is that the rims of my back tyres are black with oil. Helps preserve them too 

To echo some of Ian's comments. Modern o ring chains, which give great service life using only light external application of a spray, surely are proof that a roller chain requires only light lubrication on the outside. Keeping the internal surfaces lubricated is the tricky bit, and that's the main point of the o ring.

If o ring versions are available, why would one not use them?

[bth2bth2]

i give my chains a squirt of ep80/90 oil. honda recommend this. its a lot easier to clean off than spray grease.
if i go on a long run then ill use spray grease.

brian

[welland99]

Hi All,
I need to address the chain and sprockets on my XBR in the near future. I have a couple of questions that I haven't seen elsewhere:
1) What are the standard sprocket sizes?  Mine are 15 front, 36 rear. 
2) I'm considering raising the gearing a little to lower the engine speed in top gear.  I'm expecting that acceleration shouldn't really suffer as long as I'm prepared to use the gearbox appropriately.  Has anybody adjusted their XBR gearing?
3)  Is it a straightforward DIY job to change the sprockets?  Any pitfalls to watch out for?
4)  Is it usual to change both sprockets at the same time, or to change the front one approximately twice as often?  If I'm honest, the rear sprocket doesn't look too bad, though the chain is knackered and the front sprocket looks quite worn. 

[JOOLZ]

Welland99 Standard gearing is 15 / 36 you cant really go much higher with the gearing as it wont pull past 80 although the revs will drop quite a bit at speeds below this, I tried 16 / 36 on my bike and that had a few more hp than standard but it seemed a bit too lazy, you might get away with 15 / 35 but Im not sure its worth it
Changing the chain and sprockets is pretty straightforward and you shouldnt encounter any problems, Its always best to change the chain and sprockets together

[welland99]

Thanks Joolz.
I didn't expect 1 tooth on the rear to make a big detrimental effect. 

Does anybody know an online gearing tool that has XBR gearing?  I just had a look on gearingcommander.com, but it didn't have the XBR in the list. 

[SteveC#222]

I know several of the GB500 owners recommend 1 or 2 teeth less on the rear sprocket though I haven't tried it myself.

Try this http://woodsware.aciwebs.com/gears/

Standard XBR ratios

Primary         2.482
1st                2.384
2nd               1.555
3rd                1.200
4th                1.000
5th                0.875

final (standard 15/36) 2.400

[themoudie]

Aye welland99,

I understand this is about XBR's, but on Sally ('86 SRX600 44BHP on a good day!) I have increased the front sprocket one tooth from standard and the rear sprocket by two teeth from standard. So, 15/37 to 16/39 final ratio from 2.46 to 2.43. Dosn't appear to be any difference, but the larger sprockets give the chain an easier time and the slight reduction in the ratio just helps in that 3K - 5K rev band when accelerating, and also for wiffling around whilst 'rubber necking' over hedges! 

Never had any issues with JTSprockets from WeMoto; for chains I would stick with DID or Regina, I have tried the Swift chain, again available from WeMoto, but found that it wasn't up to a singles power pulses (5K miles!  ). I did speak with WeMoto about this and they were going to speak with their supplier, but once bitten twice shy in my case, so I haven't tried Swift again. I also note that there is now an even heavier duty chain from Swift available, but the inertia of throwing heavy chain around small radius sprockets isn't something I would wish to do.

All the best, whatever path you choose to follow.

My regards, Bill

[JOOLZ]

SteveC#222 Thats a handy page, just worked out my gearing 127.7 mph that will do me