How to Break/Resize/Install a Master Link on a Motorcycle Chain

A 2007 Ninja 650R with its pants down (chain and front
sprocket cover removed)

If you've never done chains and sprockets on a motorcycle before, they are complicated.  Being an open part of the drive system, they offer a relatively easy way to modify your bike's performance.  With smaller (faster) sprockets you can produce a revvier, shorter geared engine.  With a shorter chain you can close up your wheel-base creating a bike more willing to change direction.  Chains and sprockets are a bike fettler's delight.

On top of sprockets, you also have a pile of chain choices.  O-ring chains are the cheaper, lower efficiency alternative, while X-ring chains offer more efficiency and less maintenance at a higher cost.  They also come in a rainbow of colours and a variety of sizes from little dirt bikes all the way up to thousand plus cc super-bikes.  

Chain sizes and dimensions

From little dirt bikes to bike motors.

Chain sizing is based on the width of the chain and the length between the pins in the chain.  You've got match all these up with the right sprockets or it won't all fit together.  With so many factors in play, it pays to get a handle on chain mechanics before you take a run at changing the chain on your motorbike.

Here's a primer on how to break a chain.  Some people say cutting a chain but you aren't cutting it, you're breaking it by popping the rivet out and dismantling the chain links.

How to Break a Chain:

• If you're removing your old bike chain, find the master link (it should be the one that's different from all the rest)
• Put a chain breaking tool on the chain and push the rivets out - do a bit on each side at a time until the chain 'breaks' open.  I did this with a bicycle chain breaker (see bottom) and it worked fine.
• Once you've 'broken' apart the master link the chain will come apart and you can pull it through and free of the bike.

To reduce chain size on a motorcycle:

• if you have a 520 or smaller chain and a good motorcycle specific chain link breaking tool you can simply push the rivet through (see the video at the bottom)
• if you don't have specific tools, grind or file down the rivet and then tap it out with a hammer and punch pin.  If you grind down the rivet you can also use a bicycle weight chain breaker (see a pic at the bottom) to push out the worn down rivet.
• triple check which link you want to pull and use something like Gearing Commander to make sure you've got the right number of links in your chain.  (This is what I'm kicking myself for not doing).
• Using the bicycle chain puller on filed down pins, I pushed on side and then the other and then repeated the process and the rivet popped loose along with the outer chain links.  Since you're only filing down the outer link (which you'll chuck after) it doesn't matter if you file into it a bit.
• With the chain dismantled you should now have two inner links ready for a new master link.

Installing a New Master Link:

• Install the little rubber washers on the master link rivets and slide it onto the chain - do this on the sprockets as it's easier to do with some tension on the chain.
• put the last two rubber washers on and the end plate and then use the chain tool or some other kind of clamp to press the side plate on.
• if you've got a rivet type master link you need a light hand and some patience to press in the rivet ends.  If you're too heavy handed you'll bind the chain and swear a lot.
• The more traditional type of master link is the kind I was familiar with from bicycles.  It comes with a slid on clip.

Don't freak out if you've got the rivet type master link, just make sure you have the right tool handy.  The rivet type link is very strong and performs pretty much like all the other links if installed properly, which is why you'll find it exclusively on high performance chains.  Check out the youtube video at the bottom for a good primer on how to do this.

If you take your time and work through it slowly, you'll have a new chain on in no time.  If you want to get into sprockets the rears are remarkably easy to do.  When you remove the rear wheel bolt the wheel drops down and the floating rear caliper on the Ninja 650r simply disengaged and I hung it on the frame.  You can then remove the wheel.  The rear sprocket is held on with your typical nuts and was easy to swap out.

This front sprocket is a f&#*er.

The front sprocket was in good shape, so I gave up on it.  Others online have said that they are pretty straightforward if you have an air gun, but even with a breaker bar I couldn't budge the damn thing and I can pick up a car by the fender.  You remove the front sprocket by bending back the holding washer, putting the bike in gear, stepping on the rear break to hold everything still and removing the nut (it's a good fit on a big 27mm bit).  If there's a trick to this (other than getting a compressor, air tank and air tools), I'd love to hear it.

Follow up with Chain And No Agony for how easily the new chain went on with the right tools.

SOME CHAIN & SPROCKET LINKS THAT MIGHT BE HANDY:

If you've only got a bicycle chain
breaker, file or grind down the rivets
first before you push them out.

