To O ring or not to O ring chain?

[Boyracer]

I was wondering what opinion people had on non Oring chains, do they really flog out that quick or do they make a power difference without the power sapping Orings?
Is O ring the only way to go? I kind of like the idea of better power, what do MX racers use?

[Hoony]

i have some 80's Honda's 250's & 500. i always use o rings. chain stretch on an 80's mx bike with a Non o ring would be horrendous, and risk derailment. i don't reckon you would notice a difference in power

i reckon it would be noticeable on a pre 78 and earlier 125 and maybe 250.

[Graeme M]

I'd agree with that. I'd use O-Ring on anything with plenty of grunt, but on my Pre 78 125 it's non O-Ring, heavy duty.

[Captain Bilko]

I run a good non O-ring (RK) on most of my bikes except my practise bike which is O-ring 'cause I can't be fugged oiling it

[number8]

I run a good non O-ring (RK) on most of my bikes except my practise bike which is O-ring 'cause I can't be fugged oiling it

"Practice Bike",now thats Cheatin

#8

[Captain Bilko]

"Practice Bike",now thats Cheatin

#8

When I say practice bike I'm talking about my modernish YZ 250. And that's only because I'm too tight-fisted to put pistons in the 414 where-as the YZ costs me about 58cents a year to maintain.
The down-side of course is that after three straight weeks of riding the YZ and then racing the 414 I quickly realize just what little braking my Monty has (usually the first corner of the first race).......

[Tim754]

What pitch chain do you use on what bike Boyracer? If it is a pre75 125cc 420/428 pitch most likely going to make SFA of a difference. Pre85 500cc beastly with 520/530 pitch use a good quality one for sure. Be  very very careful cutting an o ring to length, avoid heat and be positive sure you have  put the fiddly o rings on the joiner link. Me I use a either a 620/630 pitch O ring depending on final drive gearing.*  620 chain weighs about the same as an entire XR75 .... the 630 more like an XL350 in full road trim of the same era..... Tim754

 *(Then again I also have 90+ bhp and a shit load of weight to play with

[GD66]

O-ring chains are for lazy road riders who can't be bothered. For an mx bike that does about 20 miles on a race day there's no need for such power-sapping overkill. In fact DID do an X-ring chain that's about one-quarter of the resistance, bloody hell how hard is it to give your chain a quick squirt after each moto, whatever you're using, whether it be chain lube or Inox ? 

[Nathan S]

If you think about the power required to make a bike move and all of the parts that drag and/or need to be accelerated, the resistance of a few rubber O-rings is irrelevant.

I wonder how many people could tell whether a bike had an O-ring chain simply buy pushing it around the workshop? If you can't feel the difference, what's a 20~50hp motor going to care?

[Captain Bilko]

Spin your rear wheel with one on and then with a non o-ring. You'll see the difference.....
I guess it comes down to how badly you wanna win.

[Colin Jay]

The life of a chain boils down to only one thing, maintenance!

I run both O'ring and non O'ring chains on my bikes, depending on what they are and how they are used.

Example 1. 1976 XT500 Yamaha, a cheap Ebay 520 O'ring chain, same chain used for the past 3 year in competion (pre 1990 6hr, 8hr and two day reliability trials plus two attempts at the 24hr) total hours of use well over 120 hours of abuse. I have had to adjust the chain once in those 3 years. After every event the chain is removed and mud and crud cleaned off with a brass wire brush, then a toothbrush, it is then washed and re lubricated. for the first two seasons I lubed the chain at every fuel stop and at any other check point/control that I had the time and energy to do so. For the 2010 season I fitted a Scott Oiler, which continually lubes the chain while the engine is running.

Example 2. 1978 SR500 Yamaha (yeh, it's a road bike), DID HD 530 non O'ring chain. The chain on this bike has been fitted for about 8 years, I don't ride it much and have only covered about 10000km with this chain, but the chain has only been adjusted two or three times that I can think off. Again this bike is fitted with a Scott Oiler, more for the sake of good sprocket life than chain lubrication as the chain is regularly removes, scrubbed clean, washed in a kero bath the  "boiled" in Duckhams chain grease before refitting.

I have used the 500 Yamahas as examples as they have a reputation for flogging out chains, but I follow similar chain maintenance routines on my other bikes. Considering how much effect the condition of a chain can have, it really amazes me when I see the way some people treat them.  You can buy the top of the line chains that are used by the Pro racers, but they won't make you go any faster especially if that aren't adjust correctly or maintained.

CJ

[DR]

Couldn't be bothered with o'ring chains for a few reasons, I can feel the drag especially on the small bores, they 'can' interfere with cases and guides due to extra width and they won't make your expensive alloy sprocket last any longer in shitty conditions  

[LWC82PE]

I dont like non o-ring  chains because they stretch and get tight and loose spots and are impossible to adjust correctly after a while. Up until a few years ago Australia post supplied non o-ring DID 428 chains on all the post issue CT110's. they were just crap. i had to adjust the chains on a weekly basis. We then put o-ring chains on them and they are now set and forget. Thankfully the new posty bikes now come out with o-ring chains on them from the factory and the suppliers to Australia post now supply the spare chains as o-ring type when i fit new sprockets and chains on them.

I also had a non o-ring 520 chain on my TS185. I hated it, was always hard to get the adjustment right. Made the switch to a 0-ring which is much better. You can set the adjustment and it stays there. The only thing is i reckon it sucks a bit of power which i dont like. But im in between a rock and a hard place in regard to what to do. Im thinking of downsizing to 428 o-ring as that may not suck as much power?

[oldfart]

Col ....In my opinion you have nailed it. It all comes down to maintainace and the quality of chain purchased.
 
 

[holeshot buddy]

o rings are for trail and enduro bikes
i use a RK gold 520 on all my 500s
clean it after use and wd spray it
keep it adjusted right i get over 12 months out of mine
no drag spin the back wheel on the stand
go and have lunch come back still spinning