I am just getting back into dirt bikes after many years, and there seems to be this rule among dirt bikers that it is necessary to carry extra master links, and chain tools, etc. Do you carry this stuff when you ride your quad??? I don't know ANYBODY who does, and I don't know ANYBODY who has ever broken a chain and needed any of this stuff anyway.

So, are there chain issues with dirt bikes that don't exist with quads??? If anything, a quad should be way harder on its chain than a dirt bike (heavier vehicle). You just don't hear of massive numbers of DNF's at the big desert endurance races, because of chain issues. Plus on a quad, you don't have as great a range of chain adjustment as a bike, so if you broke a quad chain you are going to have to replace the links, and you can't just pull the broken one out and fix it with a new master link, and adjust out the difference.

I have to say that the first thing I do with a new quad is change out the stock chain and sprockets, for better aftermarket ones. I do keep my chains and sprockets reasonalbly fresh and properly adjusted, and I use Maxima chain wax.

 

i have a breaker and master links in my trailer

after a fella breaks a chain one time,,,,he stocks up for the future (then the chain lasts forever) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

reconranger, Ive been riding dirt bikes for 35 years and have probubly carried a masterlink with me for about 25 of those years. Ive never actually needed one but have lent it to some one who did a couple times. I do have one in my fanny pack right now but no chain tools. I run o-ring chains on most of my dirt bikes. I think that lowers chain problems, and watching for sprocket wear helps too. MWQ

 

So maybe rescuing stranded women, might work for me???

 

I try to keep one in my tool box. If you have one, you will never need it. Forget it at home and the chain blows apart. That is the same rule, with tires and plug kits.

 

I have always kept the chain maintained and the chain I have now is a non oring. I take it off ever so often and drop it in a 5 gallon container of used synthetic motor oil. I have been riding dirtbikes for about as long as mywifesquad and I have never broken a chain.

 

my girlfriend threw a chain on a trailblazer 250 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

you guys must be riding like a couple of old men to have had that kind of chain stamina!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

"Throwing" a chain is one thing, and "breaking" one is completely another. I have seen folks lose a chain that wasn't tight enough a few times, but never seen one actually break in two out on the trail.

 

i meant to say 'break' then

 

LOL[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]





After every ride on the KDX I get down there and take a ruler and measure the the point on the swing arm for the chain deflection. I only adjust after it has passed the specs recommended by kawasaki which is 2.8 inches. When the bike was new I had to adjust it quite often during the first 300 miles but now the chain doesn't stretch too much with its oil baths and I purchase a honda product to spray on it in-between but I can think of what its called off the top of my head.