Drive Chains

T Rock

T Rock

New Member
I built my first bike last week with a flying horse 66cc and it came with a heavy duty 415 chain, great!
I am building another bike this week and got the Grubee GT-5 slant head kit, and it came with a small regular bicycle style chain.
Does anybody have any experience with these small chains? Do you think it will hold up to the Grubee 66cc slant head engine? to me it looks kind of weak compaired to a 415 chain, im just sayin!
 
Thanks for the advice, I was thinking the same thing, not only will it give extra tire clearance but it will be lighter and rob less power from the engine. I just didnt know if it would hold up to the torque of these engines. Thanks again Venice!, oh by the way you got some great builds on your site, very cool stuff 8)
 
I got the cheap bicycle chain with mine as well. It was nothing but trouble from the moment I put it on. The chain fell off consistently. The chain is too narrow and requires perfect alignment in order to stay on. Justin @ Pirate Cycles sent me a 415 and it works perfectly and has never fallen off. I would throw the cheap bike chain in the woods and get the 415. Just my opinion.
 
junked said:
I got the cheap bicycle chain with mine as well. It was nothing but trouble from the moment I put it on. The chain fell off consistently. The chain is too narrow and requires perfect alignment in order to stay on. Justin @ Pirate Cycles sent me a 415 and it works perfectly and has never fallen off. I would throw the cheap bike chain in the woods and get the 415. Just my opinion.
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I know how you feel about throwing your chain into the woods, mine is seizing up on me. I forgot to put some chain lube on before a long ride and when I got home and checked the chain, I noticed it got stiff in certain locations on the chain. I normally lube it before each ride but this time I didn't and it could not handle the high speeds. The 415 chains are bullet proof and would recommend them. Sure they are heavier and wider and might rob the engine of a little power, but well worth it!
 
ok ive been through this a bunch of times before.....your having problems cause the tensioner pulley is still meant for 415 chain.....if you want to use the same tensioner pulley move it as far away from the rear gear as possible also do not leave slack in the chain as if it were 415 chain....the other option is to get a chain tensioner pulley meant for a downhill application....just make sure you order one for 410 chain since high end bike chains can get alot skinnier depending on how many gear

as for needing the 415 or #41 chain to handle the power.....if you have ever seen a jr drag car they are running 7.90's at 80mph 1/8 mile with one cyl producing 40-45hp burning alcohol.....these 415 chains are overkill for us

ok some cars but very few are using 420 which is abit wider
 
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switching from 410 to 415 is a bit more extensive than just changing chains....the length of the link is different
 
T Rock said:
I know how you feel about throwing your chain into the woods, mine is seizing up on me. I forgot to put some chain lube on before a long ride and when I got home and checked the chain, I noticed it got stiff in certain locations on the chain. I normally lube it before each ride but this time I didn't and it could not handle the high speeds. The 415 chains are bullet proof and would recommend them. Sure they are heavier and wider and might rob the engine of a little power, but well worth it!
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On the other hand - shiftkits obviously utilize the bicycle's chain(s), I had much the same problem with binding links but as it turns out it was all due to the low quality chain and torque distortion - not so much it's size. In desperation I picked up some wallyworld's generic Bell "BMX" chain and I've had absolutely no binding link problems since... not that it's "quality" by any stretch (lol... yea) but it's defo better than kit chain, I'll be investing in real chains soon enough heh

I really do think that these engines don't need as burly a chain as 415, but they do need a higher quality no matter the size you choose to use :)
 
BarelyAWake said:
On the other hand - shiftkits obviously utilize the bicycle's chain(s), I had much the same problem with binding links but as it turns out it was all due to the low quality chain and torque distortion - not so much it's size. In desperation I picked up some wallyworld's generic Bell "BMX" chain and I've had absolutely no binding link problems since... not that it's "quality" by any stretch (lol... yea) but it's defo better than kit chain, I'll be investing in real chains soon enough heh

I really do think that these engines don't need as burly a chain as 415, but they do need a higher quality no matter the size you choose to use :)
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Walmart actually makes sells a quality chain for like $10 (multi-speed, not the BMX) in comparison to the stock chains on the bikes they sell. I don't know how you got the BMX chain to fit a gear system... I tried it and it wouldn't even fit my 1-speed cruiser (not enough links). But they're both good chains, whichever fits.

The multi-speed one also has these little dimples in the connecting rods which makes punching out links a breeze if you use a hammer & punch.
 
My ride is... well... was a one speed cruiser (3 speed now, Sturmey w/a shiftkit) I just bought 2 packs of chain is all - although the one from the crank to the hub did actually fit (one link extra, talk about cutting corners) I needed extra for from the shiftkit to crank chain anyway.

I can see how it mighta not been long enough for your one speed tho, it was dang close on mine and the shiftkit's crank sprocket (crank to hub chain) is a smaller OD than the original.

Still, I think we're on the same page - that the kit chain is junk :p



edit: yea - sorry, I've more than one bike lol ;)
 
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