primary chain

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Hi all, I need to buy a new primary chain for my 73 850 interstate , can anyone tell me if these eastern european chains at andover norton are any good ,would appreciate any help on which chain to fit ;dont want to see it making a bid for freedom out through the chaincase Brian
 
How do you feel about taking advantage of this opportunity to convert to a belt drive primary? No lube needed for a chain, and none to foul the clutch plates, and none to leak out?
Lighter and smoother reciprocating mass.
Just curious.
 
highdesert said:
How do you feel about taking advantage of this opportunity to convert to a belt drive primary? No lube needed for a chain, and none to foul the clutch plates, and none to leak out?
Lighter and smoother reciprocating mass.
Just curious.

What happens to the belt drive when the crankshaft seal leaks oil onto it?
 
illf8ed said:
..What happens to the belt drive when the crankshaft seal leaks oil onto it?
even if the seal leaks oil , how can that oil ever reach the belt ?
 
Hi thanks for replies , i am considering a belt drive but funds wont allow at the moment so was just wondering if anyone had any bad experiences with these cheap chains i know you can get a renold at double the price but i have heard stories about rollers splitting on these
 
I would buy one from a reputable place such as Mick Hemmings, shouldn't go wrong there.
The chains last for a very very long time. Mine still has the original on it, after all that thrashing it used to get years ago.
 
Maybe get a secondhand one from someone who has converted to belt drive? There must be a heap out there now. Just a thought. They do indeed last a long time.
 
Well I just replaced mine from original to Tsubaki (Japanese) The original, Reynolds I think? had rollers falling off, on closer examination I could see the rollers were rolled from flat, and about 4 section at random had broken. The Tsubaki rollers are complete solid bushes. So in conclusion I am not all that ken on the Reynolds, unless the modern equivalent is made differently.

Hope this helps with your original question. On the belt drive thing, I have converted my other bike, Harley Shovel to closed belt, tobe honest apart form the lack of leaks fromt he primary, I can't really say it is any smoother than a good chain, also on the harley the clutch now sounds like a Ducati dry clutch. So stick with the chain and make sure your primay has the correct amount of spacers to ensure it does not destort when you tension the centre bolt.

Cheers Richard
 
illf8ed said:
highdesert said:
How do you feel about taking advantage of this opportunity to convert to a belt drive primary? No lube needed for a chain, and none to foul the clutch plates, and none to leak out?
Lighter and smoother reciprocating mass.
Just curious.

What happens to the belt drive when the crankshaft seal leaks oil onto it?

it would have to leak an awful lot wouldn't it since the belt isn't directly "lubed" by a leaky seal - and if you have the a PCV on the bike you'd eliminate that anyway
i put a belt on mine 4 yrs / 15K mikes ago - best upgrade next to EI me thinks
 
illf8ed said:
highdesert said:
How do you feel about taking advantage of this opportunity to convert to a belt drive primary? No lube needed for a chain, and none to foul the clutch plates, and none to leak out?
Lighter and smoother reciprocating mass.
Just curious.

What happens to the belt drive when the crankshaft seal leaks oil onto it?
Nothing.
The new belts are impervious to oil and can be run wet or dry, not that you would want to run it wet, but you could.
People also become familure with the other primary leak, the lower inner primary mounting screw hole. This goes unnoticed due to the fact that it is a small and slow leak, until you goto a belt. Ever few hundred miles I pop off the cover (30sec. job) and just wipe it out with a shop rag. I'll seal it up good this winter.
 
I have one of the eastern EU chains from Andover Norton on mine and it seems fine. About 1500 miles so far. Made by CZ who made bullet-proof enduro bikes in the '70s. Nothing wrong with it.

Russ
 
The "Cheap chains from Andover" have a history- the history being we had loads of oproblems with the "quality" chains from Renolds (total desaster) and Iwis/Germany (not quite as bad") until I came across the CZ ones. We have used them for over a decade in racers and roadsters alike- yes, I do race primary chains, I tend to believe vintage racing is not a silouette formula but want to ride as near as posasible what they did ride then- and CZs never caused any problems as primary chains. In my German abode Norton Motors GmbH I also stock and sell them for 500, 650 and 750 Triumphs (duplex and triplex), with the same positive results.
The "cheap" price comes from purchasing a great quantity of chains from CZ themselves and has nothing to do with bad quality.
Joe Seifert
Owner, Andover Norton, Norton Motors Ltd, Norton Motors GmbH and a lot of Norton motorcycles which my kids and I do use on road and track.
 
ZFD said:
The "Cheap chains from Andover" have a history- the history being we had loads of oproblems with the "quality" chains from Renolds (total desaster) and Iwis/Germany (not quite as bad") until I came across the CZ ones. We have used them for over a decade in racers and roadsters alike- yes, I do race primary chains, I tend to believe vintage racing is not a silouette formula but want to ride as near as posasible what they did ride then- and CZs never caused any problems as primary chains. In my German abode Norton Motors GmbH I also stock and sell them for 500, 650 and 750 Triumphs (duplex and triplex), with the same positive results.
The "cheap" price comes from purchasing a great quantity of chains from CZ themselves and has nothing to do with bad quality.
Joe Seifert
Owner, Andover Norton, Norton Motors Ltd, Norton Motors GmbH and a lot of Norton motorcycles which my kids and I do use on road and track.

Is there any way to look at the chain and tell if it is a "good" one or a "bad" one? This is assuming that the chain passes the usual inspections for wear. Do the CZ chains have markings that would identify them if you found one in the primary or used at a swap meet?
Thanx
Russ
 
Old Britts sells a Japanese-made Primary chain. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase that chain given the excellence of japanese drive chains in general. It is pricer however...
 
Thanks for the history, Joe. Nice to get info direct from the principals.

Ken
 
mikegray660 said:
illf8ed said:
highdesert said:
How do you feel about taking advantage of this opportunity to convert to a belt drive primary? No lube needed for a chain, and none to foul the clutch plates, and none to leak out?
Lighter and smoother reciprocating mass.
Just curious.

What happens to the belt drive when the crankshaft seal leaks oil onto it?

it would have to leak an awful lot wouldn't it since the belt isn't directly "lubed" by a leaky seal - and if you have the a PCV on the bike you'd eliminate that anyway
i put a belt on mine 4 yrs / 15K mikes ago - best upgrade next to EI me thinks

I had some experience with several crank seals failing. I wasn't at the shaft, but at the seal to the case. When this happens it will definitely get the belt oily. My question is will the oil cause the belt to slip off the pulleys? A chain can't slip off the sprockets. Being an English bike oil leaks are going to happen sooner or later.
 
Belt is retained by a plate at the font hub and all pulleys are trued during install. Belts are set with an 1.5" of play (give or take). An oily belt (reinforsed polyurathane) will run as a dry one.
 
brf1957 said:
Hi all, I need to buy a new primary chain for my 73 850 interstate , can anyone tell me if these eastern european chains at andover norton are any good ,would appreciate any help on which chain to fit ;dont want to see it making a bid for freedom out through the chaincase Brian

Get a Tsubaki
 
The CZ chains are marked every few links with a very liight CZ mark.

If you want to talk about belts start your own thread.
 
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