camchains

[matcho mick]

got a mate doing his motors top end,so he got two cam chains for XT500's,( i'm doing a motor too),shop supplied chains,(non genuine) have split rollers,not sure this is a good idea??,

[JAP 454]

Mick, I've used the split link cam chains in all of my XT and TT motors , 6th one on the bench now, and never had a problem, as long as you carefully peen the pins over before you fit the chain and install it as an endless chain.
Foss
Mick I've just re read your post, do you mean split joining link ? or  are the rollers actually split ?, what brand and number are the chains ??

[matcho mick]

split rollers Foss,(i'm ok with splitting/peening joining links),1st one i got  is RK Excel,2nd is XRP from A1,last time i used split roller chain was from Repco for matchless maggy & genny chains,no contest there ,morrie minor camchains the go,(feel free to jump in here Pancho ),not so sure in "moderner" motors but ,

[JAP 454]

OK , Mick
I think the OEM chain is endless , and I thought you'd be ok with peening, but split rollers ?? I haven't struck them in a Yammy cam-chain.  The chains I've been using are RK Excel 219 , #106, and they are solid rollers and , as I said , I've had no probs with them.
Let me know how you get on.
Foss

[pancho]

I'm watching and learning Mick, The idea of split rollers worries me, seams like something one would use on a roller door! I'll report back after I check my spare bits.cheers pancho.

[matcho mick]

not wrong Pancho ,Foss thats odd,my RK excel's 219 too,except it's 120 links,my faded memory seems to remember 219FTS being cam chain designation?,or is that kwaka KL250 cam chain type,think i'll have to go genuine,cheers 

[JAP 454]

Yeah Mick, split rollers would worry me , too. just checked me spare one , same as, solid rollers, not a case of right box, wrong chain is it ?
Don't forget to stand the frame on its head a bit when getting old oil out as you would be surprised how much gunk is retained in the lower, rear,  part of the frame / oil-tank on the XTs.
Foss

[Mike52]

 Have seen split roller chains used on a chaff cutter.

[Snowy 76]

Mick, what did you work out with the timing chains? talk to any of the suppliers of the split link jobbies? after your post ordered genuine yamaha chain!

[Snowy 76]

Sorry, Split roller jobbies

[brent j]

In my apprentice days I worked in large factory. We used miles of chain and it was all split roller type apart from a few high speed high load situations.

I asked the tradesman I worked with about taking some for my bike (he was into MX as well) and he reckoned it is just industrial chain and no more, don't take the chance. It's fine for factory production machines and we would replace it on a schedule. I watched those chains for a while because at 16 years old I still though I could make it work on a bike and came to realise that there was no way it would hold up.

The rollers on this type of chain are rolled from flat sheet where on a high load chain they are drilled from solid bar.
A lot of split roller type chains don't have internal bushes where high load chains have the pins running in a bush inside the roller.

Even under a fairly constant load the split roller chain would stretch and the rollers would start to "unwind". We often know it was time to change a chain by the different sound they made as the wore.

Brent

[Marc.com]

Its not particularly hard to install the original chain so I would stay with that..... plus it is still available from Yamaha.

[Colin Jay]

As an interesting asside, I just bought a genuine Yamaha camchain for my '83 XT600 Tenere. Cost $81. An aftermarket one on Ebay is listed at $95!

CJ

[Mike52]

Worked in a woolen mill as night fitter.
We had a elevator which used 2 of those chains with stainless slats bolted across them.
Took days to fix it when the chains went PoP.
Slats everywhere and all bent and twisted.
Made a horrible sound , woke me up .
Good thing we had spares.
Yer rite, tight owner , no spares.

[matcho mick]

Snowy,will find out tonight at my club meeting,shop was reordering,assume they'll be genuine this time!,
btw,for all earlier small hondas ie SL/XL100,125's,XL185/200R etc,a good h/d camchain is DID gocart drive chain,it's dogbone type sideplates,lightweight,bloody strong,heatreated,i also use it in my SL350 twin.