Split link or rivet link gen 1 chain

Brian mahony

Brian mahony

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My chain has big time chain stretch on my 05 fzs 1000 and I want to remove a link and join again.sprockets are good with no hooked teeth.which is safer a split link or rivet link and I have about 2 or 3 mm left of adjustment
 
To answer your question....... IMHO a riveted master link is much better/safer. The link itself is $8-$10 and the tool is $70. Or borrow one.

Have you used up all the swing arm marks?
 
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Isleoman said:
To answer your question....... IMHO a riveted master link is much better/safer. The link itself is $8-$10 and the tool is $70. Or borrow one.

Have you used up all the swing arm marks?
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Harbor Freight has the tool for $15.99. Not bad for something I only used once so far.
 
That's pretty inexpensive, it looks well made. I was thinking about the DID chain cutting/riveting tool. I was way off on current cost $160. I paid $50, 25 years ago. Motion Pro may have one as well.


I like and dislike the bale shaped piece on the DID unit. It does a good job of pulling the rivets thru the plate which is the hardest part. . For $160 I'd look for alternatives.
 
Brian mahony said:
2 lines left after last adjustment on saturday
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With DID VX530 chain and OEM sprockets I'm at six lines left when the chain is toast and I've traveled 25K miles. It will be slapping around a little more by that time.

How many miles do you think are on that chain?

With inflation what it is, I'm gonna give up guessing prices but I paid around $110 for my last D.I.D. VX chain earlier this year from PJ 's Church of Speed. The VX is the chain Yamaha supplied on your bike and R1s new. D.I.D. make chains with more letters in the model name but they won't give you more mileage and they cost more (IMHO)

As far as matched sets of sprockets and chains it 's good practice to follow but I rotate three sets of wheels between, my two Gen 1s and never had a problem.

spyd3rm4n said:
I just remembered that I borrowed a friend's Motion Pro kit when I first replaced the chain and sprockets on my FZ1, this one:


But I bought the Harbor Freight one for a different bike, using an angle grinder to grind away the flared end of the pin and using the tool to press it out.

We'll see how long this chain lasts. It's original from 2004 with 3100 miles on it.
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Will he want it back when he sees this post? Use an angle grinder to remove the rivet head no matter what brand of setter you have. I learned that the hard way, when I broke a pin on my DID setter trying to drive rivet without doing that.

It does nasty damage to your cases when a chain breaks. Several incidents of that happening on FZ1OA.
 
What I don't like about master links that use the outer clip in lieu of rivet is they can come off at speed.

I used the clip style chain links for probably about 100K miles between my Kaw Z1 and my GS1100 and never had an incident... then I lost two clips in about a year. The first one I noticed when the bike was stationary and probably resulted from cleaning the chain and knocking it loose.

The second one came off at about 80 mph while passing four cars with my wife on the back. Got in front of the last car and all of a sudden bike is revving to the moon and the chain has spun off the sprockets and is dragging behind the bike. If it had ever wrapped around either sprocket, we would have been goners.

If you don't have a chain rivet setting tool you'll probably use a set of vice grip pliers to pull the plate and rivets and o-rings together which is a hack way of doing a critical task.
 
Heres a chain story for ya.

20 year old indestructible punk kid on a rz350 going to tech school in az. Ripping down a back road and the chain fails on the bottom run, thus sucking as much chain as can fit in the front sprocket 'pocket' until there was no room left.

It took out both case halves, the sprocket cover and shift linkage.

I just bought a new chain and sprockets from https://pjsparts4u.com/product-category/browse-by-bike/ for my slabby. It was $147 shipped. Way less than a engine.

Why be cheap with something that provides so much pleasure?
 
Isleoman said:
With DID VX530 chain and OEM sprockets I'm at six lines left when the chain is toast and I've traveled 25K miles. It will be slapping around a little more by that time.

How many miles do you think are on that chain?

With inflation what it is, I'm gonna give up guessing prices but I paid around $110 for my last D.I.D. VX chain earlier this year from PJ 's Church of Speed. The VX is the chain Yamaha supplied on your bike and R1s new. D.I.D. make chains with more letters in the model name but they won't give you more mileage and they cost more (IMHO)

As far as matched sets of sprockets and chains it 's good practice to follow but I rotate three sets of wheels between, my two Gen 1s and never had a problem.


Will he want it back when he sees this post? Use an angle grinder to remove the rivet head no matter what brand of setter you have. I learned that the hard way, when I broke a pin on my DID setter trying to drive rivet without doing that.

It does nasty damage to your cases when a chain breaks. Several incidents of that happening on FZ1OA.
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I watched an H2 on a dyno get totaled, shredded in 6th over 10K rpm when the chain broke.
Lucky noone was killed.
Another dyno operator commented that's why he stands off the bike on throttle side when making pulls.
 