If you've broken bicycle chains before you know the basics.  Motorcycle chains are much heavier duty so the process requires stronger tools capable of dealing with stronger rivets.  If you have a bicycle chain breaker you just have to take your time and file down the rivet you're going to push through first.  It took me a couple of minutes of filing to do this.  Lazy people on the internet say buy a Dremel.  If you're lazy, that's what you should do.

VIDEOS

A video on how to break a motorcycle chain (skip to 35sec when the mechanic comes in) in order to re-size it using a motorbike specific tool

A good primer on how to install a master link (and how the pressed, rivet type master links work)

How to measure a motorcycle chain

Hillbilly mechanics: how to do a master link without special tools.

LINKS

Gearing Commander - a handy webpage that lets you compare different sprocket and chain combinations
http://www.gearingcommander.com/

DID company chain guide:
http://www.didchain.com/chainSpecs.html

Motorcycle Chain primer on about.com
http://motorcycles.about.com/od/motorcyclemaintenanc1/ss/Chain_Maint.htm

Wikipedia's history and technically detailed chain description
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_chain

Layout of a roller chain: 1. Outer plate,
2. Inner plate, 3. Pin, 4. Bushing, 5. Roller

An exhaustive history of chains!
ttp://chain-guide.com/applications/1-5-2-motorcycle-chain.html

How Motorcycles Work's awesome chain diagram:

Evolution of Motorcycle Ownership and a Triumphant Return

Back in August of 2014 I wanted to take a more active role in my motorcycle maintenance.  At that point I'd been riding for just over a year on my first bike, a very dependable 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 650r.  I learned a lot on that bike, but it was a turn-key experience, the bike needed very little in the way of maintenance.   

The Ninja went from flat black to metallic blue and orange.  It was the last bike I rode that people commented on (I'd often get a thumbs up or have someone stop and chat in a parking lot about how nice the bike looked, which was satisfying as I'd been instrumental in restoring it from angry-young-man flat black).  The Ninja was, without a doubt, a good introduction to motorcycling, and was the king of the roost for my first two seasons.

As a first bike, the Ninja led the way both on the road and at the top of the blog.

I wanted my next bike to be one that ran because of my mechanical skills rather than one that didn't need them.  I found a 1994 Kawasaki Concours sitting in some long grass about twenty minutes away.  I quickly discovered that sense of satisfaction I was looking for.  The Concours was an eager patient who rewarded a winter of mechanical work with a rock solid five thousand miles of riding the next summer.

The Concours has offered some memorable rides, especially looping Georgian Bay and riding on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  For a bike that looked like it was being permanently parked with only 25k on it, suddenly it was back in the game, going places other bikes only dream of.

That busy season of long rides took its toll on the Concours though.  It isn't a spring chicken and after having spent the better part of two years parked before I got to it many of the soft parts on the bike were getting brittle.  I parked the Concours early and began winter maintenance knowing that the bearings and brakes both needed attention only to miss out on a late season warm spell at the end of November and into December.  I took that one on the nose figuring that's what happens when you ride an old bike as your daily rider.

The header on this blog for the past eighteen months, but running a twenty-two year old bike as your daily rider
makes for frustrations.  Time to be less sentimental and more rational in how I manage my stable.

That summer we were touring on the Concours I picked up a KLX250 to experience off road riding, but doubling insurance costs for a bike that I only managed to get out on a handful of times didn't feel very efficient.  That I struggled to keep up with traffic on it didn't support the way I like to ride.  Motorcycles are open and unprotected, but they are also agile and powerful enough to get out of a tight squeeze - except when they aren't.  The Concours was always there and the preferred ride, owning the road when I was on it.  When I went out with my co-rider he also loved the big red Connie, not so much the rock hard, under-powered KLX (he only ever rode on it once for less than five minutes).

Over the winter I put some money into the Concours, doing up the rims and getting new tires.  With the rims off I also did the bearings and brakes.  As everything came back together again, suddenly the carburetors weren't cooperating.  They're since being rebuilt and the bike should be back together again this weekend, but instead of always being there, suddenly the Concours wasn't.  As winter receded I could hear other bikes growling down the road, but I was grounded (again), even though I was paying insurance on two machines and longing to get back out on the road after an always too long Canadian winter.

The KLX was the first to go.  I'd never really bonded with it and, even though I always figured I'd run this blog with my most recent bike in the graphic at the top, the KLX never made it there; it never felt like the main focus of my motorcycling.  In the same week my son's never-ridden PW-80 got sold, and suddenly I had some money aside.

