BMW is offering a chain that it claims requires zero maintenance

[MotoNews]

Image: 

BMW claims to have developed a brand-new innovation - dubbed the M Endurance Chain - to make chain maintenance a thing of the past

View the full article

[Dave Glen]

Hope it works better than the 2005 R1200RT no maintenance final drive.

 

Dave THE bastard

Australia

[eddd]

Modern X-chains are already light years ahead of the chains of our youth so I can see where new innovations might make the claims realistic.  The other thing to consider is how many miles does the average ride put on their bikes?  From what I've observed millions of bikes never accumulate enough miles to be an issue with current x-ring chains.

[dirtrider]

There is still the sprocket wear to deal with even if the chain can be made to live longer. 

 

Dry clean roads & moderate horsepower applied then modern sealed chains last a long time now. Wet gritty riding with high horsepower through the chain will wear both the chain & sprockets in short order. 

 

I don't care how durable or sealed the chain is, a couple of washings with a "direct hit" high pressure power washer can kill even the best sealed chain in short order. 

 

Chains are for educated riders, sealed final drives are for other riders. 

[eddd]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

There is still the sprocket wear to deal with even if the chain can be made to live longer. 

 

Dry clean roads & moderate horsepower applied then modern sealed chains last a long time now. Wet gritty riding with high horsepower through the chain will wear both the chain & sprockets in short order. 

 

I don't care how durable or sealed the chain is, a couple of washings with a "direct hit" high pressure power washer can kill even the best sealed chain in short order.   Of course, but this is hardly routine behavior for the vast majority of riders.

 

Chains are for educated riders, sealed final drives are for other riders.  So...all the RT and GS riders on the forum are uneducated dolts??

 

 

[dirtrider]

There is still the sprocket wear to deal with even if the chain can be made to live longer. 

 

Dry clean roads & moderate horsepower applied then modern sealed chains last a long time now. Wet gritty riding with high horsepower through the chain will wear both the chain & sprockets in short order. 

 

I don't care how durable or sealed the chain is, a couple of washings with a "direct hit" high pressure power washer can kill even the best sealed chain in short order.   Of course, but this is hardly routine behavior for the vast majority of riders.-- But it is routine behavior for a large number of riders. You see it at the local car washes every day as well as a number of riders own their own power washers.   Even one of my local motorcycle dealers routinely  power washes customer's motorcycles after service.  

 

Chains are for educated riders, sealed final drives are for other riders.  So...all the RT and GS riders on the forum are uneducated dolts??-- Absolutely not, RT and GS riders are just other riders, some are educated & some are not so much.  Plus some BMW GS motorcycles are chain bikes.

[eddd]

1 hour ago, dirtrider said:

There is still the sprocket wear to deal with even if the chain can be made to live longer. 

 

Dry clean roads & moderate horsepower applied then modern sealed chains last a long time now. Wet gritty riding with high horsepower through the chain will wear both the chain & sprockets in short order. 

 

I don't care how durable or sealed the chain is, a couple of washings with a "direct hit" high pressure power washer can kill even the best sealed chain in short order.   Of course, but this is hardly routine behavior for the vast majority of riders.-- But it is routine behavior for a large number of riders. You see it at the local car washes every day as well as a number of riders own their own power washers.   Even one of my local motorcycle dealers routinely  power washes customer's motorcycles after service.  

 

Chains are for educated riders, sealed final drives are for other riders.  So...all the RT and GS riders on the forum are uneducated dolts??-- Absolutely not, RT and GS riders are just other riders, some are educated & some are not so much.  Plus some BMW GS motorcycles are chain bikes.

 

I'm confused...Chains are for educated riders, yet riders with chains and even dealerships are not educated enough to know it is a bad idea to power wash a chain???

[dirtrider]

35 minutes ago, eddd said:

 

I'm confused...Chains are for educated riders, yet riders with chains and even dealerships are not educated enough to know it is a bad idea to power wash a chain???

You win, I can't piss that far any longer!

[Selden]

8 hours ago, dirtrider said:

There is still the sprocket wear to deal with even if the chain can be made to live longer. 

 

Dry clean roads & moderate horsepower applied then modern sealed chains last a long time now. Wet gritty riding with high horsepower through the chain will wear both the chain & sprockets in short order. 

 

Just for the sake of discussion, it would seem that chain wear would increase sprocket wear (i.e., hooked teeth, as the chain stretches). If the BMW "zero maintenance" chain doesn't wear as quickly, it seems like it should extend sprocket life as well. 

 

That said, I suspect that BMW will set a premium price for their zero maintenance chain, and when my F700GS accumulates enough miles to need a new chain, good DID X-ring chain and new sprockets would cost as much as or less than the BMW chain alone. 

