| Author | Message | ||
     Saintly |
A few people asked on Saturday about my chain conversion. Rich H. I know you were asking about part #'s & prices. Any way here's what I got into it: Front sprocket(21 teeth); V-twin # 19-0384 / $13.97 Rear sprocket (51 teeth); Vortex (Odessa Fl.) # 827-51 / $63.95 + 6.95 shipping 530 diamond chain; V-twin # 19-0326 / $37.49 Idler pulley; Gates # 38023 / $16.78 (AND its available in ANY autozone in USA!) Total cost: $139.14 (YES it IS less than the cost of ONE belt!!!!) 1000 miles and still haven't had to adjust it yet. Here's pictures:   | ||
| Slaughter |
Did you have to build a spacer for the rear sprocket to set it out a little farther to line up with the front cog? (way cool, by the way!) | ||
| Saintly |
I used two chevy differential pinion shims to space it out. We've got thirty-seven thousand of them at my shop, so it seemed like the thing to use (read: FREE!!) | ||
| Newfie_buell |
How are you going to adjust the chain? | ||
| Hammer71 |
Thanks for the info.. much appreciated. Slaughter no he didnt need to space anything I have a close up pic will try to add it.  hope that helps.. very clean looking install and if i must say a whole lot cheaper than what i've seen out there. | ||
| Saintly |
I used the Bridgeport mill at my job to machine a slot in the idler bracket. It's got 1.75" of adjustability now. | ||
| Hammer71 |
Failed to see rear spacer in the post srry bout that I was refering to the front. Question answered though. | ||
| Slaughter |
Cheap??? CHEAP!!! I paid about $2300 for mine... lemme do the math... ...uhhh... yeah, it was cheaper. Wondering if that idler will hold up. My Hal's conversion uses a solid wheel - and though it seems to be holding up, I'd maybe use a toothed cog when I wear it out. (Message edited by slaughter on August 23, 2005) | ||
| Hammer71 |
toothed cog is an awesome idea.. may have to look into that prior to the switch. Close inspection of the idler showed very little and i mean very little wear. Looked more like fingernail scratches on it. Not bad for 1000 miles on it but I think that cog idea is great | ||
| Saintly |
By the way, I must give thanks & credit to "Fullpower" for his idler pulley idea! The Autozone / Advance Auto Parts counterperson can look that pulley up as a 1993 Dodge P/U serpentine belt idler pulley, with a inline 6-cyl cummins turbo-diesel engine. Autozone / Gates # is 38023 and costs $16.78 Adv Auto Pts / Dayco # is: 89005 and costs $18.77 | ||
| Tripp |
nice job! | ||
| Djkaplan |
Impressive budget. | ||
| Newfie_buell |
BUT How are you going to make adjustments? The chain will eventually start to stretch due to wear. | ||
| Jeremyh |
new chain. | ||
| Djkaplan |
Saintly answered your question the first time... "I used the Bridgeport mill at my job to machine a slot in the idler bracket. It's got 1.75" of adjustability now." I'm sure some engineer at Buell is rolling his eyes at this, but I bet it'll work fine to take the slack out of the chain as it stretches. I wouldn't run it with zero slack though, the geometry is out of whack now. The only problem I can see might be roller durability if you use lots of compression braking. Those rollers are awfully tough, though, it may never be a problem. Saintly, Keep us updated on what you find out as you go, and again, pretty impressive mod, especially at that budget. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I saw Fritz's bike this Saturday, and like everyone else, I was very impressed with the installation and the budget. Nicely done, Fritz. For those who might not be familiar with Chevy differential pinnion shims, I wonder if you might post a photo and part number? Hope you make the Appalacian tour. | ||
| Fullpower |
have since changed my idler to a steel toothed sprocket, runs smoother, and has a bigger (6303) bearing which should be tougher.  | ||
| Fullpower |
more pictures and details ,as always, may be viewed at the Knowledge Vault (KV section) | ||
| Smitty808 |
So....will those same sprockets fit a tuber? I have nifty little adjusters on my swingarm for tension...and I would save $17 more for the tensioner  | ||
| Art_vandelay |
To go with Smitty post will this whole setup work on a tuber? If I convert my X1 to a track bike I'd like to have a chain on it. Thanks | ||
| Slaughter |
I think there are a few simple kits together for chain conversions for the tubers. I know Al at American Sport Bike has one - not sure the $$$ but tons cheaper than most of the other chain conversions for the XB. | ||
| Fullpower |
saintly: i have had very poor service life from the "diamond" brand of 530 roller chain. i put one on an 883 sportster that had a serious appetite for broken belts. the diamond brand chain proved to be very stretchy, only ran it 2500 miles, had to tighten it 2 or 3 times a week. i have had very much better service from RK and Tsubaki brands, commonly running 1500 miles between adjustments. my current favorite chain ( running on XB12) is the Tsubaki SIGMA X-ring, nickle plated(very sexy).this is the ultimate final drive system. good luck . dean | ||
| Fullpower |
Newfie: i used a 1/4 inch round file to slot one of the mounting holes in the stock aluminum idler arm. pretty easy, and left a substantial range of adjustment. had a problem with the adjustment slipping a bit on deceleration( just a little bit, but a nuisance) so added a third mounting: an l shaped steel bracket, the top end of this L bracket attached to the bottom of the swingarm pivot pinch bolt, and the long arm slottted to fit over the idler shaft bolt. still quick and easy to adjust chain. the only tool required to adjust chain is one 9/16 wrench. easiest roadside chain adjustment you will ever find, dont even need to loosen the axle, just slack three 9/16 hex nuts, swing the arm up snug, and tighten three nuts. takes about 2 minutes. on a typical 1200 mile weekend ride, i will spray chain lube on 3 or 4 times, and normally dont have to make an adjustment. it is what i would call a bulletproof, low maintenance final drive. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I've been waiting for this thread for quite some time. Thanks for the details and nice job. | ||
| Slaughter |
My only input would be to keep the idler mount rigid (no slot) - and adjust chain tension by busting out or adding links. I haven't seen a really good way to lock the idler pully arm without over-torquing the bolt. I suppose you COULD drill a second hole that would allow some adjustment. (I gotta think about all this stuff for the XBlast racebike - don't have the $$$ for another swing-arm conversion) | ||
| Fullpower |
3 point idler arm mount: utterly stable. will hold adjustment for 1500 miles. no problems. will try to make close up photo. | ||
| Cajunrph |
Why put a chain drive on the bike? If the belt is so much better than the chain according to Buell? I'm not trying to be a smart a just wondering?  | ||
| Slaughter |
Cajun - the only real reason (besides style) is to be able to change gearing easily. My streetbike has a belt (35K miles on the S3 with NO belt problems) - racebike has chain. | ||
| Firebolt020283 |
you know i might be dumb but i would never want to change a belt drive to a chain unless it was for racing, and this ninja i have right now has made me relize why i hate the back lash chains have as aposed to the belt drive that was on my old xb9r i had | ||
| Fullpower |
Backlash??? on a running motorcycle? or up on a stand maybe? dont understand where you are finding backlash. neither my sportster, ducati nor buell are afflicted with a discernible amount of backlash. i suppose one could easily enough jack any of the bikes up, and actually measure such a parameter as final drive backlash, but i can not see any reason to do so, nor can i imagine an instance where 2 or 3 degrees of countershaft rotation would make a perceptible difference in the feel of a moving motorcycle. |
