Cam Chain.. Which one to Use?

GeorgeP1111 · Post by **GeorgeP1111** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:42 am

Another step in the refreshing of my CA77 motor... the Cam Chain.

Specs say: Camchain length: 94L 723-723.8 mm (28.46-28.49”) limit 728 mm (28.66”). My DIL K219H chain measured 733.425mm 28.875" which is beyond the Limit so I found a NOS RCK219 chain and it measures 731.850mm 28.813” which is still over the Limit. At first I thought I had bought a used chain, but on close inspection I do not see any wear marks on it like I do on my original chain, and the NOS chain is 1.5mm shorter. Also, when both chains are laid side by side and bent, the Original chain is better than the NOS one.

So... Two Chains, one is the original, one is a NOS, both beyond the Length Limit. The NOS one is about 1.5mm shorter but the original one has less bend.

Which one should I use?

In the attached photos, the original chain is the Bottom one and the NOS is Top and is 102 links which I will cut to the 93 links and Master as the original one is if I use it.

Tnx
George

davomoto · Post by **davomoto** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:08 pm

Goerge, use the new one. It has been discussed on the forum before that bending a chain like that is not an accurate way to measure wear.

Davo

GeorgeP1111 · Post by **GeorgeP1111** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:09 pm

davomoto wrote:Goerge, use the new one. It has been discussed on the forum before that bending a chain like that is not an accurate way to measure wear.

Yup, I did read thru that discussion (or at least I found one of them), and I was thinking that I should go with the NOS chain. Thanks for the confirmation.

George

teazer · Post by **teazer** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 6:36 pm

I have gone through a pile of cam chains over the years and can't say there's much difference. Stock style is the peanut shaped side plates which come in a variety of different thicknesses with a variety of pin diameters.

My own favorite is heavy duty chain for a Yamaha SR500 single which has plain side plates.

As long as the chain is new it will probably do for street use.

GeorgeP1111 · Post by **GeorgeP1111** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:10 pm

teazer wrote:Stock style is the peanut shaped side plates which come in a variety of different thicknesses with a variety of pin diameters.

As long as the chain is new it will probably do for street use.

The DIL chain that I removed had the peanut side plates and the NOS RCK has the straight plates. I shortened the NOS chain to 93 Links, cleaned it up, and now it's soaking in oil.

Havin Fun Now :-)

tnx
George

LOUD MOUSE · Post by **LOUD MOUSE** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:53 pm

I've had both style links with HONDA part numbers over the years. .............lm

teazer wrote:I have gone through a pile of cam chains over the years and can't say there's much difference. Stock style is the peanut shaped side plates which come in a variety of different thicknesses with a variety of pin diameters.

My own favorite is heavy duty chain for a Yamaha SR500 single which has plain side plates.

As long as the chain is new it will probably do for street use.

teazer · Post by **teazer** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:59 am

That's interesting LM. I hadn't seen a flat plate from Honda. What I had seen though is a number of different sized peanuts. At one stage I bought a whole slew of connecting links to see what would work and was amazed how many differences there were in thickness and pin diameters.

I was surprised that Honda were such sticklers for getting the right chain that they had DID manufacture and supply several different chains.