Chain and sprockets

[DarcShadow]

There's an interesting discussion going on on MotoDFW regarding chains and sprockets. A lot of personal preferences when it comes to chain size, but someone did post this table which has some interesting actual data and gives a numerical expression on actual weight savings of a 520 chain vs life span of a 525/530 chain.

[Fish R1]

There's an interesting discussion going on on MotoDFW regarding chains and sprockets. A lot of personal preferences when it comes to chain size, but someone did post this table which has some interesting actual data and gives a numerical expression on actual weight savings of a 520 chain vs life span of a 525/530 chain.

[DemonDuck]

So does this mean it is worth changing to a 520?

[Rhino]

I doubt you'll see a major difference with the weight savings.

Remember BMW is well known for its engineering. They picked a chain size that will last with the monster power your S1000RR is putting to the wheel. I'd stick with the bigger chain, unless you want to start replacing chains more often.

[DarcShadow]

As I read the table, it's saying that a 520 chain has about a 87% life span of that of a 525 or a 530. So you'd change the 520 time 5 times to ever 4 times of a 525 or 530. So then the question is, do you believe you'll ever change your chain more than 4 times in the time you own your bike? If not you won't really be loosing by going to a 520. However, I don't know what the cost difference between the chains and sprockets are so that would need to be factored in as well. I'm guessing a 525 or 530 is cheaper than a 520 so personally I'd stick with the longer lasting although slightly heavier chain/sprocket combo.

[Fish R1]

I doubt you'll see a major difference with the weight savings.

Remember BMW is well known for its engineering. They picked a chain size that will last with the monster power your S1000RR is putting to the wheel. I'd stick with the bigger chain, unless you want to start replacing chains more often.

A 2012 BMW needing a chain mod. With all the electronic bells and whistles that bike has to improve performance. Not to mention the quality engineering that has been used to develop this ride

Which leads to this question? If you have the ability to electronically improve the performance of the bike at your fingertips and with software mods. Why can’t the reverse be done for learning purposes? Set the controls and software to reduce the performance of the bike. My brief experience with the liter bike at track days was this. Too much bike for my experience level, too much power, too much weight, and finally relying on riding experience from the late 70s to the early 80s.
So I made the change to the 600cc motorcycle and have not looked back, Some of the best advice given to me by FWMR members and more experienced sport bike riders was this (The smaller the bike the more I can teach you) which I agree with.

If you can manipulate the bike to act smaller does it meet the intent of Bostroms quote?

[Striple]

So does this mean it is worth changing to a 520?

A 520-conversion does provide some savings of unsprung weight, but keep in mind that you also have to change out the sprockets for the conversion. The savings of weight and money on either side are pretty marginal, especially for the street. Unless you're already planning to change both chain and sprockets, I probably wouldn't bother with a conversion on a street bike.

That said, you should see how the C-14 flies ever since I've switched her over to 520. No, wait...

[milesmiles]

Sprocket change makes a huge difference. 520chain, hardly noticable...either way do what makes you happy

[DarcShadow]

Perceived huge change, yes, actual huge change, probably not but it does have an effect. You do want to be carefule when changing sprockets and gears to get what works for the track you're on. The ideal sprocket setup for say MSR 1.3 will not work well at ECR and will really suck at CotA. The ideal setup for MSR 1.7 will probably work well at ECR and ok on MSR 1.3 but won't be great for TWS or CotA. There are racers that change their gearing for each track they go to. A bit extrem for the track riding that most of us do.

Learning a track/bike combo is key before playing around with changing things. For one, if you don't know how the bike performed to start with, how do you know if your change made an improvement or hurt you.

[WillK675]

I doubt you'll see a major difference with the weight savings.

Remember BMW is well known for its engineering. They picked a chain size that will last with the monster power your S1000RR is putting to the wheel. I'd stick with the bigger chain, unless you want to start replacing chains more often.

A 2012 BMW needing a chain mod. With all the electronic bells and whistles that bike has to improve performance. Not to mention the quality engineering that has been used to develop this ride

Which leads to this question? If you have the ability to electronically improve the performance of the bike at your fingertips and with software mods. Why can’t the reverse be done for learning purposes? Set the controls and software to reduce the performance of the bike. My brief experience with the liter bike at track days was this. Too much bike for my experience level, too much power, too much weight, and finally relying on riding experience from the late 70s to the early 80s.
So I made the change to the 600cc motorcycle and have not looked back, Some of the best advice given to me by FWMR members and more experienced sport bike riders was this (The smaller the bike the more I can teach you) which I agree with.

If you can manipulate the bike to act smaller does it meet the intent of Bostroms quote?

Fish, to answer your question... yes & no. Because that quote not only refers to engine displacement, but also to the physical size of the bike. When you get down to really small bikes, such as minis, you will learn how much body position means, especially in the forward to rear of being on the bike.

[Fish R1]

Excellent points. Working on a detailed response.

[DemonDuck]

I always change sprockets when I change the chain ... Not going to do anything till this chain wears out but when it does I might think about a 520. I might even go with the titanium sidewinder but not sure yet.