Ready to go with a new header, but it never took.

As days of potential riding keep ticking by and the carburetor work drags on, the Concours started to feel like an expensive anchor rather than the wings of freedom.  I had a long talk with my wife about it.  She asked why I don't unload it and get something dependable.  Keep the old XS1100 for that sense of mechanical satisfaction, but have a bike that's ready to ride.  I think sentiment was paralyzing me.  Hearing a rational point of view with some perspective really helped.

Many moons ago,
a pre-digital Triumph

With cash in an envelope I began looking around.  Before Easter we weathered an ice storm, but only two days later it was suddenly in the teens Celsius and bikes could be heard thundering down the road.  Meanwhile I was waiting for yet more parts for the Concours.  Online I was looking at sensible all purpose bikes that would fit a big guy.  Vstroms and Versys (Versi?) came and went, but they felt like a generic (they are quite common) compromise, I wasn't excited about buying one.

Since I started riding I've been on Triumph Canada's email list even though I've never come close to owning one (out of my league price-wise, no one else I know had one, no local dealer... pick your reason).  As a misguided teenager I purchased an utterly useless Triumph Spitfire, and in spite of that misery I've always had a soft spot for the brand (your adolescent brain makes your teenage experiences sparkle with emotion even when you're older, that's why we all still listen to the music from our teens).

A Tiger?  On Kijiji?  Must have
escaped from a zoo!

While trawling around on Kijiji looking at hordes of generic, look-a-like adventure bikes I came across an actual Tiger.  It was (as are all Triumphs I've mooned over) too expensive for me, but that Lucifer Orange (!) paint haunted me.

Another rare warm afternoon wafted by with the sounds of motorcycles on the road so I thought, what the hell, and emailed the owner.  He'd been sitting on the bike for the better part of two months with no calls.  He was going down to the Triumph dealer on Thursday to trade it in on a new Street Triple and knew he was going to get caned by them on the trade in price.  He emailed me back and said if I had three quarters of what he'd been asking, he'd rather sell it to me than give the dealer the satisfaction.  Suddenly this fantastic looking machine was plausible.

The garage is 100% more functional than it was last week,
100% more glamorous too!

A trip up to Ontario's West Coast and I got to meet a nice young man who was a recent UK immigrant and a nuclear operator at the Bruce Plant.  The bike was as advertised (well looked after, second owner, some minor cosmetic imperfections), and suddenly I owned a freaking 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i!

Most used bikes offer up some surprises when you first get them, and they usually aren't nice surprises.  The Ninja arrived with wonky handlebars the previous owner told me nothing about.  The XS1100 arrived with no valid ownership, something the previous owner failed to mention during the sale.  So far the Tiger has had nice surprises.  It arrived with a Triumph branded tank bag specific to the bike.  Oh, by the way, the previous owner said, the first owner put a Powercommander on it, and then he handed me the USB cable and software for it.  It had also been safetied in October, less than two hundred kilometres ago (paperwork included), so while I didn't buy it safetied, it shouldn't be difficult to do.  The bike has fifty thousand kilometres on it, but I then discovered that the first owner did two extended trips to Calgary and back (10k+ kms each time) - so even though it's got some miles on it, many of them are from long trips that produce minimal engine wear.  After giving it a clean the bike has no wonky bits under the seats or anywhere else.  I cannot wait to get riding it.

So, here I am at the beginning of a new era with my first European bike.  I've finally picked up a Triumph from the other side of the family tree (the bike and automobile manufacturing components of Triumph split in 1936), and I've got a bike I'm emotionally engaged with.  It might even be love!  Like the BMW I rented in Victoria, the controls seem to fit my hands and feet without feeling cramped and the riding position is wonderfully neutral.  When I'm in the saddle my feet are flat on the ground - just. Best of all, I don't look like a circus bear on a tricycle on it.


With the Concours officially decommissioned and awaiting (what are hopefully) the last parts it needs before being road worthy again, it's time to update the blog header:

What's next?  The Concours will be sold with only a modicum of sentiment, the Tiger will be safetied and on the road (it cost $90 a year more than the Concours to insure), and I'll enjoy having an operational, trustworthy machine made in the same place I was with lots of life left in it.  The fact that it was getting me thumbs up and one guy stopping to say what a nice bike it was when it was on the trailer on the way home doesn't hurt either.  Riding a tiger has a certain magic to it.

