Your chain looks like it is getting “deep” into the drive sprocket. I usually replace sprockets and chains as a unit…… Ido like HondaMan’s suggestion of reusing the old chain for a few hundred miles to take the “edge” off new sprockets and then installing the new chain…..
I originally wasn't planning on using my old chain, but after seeing John's input and reading some of Mark's recommendations to use the old chain to break-in new sprockets, I decided to install the old chain to do just that.
Will I have a problem if the old chain is installed in a rotational orientation different than it originally ran in?
Because I wasn't planning on using it, I lost the original directional orientation as it soaked in oil pan.
Thoughts?
No, it won't curse you for using it backward, or the like.
The whole idea of it is to remove the nasty cast grit on modern sprockets, putting it where it won't hurt the new chain. We don't see machined sprockets anymore (other than their tapped holes and sometimes the center splines) because casting has become so much cheaper than machining now, and pretty accurate. It still leaves some surface grit, though: I just bought 2 new JT Sprockets and the teeth still have the slight grit in their valleys. That's the nasty part that wipes out quickly and ends up in the chain.
MIMs-metal casting might someday come to these sprockets, although I suspect it will make them very brittle if it does. It's a real cheap way to make parts of precise dimension without the grit, but the tradeoff is in non-elasticity in the final product. When we drop the clutch, putting 60+ HP into a 1" diameter hole with 1/8" tall splines, I suspect some of those splines won't appreciate that, leaving their footing behind...?
