lowcel

That's kinda funny. Only bad part is that once the people riding the 250's and 300's move up to bigger bikes they will ride circles around me. Learning on the smaller bikes is such a good idea.

Cool, a new forum to see how sloooooooow I am.

I just noticed this was already posted by someone else. Sorry....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vd_OuqUAaI

Thank you.

Thanks everyone, appreciate the kind words.

I'm sure most experienced people don't do all of the measuring. However since I have no experience with doing this (other than watching someone once) I'm going with the "better safe than sorry" route.

I'm not sure if mine had the clip on it since I bought the bike. I had never noticed it and just assumed the master link was riveted when I did glance at it. I got very lucky. I'm not saying anything bad about clip style links. I know a lot if people use them.

The first thing I did was get online and find out what the rivets are supposed to measure once it is completed. According to DID the rivets are supposed to measure 0.217" to 0.228". Make sure you find this number for your specific chain. Here is the measurement when I started. This is another step that you want to take your time with. You do not want to go to far and cause the rivet to crack. If you do that go ahead and grind the new link off and buy a new one then start over. I probably removed the rivet tool five times on each pin to check the measurements. I would rather be safe than sorry. Here are the numbers that I ended up with. Success! Once you are finished just move the chain around a little to make sure that you have no tight spots in the new link. If it feels good then you are done.

Next I loosened up the rear axle so I would have a little play in the chain, I then slid the master link into the two ends of the chain and placed two more o-rings on the link. Next just put the outer plate on the master link. Here you can see the width of the link prior to starting the pressing procedure. Next you use your handy dandy chain tool, which can be purchased here for around $30, to press the outer plate onto the master link. It is important to take your time on this step. If you press it to far and smash an o-ring the master link is trash. I made a couple of turns with the chain tool and removed it to check the measurements several times. Example of a "check". After a couple of minutes and some patience, success! I am within 0.001", I think that is close enough. Now that I have the chain the thickness that I want it is time to take care of the rivets. I did not get any pictures of the chain tool on the rivet but it is pretty easy to find a picture of that.

I just replaced the master link in my chain and I thought I would share the procedure. It is pretty simple if you just take your time. Step one: Remove old master link. My old master link was a clip style. While going over my bike a few days ago I noticed that the clip was missing. This is why it is a good idea to go over your bike on a regular basis. Mine was really easy to remove since it was already loose. I just used a screw drier and pried it apart. The first thing I did was measure the thickness of the outer plate for the new master link. For all of my measurements I am using a cheap $11 electronic caliper that I purchased from Amazon, which can be found here. I then measured one of the outer plates on the chain to make sure they are the same thickness. The reason I did this is so that once I'm pressing the link I will know what the outside measurements need to be. They are close enough to being the same so my goal is going to be to press the master link to be the same as a standard link on the chain. Here is what a chain link measures. So, now that I have my measurement it is time to install the link. First step, grease up link with supplied grease and put two o-rings on the link.

I had people sing to me tonight. They didn't sing that great but they made awesome margaritas.

What did I just watch?

When I was younger and dumber I hit 170ish (corrected with speedohealer) on my ZX14. I rarely go over 80ish on the street these days. What was so scary about going that fast on that bike was how smooth it was.

Well I may have asked about your front tire and rearsets prior to the crash but I didn't mention your motor. You can't blame that one on me.

I ran well in the morning but in the afternoon I couldn't hit an apex to save my life. I was so tired I skipped the final session. I haven't been able to do anything physical for a few weeks plus I had a heart cath last Tuesday that I'm still a bit sore (and very bruised) from. That's what I'm blaming it on.

I ride slower on the street now than I ever did before.

Riding starts at 9:00 and ends at 5:00.

I was out there with you. I was on the orange and white CBR with the red power ranger suit. I actually talked to you some. You were kicking ass!

Pits are wide open, just come on in. This weather is perfect. Only a dozen or so people in intermediate. Only four people in advanced.

They go until 5:00.

My fat ass would have to roll off of that thing.

Well I am heading to Mid-O when I get off work so let me know if you have anything.

I just bought three more gift certificates so in covered either way.