When I want to turn a wrench I'll work on the XS, getting it rolling again for the first time in years.  I'll get the ownership sorted on it (affidavits are required!) and eventually sell it without losing a penny, and then I'll go looking for my next project bike.  Maybe a scrambler Versys, maybe an old Interceptor, maybe something I haven't thought of yet.

Time for some unbridled Tiger enthusiasm!

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 
In the forests of the night; 
What immortal hand or eye, 
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies. 
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain, 
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp, 
Dare its deadly terrors clasp! 

When the stars threw down their spears 
And water'd heaven with their tears: 
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger Tyger burning bright, 
In the forests of the night: 
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Rich Man Poor Man

I think three bikes would comfortably fit in the garage with room to work.  I'm hoping I can find an insurance deal that lets me run more than one bike without insurance doubling each time.  

If I were to go with three, these would be my poor man/middle class man/rich man choices:

Three of a kind: the low budget option

Keep the current '07 Kawasaki Ninja 650r. I've already cleaned it up and it's got tons of life left in it.  It's the obvious choice for a sport/track day bike.  I've still got a lot to learn from it as far as sport riding goes.

This '86 Kawasaki Concours caught my eye last summer.  It's up for sale again on Kijiji.  For only two and a half grand I'd have a capable touring bike that would comfortably carry two up over long distances.  It has a lot of miles on it, but it looks like it has been meticulously maintained. If I could swing it, I'd get it.





I just stumbled across this '02 KLR650 on Kijiji.  The price isn't listed, but with any luck I could pick it up for about what the Concours above cost.  It's fuggly, but if it would be a simple matter to strip it and repaint it.

I should be able to pick up both bikes for under five grand.  They all happen to be Kawasakis, three of a kind.

Total cost:  ~$5000

Shopping for favourites: the reasonable budget choices

I'd probably still hang on to the Ninja in this scenario, but I like the look of naked street bikes more than the fully faired sport bikes.  if I were to go for an athletic street bike I'd consider the FZ-09 from Yamaha.  It's surprisingly affordable, super light, and looks great in Orange.  

~$10767

The touring option would get three wheel funky at this level.  I'd go for a Royal Enfield Classic 500 with a sidecar.  As a way to share riding with my son, it's a fun way to putter around.  We'd have to get some vintage style helmets with googles.  ~$12000








The dual sport choice would be a new Kawasaki KLR650, specifically this very KLR.
~$8700



Total: ~$31500 (taxes included)
       or $20733 if I keep the Ninja

Big spender: the cost no-option choices

I keep hearing about how utterly awesome the Triumph Street Triple is, so if money weren't an option this would be my naked/sport choice, the top-of-the-line R version.
~$13800
If nothing else the Triumph Configurator is fun to play with.



The Explorer below is an excellent two up bike, so it could do the job, but if cost is no problem I'd consider a Soviet style Ural sidecar outfit.  The Ural Gear-Up is an on-demand 2-wheel drive no-nonsense rig with classic military styling.  It could also handle off road duties when needed.
~$16553

For the dual sport option I'd be looking to Triumph again.  Either the Triumph Tiger 800XC or the big Triumph Tiger Explorer XC.  Since the big bike actually gets the same mileage as the little one, I think I'd go with the distance machine.  It's big, but I'd train off road and ease into using it that way.  I'm a big guy, I'll manage it.
~$22000

Total $52353 (taxes included)

You gotta love motorbikes, even the rich-man option that gets you three distinct imports costs less than a Volvo SUV.

Finishing Touches

The snow is slowly receeding.  This week I was down in the city and saw someone buzz by on a bike and got all revved up.  Over the past couple of weeks I've put the Ninja back together.  It's about where I want it now in terms of looks.  It's gone from a debranded, flat black angry young man's bike to a colourful machine that knows what it is.


After it warmed up enough to get the paint sorted I sourced some stickers from The Sportbike Sticker Shop.  They arrived the day before they were supposed to in a plain envelope with cardboard backing in perfect shape ready to apply.  Since I was going for a blue and orange colour scheme and I could colour customize the Ninja stickers, I did.
  




I went for black Kawasaki logo writing for the lower fairing and 650r stickers for the front.  I picked up a Triumph sticker for the toolbox and the Japanese kanji for shinobi (Ninja).  Instead of on the toolbox the kanji ended up on the bike on the 'interesting' side (the side with the shock).  The metallic silver sticker looks great on the flat black leading into the exhaust port on the fairing.