You need a new drive chain, period! Do not use a clip master link. They can fly off, and you will not be happy, if that drive chain locks up on your swing arm, at speed. Rivet master link, only.
I had a clip master link on my 1986 GSXR 1100, and the clip come off many years ago, but I saw the side plate link it was attached to, and was able to mushroom the end links enough to SLOWLY ride home. I WAS VERY LUCKY!
There are deals on drive chains on E-bay, all the time. My latest drive chain I obtained, is a brand new 120 link RK-ZXW with 11,900 pounds tensile strength. Top of the line drive chain, from RK. It was missing the rivet master link, but I obtained one on E-bay, and the total cost was 58 bucks complete! I also picked up a DID50VA 116 link drive chain last year, for 65 bucks complete, still in the original box. That is the exact drive chain my 2001 blue FZ1 came with from the factory, in Japan.
Oh yes, you need new sprockets, also. I use "Sunstar" sprockets, only. They are made in Japan, and they came on our gen.1, FZ1's.
I run a o.e.m. 16 front, and a o.e.m. 45 tooth rear. One tooth more on the rear. Gives my two gen.1 FZ1's, a bit more pop, through the gears. The 45 tooth rear sprocket, is the o.e.m. size on a gen.2 FZ1. Easy to find.
Thats about it, for now.
You all have a great day, now.
Dean
P.S. you don't even need a rivet tool. I have installed numerous drive chain rivet master links, just using hand tools. I did a complete how to, on the now gone FZ1OA forum, a number of years ago.
 
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Dean L. Dinnetz said:
You need a new drive chain, period! Do not use a clip master link. They can fly off, and you will not be happy, if that drive chain locks up on your swing arm, at speed. Rivet master link, only.
I had a clip master link on my 1986 GSXR 1100, and the clip come off many years ago, but I saw the side plate link it was attached to, and was able to mushroom the end links enough to SLOWLY ride home. I WAS VERY LUCKY!
There are deals on drive chains on E-bay, all the time. My latest drive chain I obtained, is a brand new 120 link RK-ZXW with 11,900 pounds tensile strength. Top of the line drive chain, from RK. It was missing the rivet master link, but I obtained one on E-bay, and the total cost was 58 bucks complete! I also picked up a DID50VA 116 link drive chain last year, for 65 bucks complete, still in the original box. That is the exact drive chain my 2001 blue FZ1 came with from the factory, in Japan.
Oh yes, you need new sprockets, also. I use "Sunstar" sprockets, only. They are made in Japan, and they came on our gen.1, FZ1's.
I run a o.e.m. 16 front, and a o.e.m. 45 tooth rear. One tooth more on the rear. Gives my two gen.1 FZ1's, a bit more pop, through the gears. The 45 tooth rear sprocket, is the o.e.m. size on a gen.2 FZ1. Easy to find.
Thats about it, for now.
You all have a great day, now.
Dean
P.S. you don't even need a rivet tool. I have installed numerous drive chain rivet master links, just using hand tools. I did a complete how to, on the now gone FZ1OA forum, a number of years ago.
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Yes..I remember reading this on that forum as well👍
 
Wow, cool! Made my day, my friend.
Getting ready on jump on the ol' FZ1 blue bomber, and head for the Aptos hills, to have breakfast with the lads, on two wheels. One fellow rides from Hayward, just to join us. "The Quiet Rider" Roger, yet another ex FZ10A forum member. 86 years young, and still riding his 2012 Honda 1000RR sport bike! Lol!
Adios
 
Dean L. Dinnetz said:
Wow, cool! Made my day, my friend.
Getting ready on jump on the ol' FZ1 blue bomber, and head for the Aptos hills, to have breakfast with the lads, on two wheels. One fellow rides from Hayward, just to join us. "The Quiet Rider" Roger, yet another ex FZ10A forum member. 86 years young, and still riding his 2012 Honda 1000RR sport bike! Lol!
Adios
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I remember yourself from that forum when I joined in 2006.ah well.such is life.i have a 92 slingshot street fighter for a while😔
 
Brian mahony said:
I would like to see this 1100 when finished
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Me also.
My 1986 GSXR was very tricked out. Kosman full floating front brakes and Lockheed calipers, Vance/Hines complete exhaust system, 39 mm smooth bores with K/N filters, 1988 GSXR three spoke wheels, front and back, Ohlins shock, re-valved front end, etc., etc. And of course, I painted it. The bike did pop, even standing still. Lol! I think I have painted twenty three bikes, over the years. Started in 1964!
Adios, my friends
 
I found it in a barn about 2 miles from seatac airport. Sat in there since 91. Its 100% bone stock with the exception of ebc brake pads, a shift improver kit, and minor carb work. I have a thread on Old School Suzukis documenting it. I hope to have it road legal this august. But am ok with october as a 54th birthday present.
 
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