| Author | Message | ||
     Vonsliek |
hi.. looking for hook-up for converting/or buying outright chain adjusters for chain conversion. is it possible to buy just the chain adjuster units & weld them in myself? i am in canada. but can buy from states. extremely limited budget & wanting for converting xb12r to track tool. i could be interested in a used one of anyone (slaughter?) has one for reasonable sale?! thanks in advance, pauligan | ||
| Slaughter |
Paul - you DO NOT wanna know what I paid for the full Hal's conversion! (probably $2000 MORE than you want to pay) The best thing I've seen is what Al has at American Sport Bike. Taint cheap but is the best combo of all things. Click for details: http://tinyurl.com/q3lpj By the way, I have NO complaints about the Hal's chain conversion - includes the extended swingarm PLUS all the other stuff - BUT it's pretty freaking pricey at $2495 and DOES change the way the bike handles with about an additional 1.25 inch wheelbase. http://www.halspa.com/PartDetail.asp?P=634 Regardless of what you do, the FIRST mistake people make is gearing their XB a little too tall. You really can use the engine speed and it's worth gearing a touch lower than stock. | ||
| Vonsliek |
ouch! thats bloody expensive for a wee bit of alloy & tig work!! so, is the am. sptbk chain conv. kit not requiring chain adjusters? is that what the adjustable idler sprocket is for? i saw somewhere part #'s for individual rear sprockets in the knowledge vault .. this cld be cheaper if i knew what rear sprockets wld be best for a track that is one longish straight, a mdeium straight w/ busstop in middles, a long lefthander & a abt 9 tight stacked turns at the other end ,, all w/in 2 miles. rough asphalt too w/ gophers!  any thoughts on that? thanks again steve, paul. | ||
| Slaughter |
I think that Matt at Trojan came up with something similar and I can't remember now which guy on the board here posted up his parts list. Seemed that it worked really good. Sprocket for the front, sprocket+spacer for the rear and then the idler. seems to be that it only cost him a couple hundred $$ Gotta go think about where I remember seeing it. | ||
| Slaughter |
Found it!!! http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/142058.html?1147956988#POST5 03082 "Saintly" is the guy who did the work on his bike. He posts the parts list and it looks pretty good. I'd definitely change the idler to a sprocket or solid hard polyurethane (like the Hals is). He uses the stock plastic roller and it looks like it's taking a beating in the pic. You really don't need an adjuster - I'd bet you can add or punch out links so you get the proper slack without having to have a slide-adjustable rear axle. You might hit up Saintly to see how it's working for him now that it's been almost a year. | ||
| Slaughter |
If you're racing, you can use a 520 chain. There's a little less resistance and weight but you will stretch it out sooner than a 530. Mine's a 520 as are every other one I've seen out racing. I'd consider a 530 for a streetbike that I rode a lot. | ||
| Slaughter |
From his later post: Front sprocket(21 teeth); V-twin # 19-0384 / $13.97 Rear sprocket (51 teeth); Vortex (Odessa Fl.) # 827-51 / $63.95 + 6.95 shipping 530 diamond chain; V-twin # 19-0326 / $37.49 Idler pulley; Gates # 38023 / $16.78 (AND its available in ANY autozone in USA!) Total cost: $139.14 (YES it IS less than the cost of ONE belt!!!!) DM, the price on the sprocket is still $13.97 The chain costs $38.50 for diamond standard. A call to your local autozone should get you a current price on the idler pulley. And a call to Vortex in FL should get you their current sprocket price. I doubt much has gone up since this past summer. BTW: I now have nearly SIX THOUSAND miles on the chain conversion! I've adjusted it a total of 5 times! Best thing I ever did to my Buell. | ||
| Hammer71 |
saints coversion is doing very well. The idler that he uses isn't beat up in any way at all just a few grooves from the chain making contact. | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Vonsliek, I sent you a PM. | ||
| Xb9ser |
Saintlys chain conversion looks like the way I may go after my belt issues. Stronger and cheaper and not giveing buell money for something they should have taken care of.Seems after reading uly board that there seems to be issues also with 06 belt. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Trojan-horse (another board sponsor) also has a chain conversion set-up that uses the factory swingarm. They have a whole selection of sprockets in their kit. Just another option. FWIW: I love my Hal's chain conversion. | ||
| Rafartist |
Was there a need for any spacers or did everything bolt right up? How many links are needed for the chain and will a 520 work? Are you running an O-ring or regular chain? | ||
| Diablobrian |
The Hal's kit on mine uses a 530. there is a spacer behind the brake rotor. there is also the need to have a slot for the rear brake caliper welded on (to allow adjustment) I recommend 0 or x-ring chains on street bikes. They last longer, and lubrication and cleaning is far simpler with chain wax type lubricants. | ||
| Slaughter |
I think the Hal's conversion is the only way to go for racing. Little longer wheelbase and conventional axle adjustment. I have more rear ride height with the PEnske now on the rear and I've raised the front end on the forks as much as possible. Bike still turns quickly enough and is quite stable at speed. I've seen the simpler systems installed (Chaconas at Willow Springs has a Trojan Horse system on his XB racer) - and they really do look nice. Saint really did look like he put a bunch of thought into the work on his conversion. If I were tighter on money - or for the XB/Blast project - I'd prolly do the same thing. | ||
