Chain Maintenance Question

[dcj13]

Having come from a shaft-drive background and having only relatively recently acquired chain-drive bikes (Ninjette and baby KLR), I have a question about chain maintenance: If I remove a used chain for cleaning, should it be reinstalled in the same orientation? That is, the “inside” of the chain (side of chain that contacts the sprockets) gets put back that way with the chain rotating the same direction.

Car tires take a “set” after about 10K miles or so: If they get reinstalled going the other direction they can delaminate unexpectedly (seen it happen twice in my adult life). Similarly, I try to reinstall used alternator belts and serpentine belts so that they spin the same direction as they did before removal.

A used motorcycle drive chain can be reinstalled in four possible orientations: 1) previous inside part of chain reinstalled inside, spinning in same direction as before; 2) previous inside part of chain reinstalled inside, spinning the opposite direction as before; 3) previous inside part of chain reinstalled on the outside, spinning in same direction as before; and 4) previous inside part of chain reinstalled on the outside, spinning in the opposite direction as before.

Will reinstalling a chain in an “alternate orientation” have an adverse effect on chain life? Or will it perhaps improve chain life? Or does it have no effect on chain life whatsoever?

[csmith12]

Interesting question, one that I never really paid much mind.

[cbinker]

un less there is a master link on the chain, you wont be able to completely remove it.

[SteveL]

Just clean it every 500/600 miles then you never need to take it off.

Steve

[broilmebk]

Wow, never really thought about that. Why go through the extra work though? Grab a grunge brush or something of that sort and clean the chain while it's still on the bike.
But if you just had to take it off, I'd try and put the chain back on with the original orientation, just to be safe.

[greenaero]

^^^^ well said

[alex.s]

for a rusted chain, its useful to soak it in kerosene which requires removal. removing a riveted chain is not an issue. you use a chain breaker. and to put it back on you put a new master link in if it was riveted before. they are $5. the inner bearings of the chain spin, so i would think off hand that the direction wouldn't matter for them until the point where the sprockets are worn in so far that you should just change them anyway (at which point you might as well buy a new chain) on a healthy chain with healthy sprockets that you just removed and put back on it shouldn't matter

[ez12a]

even though the chain rollers and what not rotate as it goes through the bike i'd just put it back in the same orientation you took it off, for that slight chance that the sprockets/teeth wore in a particular way.

[Boom King]

Gee, good question. The only "must" I've heard of is if the chain has a retaining clip, to make sure the closed end faces towards the rotational direction of travel.

[broilmebk]

Originally Posted by Boom King

Gee, good question. The only "must" I've heard of is if the chain has a retaining clip, to make sure the closed end faces towards the rotational direction of travel.

Ninja edit. Was about to correct you

[dcj13]

Appreciate the replies thus far, as I thought it might just be ignorance on my part, but apparently not…

With respect to car tires, I’ve tried 3 long-term major rotation strategies on a front wheel drive car: don’t rotate them at all (replace the front tires twice as often as the rear ones); fore-to-aft on the same side (what I’ll stick with for remainder of my life for tires of same size); and criss-cross-applesauce every 5K miles (can control cupping/feathering, but too much of a PITA because you have to jack the car up too many times to do it).

I’m getting the feeling that if I’m gonna have to change the chain and sprockets every 10K to 15K miles anyway, it probably won’t make any difference. But if someone has knowledge or (what the hell...) a strong opinion, please let us know. I put a nice new chain and new sprocket set (15/44, what the PO had on it when I bought it – he liked it and so did I) on the Ninjette a thousand miles ago, so I can stay on top of that chain, but the KLR chain is disgusting (even though the bike has only 1800 miles on it, I’m sure it hasn’t been cleaned since the bike was new)!