[dirtrider]

34 minutes ago, Selden said:

 

Just for the sake of discussion, it would seem that chain wear would increase sprocket wear (i.e., hooked teeth, as the chain stretches). If the BMW "zero maintenance" chain doesn't wear as quickly, it seems like it should extend sprocket life as well. 

 

That said, I suspect that BMW will set a premium price for their zero maintenance chain, and when my F700GS accumulates enough miles to need a new chain, good DID X-ring chain and new sprockets would cost as much as or less than the BMW chain alone. 

Afternoon Selden 

 

You might be surprised on your chain life on that 700, my personal  800GS that I probably ride a lot harder than you ride yours, in off-road conditions that would kill most tank tracks, & I still get w-a-y over 20,000+ miles on chain & rear sprocket. 

 

If you are an easy rider the strays out of the mud,  sand, & river bottoms & keeps your chain clean then you might well get 30,000-35,000 miles plus out of a chain. (especially if you change out the front sprocket at about half life)

 

I do reverse the rear sprocket at around 10K (or at rear tire change around that mileage) & replace the front sprocket at 10K (front sprocket is smaller so sees a lot more wear per tooth than the rear). On my other off-road motorcycles I will sometimes also reverse the chain direction at about half life but on my 800 the chain wear is pretty darn even & almost never needs re-adjustment once it seats in. 

 

The only thing that I do differently than most is keep the chain & sprockets clean (using WD-40) then when dry I don't use a dedicated chain lube that attracts & holds grit, instead I use a Teflon spray that flashes off & dries  to a non oily, non sticky, dry coating.   (there might be something better out there but this has worked so well for me for so many years now that I would be afraid to change anything).

 

 

[Selden]

Thanks for encouraging words, as well as for the tip about reversing sprockets. I never thought about reversing the chain direction. I also use WD-40 to clean, followed by a Teflon chain spray. If I want to go off road, I use the XT225; for someone my size, the GS is just too big and heavy. If you are right about chain/sprocket wear on the F700GS, I may wear out before they do.

[dirtrider]

40 minutes ago, Selden said:

Thanks for encouraging words, as well as for the tip about reversing sprockets. I never thought about reversing the chain direction. I also use WD-40 to clean, followed by a Teflon chain spray. If I want to go off road, I use the XT225; for someone my size, the GS is just too big and heavy. If you are right about chain/sprocket wear on the F700GS, I may wear out before they do.

Evening Selden 

 

You can only reverse (flip over) the rear sprocket as the front sprocket only fits on one way as it has a collar on one side.

[Selden]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

You can only reverse (flip over) the rear sprocket as the front sprocket only fits on one way as it has a collar on one side.

 

That's what I thought. As long as I am picking your brain, I have seen both solid and rubber damped front sprockets. Any thoughts?

[dirtrider]

12 hours ago, Selden said:

 

That's what I thought. As long as I am picking your brain, I have seen both solid and rubber damped front sprockets. Any thoughts?

Morning Selden  

 

Those front sprockets are not actually rubber damped (at least like some rear driven sprockets are) as they are still solid construction. The rubber is just bonded to the sides of the steel sprocket to contact the chain side plates as the chain enters the sprocket teeth.

 

The (front)  rubber  "cushioned" sprocket is more for chain cushioning as the chain links enter the sprocket teeth.  The rubber wears pretty quickly on my off-road motorcycles so  any gain in noise reduction  is usually gone as the rubber wears where the chain links contact it. 

 

If you have good hearing,  don't wear ear plugs, & have a quiet motorcycle with road tires  then you could probably hear the chain noise difference. 

 

The rubber can also effect the chain tightness so if you install a rubber cushioned front sprocket be sure to keep a eye on chain adjustment until the rubber wears in as the chain usually loosens as the sprocket rubber  donuts wear in. 

 

On complex (difficult to remove)  engine/transmissions like the BMW 700/800 I tend to pay the extra money & use OEM front sprockets.  I have seen 3 BMW 800 bikes now that have stripped the transmission output shaft splines due to  (I think) the aftermarket  sprocket chucking on the splines until the splines disappear.  I don't really know if it is a fitment issue, or a heat treat issue, or interference with the BMW sprocket diaphragm spring washer,  or ????  All I know is that I don't EVER want to have to deal with it just to save a couple of dollars on a sprocket.  

If you do go with a rubber cushioned front sprocket then  make  darn sure it fits the splines properly but also make darn sure that the rubber on the sprocket sides doesn't interfere with BMW sprocket diaphragm spring washer. 

 

Trust me, you REALLY/REALLY/REALLY  don't EVER want to have to remove & completely disassemble a BMW 700 or 800 twin engine if at all possible.