Topic: Who here is riding on self-riveted Cam Chains?

[snoop]

I had to cut my cam chain a while back to unsieze an engine.  I wish I knew the forum existed before I got the bike.  I reriveted my cam chain with some cheapo chinese tool off of ebay. I used an ek link.  I have never hear of soft links before.

 I am afraid it is going to break.  It doesnt look like the greatest rivet in the world.  Has anybody ever had a chain break on them.  I dont care about killing my engine.  I am afraid of the rear wheal locking up at 80.  I am curious on how many people are riding around like this.

[kslrr]

I have never heard of cutting and re-riviting a cam chain.  I have always replaced it when in doubt.

[bryanj]

When in the trade I riveted many up and never had one come back.
did it both with a"Tool" and with two hammers to Pein the end over.

Big thing is you need a "soft" link the same make as the chain as whist the distance between pins and the width between side plates is a standard the pin diameter is not as long as it meats the strength requirements.

[MRieck]

 scondon has recently done this (or is about to do so).

[mcpuffett]

Did my f1 about 12,000 miles ago with no issues  ,    mick.

[snoop]

Thats great to hear I am not the only one that has done this.

What would exactly happen if it broke?

[Blaize]

You would start crying

[MRieck]

You would start crying

.....a lot.

[scondon]

scondon has recently done this (or is about to do so).

 And for the second time,Mike Turns out that the first chain, in my daily rider(15,000 miles and counting) was not a Tsubaki chain after all, but rather a EK Heavy Duty chain. So yes, soft rivet link has worked fine.

    As bryanj points out, the link you use should be the same as the chain you are fitting to. If the engine is still open I would just buy new heavy duty chain and soft link together and install, rather than put a new link on an old chain. Use the tool to press the side plate ALL the way onto the soft link pins before mushrooming the heads. "Mushrooming" the soft pins is an art, I guess, since the first time I did it I crushed them down so much the link action was stiff, and they still didn't look like they would hold the side plate on(but they did).

   

[Spikeybike]

You would start crying

and you possibly start flying

[memphis3724]

Hi. Is the only other way to replace the cam chain without re-riviting opening crankcase?

[scondon]

Yes, it(cam chain) has to get around the crank.

[Kamal]

I would get a new chain that has a link, and re-do the thing.  It is a safety issue.  Im not sure if the new chains have a self-rivet link or a clip type link, but having a matched set, and a new chain on top of that, is good insurance.

Where are you located?  The job is not that hard.  You simply break the old chain, tie the new one to it, pull the new chain through using the old chain as a leash, and you are done!  Just make sure your cam timing stayed correct...


Kamal

[DammitDan]

What would exactly happen if it broke?

I had the cam sprocket come loose from the cam while I was riding it...  Engine seized immediately and locked up the back tire.  If I had been going faster than 15 mph I probably would have dumped it.  After I opened it up I found a cam sprocket bolt had stripped out and the sprocket ruined the head.

I can imagine a similar situation would happen with a broken camchain, except with more shearing and irreversible breakage.  Not something you particularly want to screw around with unless you know what you're doing.

[snoop]

[ Use the tool to press the side plate ALL the way onto the soft link pins before mushrooming the heads. "Mushrooming" the soft pins is an art, I guess, since the first time I did it I crushed them down so much the link action was stiff, and they still didn't look like they would hold the side plate on(but they did).

   

I used a whole new ek chain with a regular ek link.  It is definitely a delicate art which requires some brute strength.  The first rivit I did was too stiff so I re cut it and bought 2 more links.  I managed to do a better job the second time around.  I get the idea of mushrooming the end of it but it is very hard to make the mushroom look big enough without it getting too stiff.