Best Drive Chain? O ring or Non O ring?

[turbowrenchhead]

There are so many choices on eBay for heavy duty chain I don't know what will actually hold up better. I bought a HD 520 non o ring chain for $25 last year but its stretched out after 5 or 6 weekend trips. What will hold up better? How are the Driveline HD chains. They are $70 shipped for an o ring chain. Kinda pricey. They have a non o ring for $10 less

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BANSHEE-DRA...Parts_Accessories&hash=item43b2b61a5d&vxp=mtr

 

[Quadrider10]

Rockymountainatvmc.com is ur best bet. I bought a chain from yhere, and its still holding up... It was an rk chain.

Non workings create mote power, but u have to keep them cleaned and lubed all the time. O rings loose a little power, but ate less maintenance, and usually last longer.

 

[turbowrenchhead]

I've tried to keep my non o ring chain clean and lubed and it seemed to work fine. The problem was it stretched out too much and my sprocket teeth started to warp

 

[best]

Get a name brand chain like Tsubaki or DID if you want it to last. 50% more price, 100% more life.
An "O"ring chain soaks up a LOT of power, you would never use one for racing but they easily last 3 times longer than a non-"O"ring chain.

To get life out of a non-"O"ring chain I take it off often, wash it off by shaking it in a paint can half full of kerosene.
I then either soak it in another paint can half full of chain oil if I am lazy or heated chain wax for best life.
I don't know if you can still buy chain wax. Last time I did this I used "bullet sizing lube" bought at a gun shop.
Drop the sticks in a paint can and put on med heat on Mom's stove. Drop the chain in for 15 minutes when the wax is liquid.
Pull it out and hang over the paint can to cool. Use the cans of cleaner and lube over and over again.
Stiff when cold but quickly warms up to slippery smoothness.
This lube works wonderfully and a non-"O"ring chain lubed up like this before each race will last a long time with very low friction.

Older and lazier now, I run an "O"ring chain these days. typically last a season or two with almost no care.
You do pay a price in friction however, but if you have power to spare...

 

[79xs]

Get a name brand chain like Tsubaki or DID if you want it to last. 50% more price, 100% more life.
An "O"ring chain soaks up a LOT of power, you would never use one for racing but they easily last 3 times longer than a non-"O"ring chain.

DID is great. Most bikes/atvs come with a DID drive chain or a timing chain. I have also had luck with EK. Both made in Japan.

 

[Blaaster]

There are so many choices on eBay for heavy duty chain I don't know what will actually hold up better. I bought a HD 520 non o ring chain for $25 last year but its stretched out after 5 or 6 weekend trips.

Did you replace both the sprockets as well?

Fitting a new chain on old sprockets will stuff it, and the sprockets in a few rides.

Never mix old with new, they marry for life.

 

[scotj77]

also the x ring chain hasn't been mentioned. it is supposed to last like an oring but have less resistance. I run a RK non o ring just because it is so much easier to roll aorund that way. lol comes in very handy if break down. lmao

 

[best]

Did you replace both the sprockets as well?

Fitting a new chain on old sprockets will stuff it, and the sprockets in a few rides.

Never mix old with new, they marry for life.

This is mostly true, but if you use a chain gauge or following the manufacturers stretch measurement and replacement guidelines you can replace many chains to a set of sprockets. It is done in industry all the time and by many racers in the know. Most of us try to get a bit more use out of a worn chain and it is that stretch, the increase in the chain link distance, that takes the life out of the sprocket.

Here is a fair article on chain wear limits.
I do not agree with his well educated opinion about "O"ring chains taking almost no power,
but his "Second Method" is my standard method of measuring chains.
You can make up your own 24 link chain gauge like the one he has pictured, although I would recommend a 15-5/32" replacement length.
Replace your chain at this wear length and your sprockets will last a very long time. Go longer and and you will need sprockets too.

 

[scotj77]

I have a pretty steep driveway and you can put my blaster on it and it will roll out of the driveway and across the street and up the neighbors driveway. do the same exact thing with my cousins blaster and it will roll about 10 ft and stop. I run a non oring chain and he runs an oring chain. to me that is a huge difference in drag.

great info best! have some green

 

[mud runner]

I have a pretty steep driveway and you can put my blaster on it and it will roll out of the driveway and across the street and up the neighbors driveway. do the same exact thing with my cousins blaster and it will roll about 10 ft and stop. I run a non oring chain and he runs an oring chain. to me that is a huge difference in drag.

great info best! have some green

thats good to know i probably wont buy a o ring

 

[Blaaster]

Most of us try to get a bit more use out of a worn chain and it is that stretch, the increase in the chain link distance, that takes the life out of the sprocket.

