Removing a chain link

[Timbone]

Had a bad day on the moto today: enjoying a nice cruise when I had yet another annoying front tire flat. Puncture #4 in about 600 miles and ALL of them were fails of the rubber rim tape that came with the bike. Obviously a case of neglect. Soft pedaled to a nearby bikeshop, got a new tube and,since they only had a thin version of velox cloth tape, I bought two rolls and carefully applied them. Cost me $22.

About 10 miles from home, I pinch flatted the front tire on some bad railroad tracks. Soft pedaled and walked all the way home. To make things even worse, with about 3 miles to go,I ran over something nasty and "POP!' - there goes the back tire. Big cut in the tire; it is toast.

The good news? My spring loaded chain tensioner has passed its preliminary tests (I have added two pictures) and I can now pull the motor chain to its extreme and eliminate the stock chain tensioner once and for all.

Well, I have a problem/concern: the motor chain is long enough as that I can pull the rear wheel rear out of the horizontal dropouts. I did not expect this!

So,obviously, I need to "remove a link" from my 415 chain. But doesn'tthat mean that I actually have to remove two links since, to hook the master link on I have to have two thin links on the end of the chain. My main concern is that if I remove a thin link and its attached fat link, the chain may be to short to connect anywhere and I will be screwed.

As for my chain tensioner: I originally intended it to work on the motor chain,but the stock tensioner is working so well I don't want to mess Since I have to remove the rear wheel to put in a new tube and tire, it's a good time to make the changes.

Thanks!

=Timbone=

 

[crassius]

yes, a link is two flats or three rollers long - half-links are available from many sellers tho to allow you to remove a full link, then add back a half link

 

[Timbone]

Update:

Man, these motorbikes require a LOT of maintenance! It seems like that with each problem you solve, another one (or maybe two!)pops up out of nowhere. A setback may result in a long pedal (bad) or a long walk(very bad!) home. But, boy, this thing is so fun to ride and it is a thrill when you finally figure out the problem and get the bad boy running!

Since I flatted on the rear last weekend, I decided to go ahead and get the motor chain dialed in by removing a link. What a great decision: the moto chain now looks and feels much better and the chain tensioner (which I had to use as without some adjustment the chain would get into the seat stay) is now very lightly tasked, working more as a guide. There is much less drag in the system now and the bike is faster and smoother!

So all my problems are solved then? Nope! On the homebound commute the other evening, something just didn't feel right. Rear tire was rubbing the frame. I thought at first that the rear wheel had hit a bump hard and shifted in the frame since I had just made a sweet mile run at about 31mph. Of course it wasn't that simple. I had a broken spoke!

So, I whip out the spoke wrench and make some adjustments. Tightening one side and loosening the other to make up for the missing spoke. I successfully moved the rim to something that ressembled true and I motored homes smoothly and safely. But now I had to replaced the spoke.

One. Little. Spoke. Geez, I disassembled the rag joint, removed the sprocket, added a new spoke and tried to true the rim. Never quite got there. Now the rim has a bump - right in the area of the broken spoke - that I just cannot bring into true. After a long session of retruing the wheel, I had to compromise and get it as close to true as possible. I replaced the ragjoint/sprocket assembly and, thankfully, was able to get the sprocket perfectly true.

I didn't stop there, though! I tried to apply my personnally designed spring loaded chain tensioner. It lasted for about a quarter of a mile until the 415 chain just bent the bracket I had fabricated for it. So much for that! Evidently, the chain undergoes incredible stress over very small increments of time. The stock tensioner seems to do a pretty good job dealing with it, as long as it doesn't get too tight or too loose.

So I replaced the stock tensioner and all is well now - except for the wheel. That bump in the rear rim was getting very close to the frame so after more adjustments to the dish of the wheel, I was able to improve things significantly. I am back cruising smoothly now- at least until the next spoke breaks!

My next build will be on 26 inch mountain bike wheels with lotsa rubber. It's probably a wise thing to have a backup wheel/sprocket laced up and ready to go in case of breakdown.

=Timbone=