The stickers went on well and seem to have bonded perfectly.  The site says you can clearcoat over them, so I'll do that as a final step and it'll be done.  I recommend The Sportbike Sticker Shop - you get your order quickly, it's very competitively priced and the stickers are quality pieces that look great when you get them on, just don't be surprised if you get what looks like a letter from a relative only to find it full of awesome stickers.



With any luck we'll have some heavy rain and then a 10+°C day and I'll be off on the kingfisher coloured Ninja.

What thirty bucks gets you from The Sportsbike Sticker Shop

Mechanical Sympathy

I've always had an over abundance of mechanical sympathy.  That sympathy often spills over into full on empathy for machines.  While I derive a great deal of joy from interacting with machines, the satisfaction I get out of fixing them is amplified by this natural inclination.

My first bike was a mechanically bullet proof 2007 Kawasaki Ninja 650r.  It had been dropped and scuffed, but it didn't need open heart surgery.  I was happy to clean it up and send it on its way, and while I got attached to it, it never felt like a two way relationship.

The Concours I have now is a whole new level of commitment.  Not only did I find it sitting in a field, buried in grass, but it took me a winter of rebuilding to get it on the road again.  In my first season riding it I've put on more miles than I ever did on the Ninja (it's a much more comfortable long distance tool).

Call me nostalgic (or perverse), but getting the four carburetors on the Concours running smoothly was very satisfying.  Even though I teach computer tech, I still find the clockwork nature of mechanical parts to have a grace that digital technology is lacking.  Listening to the Connie fire up at the touch of the starter on a cold morning and clear its throat is much more satisfying than listening to the clinical hum of a fuel injector making everything perfect.

I was out on the Concours again today - if the weather's dry I'm out on it.  I'm always astonished at how responsive such a heavy machine can feel.  It fits me well, needed me to save it, and then responded to that saving with thousands of miles of riding.  There may come a time when the Connie is more trouble than it's worth, but at the moment it's what I was looking for all along.

It's getting kind of crowded in there...

The Yamaha XS1100 sitting in the back of the garage will be my first go at a restoration, but as an owned bike it isn't really what I'm looking for.  It'll be my first go at a bike purchased for restoration rather than riding.  I'm curious to see how that process goes.




In the meantime, and completely off topic, here is some nice motorbike art I saw at Blue Mountain last weekend:

Carrying Ninja

Getting a hard case with a back rest.  The goal:  

• To be able to carry the basics and keep them dry while out and about.
• To offer a backrest to make it easier for my passenger.

FZ-series Monorack is designed to add a Givi Monokey or Monolock topcase to your existing tailsection. Rugged black finish.

All hardware needed to mount the Givi rack is included. Installs quickly using simple hand tools. No welding or cutting of existing frame or body parts required. Tough black enamel finish with some gray fittings or hardware as applicable.

Select a Monolock(M5M) or Monokey(M5) top case mounting plate that will be used on the FZ445 when ordering for the related products. No Plate is included you need to add it to the cart.

The Givi FZ445 toprack may be used alone or with the Givi PLX445 side rack (for PLX sidecases ONLY).
$80  http://aviciouscycle.ca/MainPages/productpage.aspx?productid=1211

Designed for scooters and low-powered motorcycles.

Capacity of 30 liters, enough to hold a full face helmet.

It comes with a universal plate and mounting kit.

Maximum load capacity of 3 kg.

Note: Notice the body of the case does not change colour. It is just the lid section that will have the colour change.

$99 http://aviciouscycle.ca/MainPages/productpage.aspx?productid=4190

Turn your E300 Tour Case into a comfortable rest spot for your passenger with this Givi E103 Backrest.

Made of thick polyurethane, this backrest will hold up in the elements and provide comfort to all motorcycle and scooter passengers.

Sold each.

Long lasting material.

$45 http://aviciouscycle.ca/MainPages/Productpage.aspx?productid=4191

Items	Quantity	Price	Subtotal
Givi-E300 Monolock Case, 30 Liter		$CAD 98.99	$CAD 98.99
Givi-Backrest for E300 Monolock Case		$CAD 44.99	$CAD 44.99
Givi-Topcase Rack (Kawasaki Ninja 650R / ER6F, '06-'08)		$CAD 79.99	$CAD 79.99
Rebate Coupon:
Total : $CAD 223.97

http://aviciouscycle.ca/mainpages/Default.aspx