HondaMan- I have no clue why it didn't last. I removed it yesterday due to the adjusters being completely out. I thought I had an extra link in there and it was 102. That's why I tried 100 this time. It is snug and not even to the first adjuster notch on the swing arm. I always lubed the chain when I went for a ride that I knew I would be out for a while. When I bought the chain from the person on eBay it came in a ziplock bag. Had a copy of the box cover that chain must have came in.....
Is there a chance that it might have been used before? Reason I ask: if you run a chain in one direction at around 50% load for about 4 hours, it "sets" the rollers and pins for rotation in that direction. If the direction is then reversed, the pattern starts all over again, and the result is at first a bind (chain actually grows SHORTER slightly) as the metals migrate a little bit, then in just a couple hundred miles (2-4 hours) it becomes VERY loose. This has happened to several bikes I've had: it took me a very long conversation with a friendly Diamond Engineer to find out why.
Here's what happened the last time I did this, in 1982: I had removed the chain to replace the front sprocket for an upcoming trip (2000 miles to TX and back), and per my usual custom was going to turn the chain end-for-end, and inside-out. This ensures the "new" sides of the bushings inside (i.e. 180 degrees opposite the first wear-in) would see the load. But...partway through the operation, I went to supper: when I came back out I tripped over and kicked the chain across the garage, losing the orientation. In the darkening garage, I just put it back on, wondering which way it was...The next day I rode 180 miles before the bike started feeling sluggish, so I stopped to check things: the chain was tighter than Scrooge's fist! I turned the adjusters out 2 full turns to get any slack at all, scratching my head the whole time. As I rode on that day, the chain went so slack after another 500 miles that it was banging on the swingarm and pipes on every decel, and I had to pull out those 2 turns and add another (3rd) turn to pick up the slack. The rest of that trip resulted in a snatchy, jerky chain by the time I got home, as it was very unevenly worn (and only had 4000 miles on it). That was when I called Diamond to learn more: in the end, he told me to flip the chain inside out, going the direction it was: that accomplished what I was trying to do before I left. In another 1000 miles it straightened itself out, and I went on to ride it 38k miles.
That guy REALLY knew chains: in the 30 minute talk I had with him I learned more about chains than anyone else I've ever met.
