Just spent 1.5 hours cleaning my Scrambler after a ride on wet roads (winter hack is broken at mo), last task blow the chain dry with the pet blower, clean with paraffin and lube, span the wheel to find the split link as a starting point, must’ve missed it, span again, can’t see it, cos it’s not there! (the clip I mean), I’ve always said there’s nothing wrong with split links cos they don’t have any side load, that’s true but obviously the clip coming off is a different matter, fitted a spare clip for now but next weekend it’ll get a rivet link, anyway the reaction?, blood ran cold!
No it’s a new one with a replacement chain, DID VX, I’m amazed it’s lost it’s clip, never had an issue over the years on previous bikes, it’s put me off them now though!, I’m just thankful that I decided to clean the chain when I did, could’ve been nasty! Shows the value of cleaning your bikes regularly, issues get seen.
Glad I amazed you , if you think about it logically it’s the solid plates that the pins go through that take the power, so the amount of power isn’t relavent, the spring clip is only there to stop the plate falling off, there should be negligible lateral force acting on the solid plates and therefore on the spring clip, I suspect that the clip was faulty in some way, that said it shows that the clips can be lost so I’ll be using rivet links in future!
The chain was supplied with both in the box, although I admit I didn’t read any instructions possibly printed on the box, it’s possible that there was a recommendation there?, a bit of googling showed a 50/50 split on opinions, people using them for 40years, using them on on dragsters blah de blah, but they are just that, opinions, I haven’t found any technical articles that might shed a bit more light on the subject, anyway I’ll be using rivet links going forward, the fact that the spring clip came off mine is enough for me, I suppose a rivet link could also fail but it feels less likely!.
I have riveted a few chains and the easiest and the one that always leaves you with a confident feeling is the DID chain.
Its about life span. Drag bikes and competition stuff is regular, every time used, checked and very regularly replaced AFAIK. I used them on track bikes, because it sometimes needed to come apart, and a new chain every year so may be 1000 miles tops. And sub 65hp only; larger got a rivet chain. Same with motox.
This one certainly didn’t have much of a life, chains only been on a few months, a thought came to mind earlier, when cleaning the chain with parrafin and a piece of old towelling I rotated the chain backwards so as not to drag my hand into the rear sprocket, there is a chance that the open end of the clip caught in the towelling and caused it to release, I’ll check to see if it’s in the towel or on the floor tomorrow, if this is the case it must have come off very easily because I didn’t feel it tug, doesn’t take away from the fact that I’ll be using rivet links from now on of course, but it would show how easily things can go wrong, a mate of mine had a quarter whit nut flick onto the bottom run of his chain, it locked his rear wheel solid, he stayed on but as he said it was more by luck than judgement!