One may get away with fitting a new chain on comparativly new sprockets.

But if a sprocket has some wear, especially the small one, it will have worn to accommodate the chain that has been running around it.

If you now fit a chain with a tighter link spacing (as in a new one) to that worn sprocket, the longer sprocket spacing will bunch the chain.

What happens now is that there are less links contacting the teeth taking the strain which causes the links that are in contact work much harder.

Fitting an old chain to new sprockets will cause the chain to ramp and tightening occurs putting extreme stress on every link.

Which ever way you go, old chains will stuff new sprockets and new sprockets will stuff old chains.

Eventually both will stuff each other.

 

[best]

I have a pretty steep driveway and you can put my blaster on it and it will roll out of the driveway and across the street and up the neighbors driveway. do the same exact thing with my cousins blaster and it will roll about 10 ft and stop. I run a non oring chain and he runs an oring chain. to me that is a huge difference in drag.

great info best! have some green

Yeah, exactly my experience as well Scott.
Push the Blaster (or a motorbike) any distance at all and you can feel the difference "O"ring vs non"O"ring. One of my bikes is a 125 and it comes alive with a non"O"ring chain on it, that is no 1/50th of a hp. I just ran a non"O"ring chain on my Blaster for a few week (resold it to member SHart) and could feel how free it coasted compared to the "O"ring chain, but I wanted the maintenance free chain.

The engineer's test in that article is interesting, but I suspect he is missing something in his figures. Part of my job over the past 30 years has been to get engineer's projects to work in real life. You don't know how many times I have heard: "well, it worked on paper?".

I have the utmost respect for engineers. They put values to ideas and allow us to do the maximum with the minimum, but they are not infallible and sometimes miss the obvious.

 

[turbowrenchhead]

After the comments here I've decided to go with a non o ring chain. I ran this non brand name heavy duty 520 chain but I can tell you that I must of tightened it a dozen times and went to a bigger front sprocket to do so half way through. It says it has a 8200 lb strength.

Heavy Duty Blue Drive Chain 520x106 520 Pitch 106 Links | eBay

Only the DID professional chains have a higher strength rating. Plus they are pricey.

D.I.D./DID 520NZ SUPER NON O-RING CHAIN 120 LINK | eBay

EK says 7700 pds, not to bad of a price

EK Chain 520 SR Heavy Duty Chain - 130 Links 203-520SR-130 | eBay

RK has the highest rating and a better price then DID.

RK 520 MXZ4 Heavy Duty Chain - 110 Links 520MXZ4-110 | eBay

I'm leaning towards the RK heavy duty non o ring.

 

[Herpderplol]

Primary Drive 520 RDO O-Ring Chain | ATV | Rocky Mountain ATV/MC


I order this chain and both sprockets from this site, they are reliable and very fast shipping, i haven't been able to ride yet but this chain is awesome.

 

[best]

Yeah, stick with a name brand.
The fact you have to keep tightening it is telling you that it is wearing out and destroying your sprockets.
The links and rollers are soft and wearing like in this picture:

They have little case hardening. It has nothing to do with ultimate strength.
A good chain will only need a couple of adjustments in a season. Beyond that you are just destroying sprockets.
Whatever you do, do not over-tighten your chain. There is no stretch in a chain and a tight chain makes broken transmissions.

 

[bbshadow49]

this topic is very confusing because i am now seeing choices like x-ring and z-ring there are so many choices,

also how do you know what "brand" name is . is renthal a brand name? i even saw JT steel?

is there a sticky somewhere with a writeup on this stuff?

 

[mud runner]

yes renthal is a brand name so is rk i use rk on most of my bikes

 

[Burke]

Can't go wrong with Sidewinder... as long as you are 100% sure on sprocket size, because they are EXPENSIVE!!

 

[Madman50]

I dont know about the quads but i have an RK o-ring chain on my cb750 and over 2000 miles later i have not had to adjust it at all just make sure to use good chain lube the drag is noticable backing up but the longivety is well worth the small amount of drag