| Rafartist |
I am in no way able to afford a chain conversion from Hals. I gotta do it the way Saintly did his. My questions are of Saints bike. The spacers and bolt up ease mainly. (Message edited by rafartist on June 08, 2006) | ||
| Diablobrian |
cool, the question just came directly after my post so I tried to help  | ||
| Ronlv |
i have a extra chain conversion | ||
| Trojan |
The chain conversion that we do keeps the stock swingarm so no welding is needed. You can also change back to a belt at any time. Chain adjustment is carried out using the adjustable tensioner which replaces the stock belt tensioner wheel. The kit is also available from Al at American Sport Bike but with Vortex sprockets. This kit does have other advantages over the 'traditional' method of welding in chain adjusters in to the swingarm. 1. It retains the original strength of the swingarm. Even the factory acknowledge that welding adjusters in will weaken the swingarm somewhat. 2. The wheelbase remains constant regardless of sprocket size used. 3. The wheel and chain are always perfectly aligned, unlike a system where axle adjusters are used. 4. It costs a lot less than the other kits available and is VERY well made from all billet aluminium. Jim Chaconas has been using his for two seasons now with no dramas at all. We have also just adapted and fitted this kit to our Ulysses based racer with the longer swingarm. I'll post some pics of it after this weekends racing. Meantime here is a pic of the kit fitrted to the pre-06 swingarm bike.   (Message edited by trojan on June 09, 2006) | ||
| Saintly |
7100 miles on my chain conversion now. NONE of the components seem to be wearing out. I just made the sixth chain adjustment two weeks ago! The plastic "serpentine" idler is doing fine, there are two 1/8" grooves worn into it from the chains sideplates but they have been there since the first week I converted it. Keep in mind that there is NO load whatsoever on the idler gear when accelerating, only on decel does the idler see any tension. So a sproket type idler may just be overkill. I had originally planned on the plastic idler being temporary, until I could fabricate a sprocket to go there. However it has worked out so well, that I'm sticking with it. If anyone has any questions or needs any help converting just ask. I'd be glad to help. P.S. Most of my ideas were "borrowed" from Dean(Fullpower). Credit belongs to him more so than I. | ||
| Vonsliek |
i am curious abt these adjustable idler sprockets/wheels: how do u adjust them? how do they retain their adjustment - locking via bolts or spring tension .. they look like u manually adjust tension & bolt it in ot *hardwire* it??!! i can totally see how plastic/nylon idler wheels wld *bed* in immediately & receive no further wear from chain. idiot question here: 520/530 chain .. what does # designate (for others as well as self, as i cld google it, but i think its in the interests of other newbie racers learning same on this thread, as its race specific). i am super impressed at the *considered* & helpful responses i have received to this thread - by far the most exciting response from strangers i have received since taking up biking! awesome! i really like the look of the trojan kit .. very slick. i really like the simplicity & enginuity of saintly's conversion. i am thinking a secondhand *long* model s/arm might be the go w/ a conversion kit. the hal's kit looks the dogs bollocks - total factory racer - but unless they sold the adjusters separately, no cigar on $$$ only. steve - u say u lifted yr rear up w/ the penske & ALSO yr front??!! its a fairly high bike for its w/b .. u feel better up *there*?? typically i run the stock rear at 7 clicks & the front at 5.5-6 lines & corresponding damper/rebound .. i weight 175# wet & w/ leathers & track gear abt 190#. any thoughts on suspension adjustments for less than smooth track? are the factory *racekit* springs worth the interest or better to upgrade (any better really that a newbie cld feel) shocks revalved for my weight & set sag. using pirelli diablo corsa at present on front & diablo on rear; better suggestions? they are a fairly *V* section tire where the michelin pilot section seems rounder. thinking abt a diablo corsa pro for rear .. BUT .. up in canada, its $416 + 7%tx for the rear 180/17 55 z .. seems a trifle high $$$!!?? since the pirelli corsa is new on front .. the rear is squaring .. the track gets alittle rough as the evening progresses .. i want a fair degree of stickiness; i touched the rubber of a R1 racebike w/ pirelli world superbike slicks on it .. they were like hot GLUE compared to street rubber. lost the plot a little .. please bear w/ me paul. | ||
| Pcmodeler |
Vonsliek, I worked with Ronlv (maybe you saw pics of his bike with the 240 conversion rear) to get the kit for my bike, which is similar to the Trojan/American Sportbike kit. Several of those parts come from the same supplier. The reason I went with that over putting something together is that with that tensioner, it allows you to adjust the tension with no fuss. If you look at the photo, there's a separate bolt that allows you to adjust the tension without affecting the two mounting bolts. The other component is the upper chain guide that replaces the bolts that hold the forward part of the separate swingarm piece. That stops the chain from smacking the swingarm (and other parts) on accel/decel. Now, the only other thing to mention is the rear sprocket. The setup I put together with Ron uses a steel rear sprocket instead of the aluminum ones that come from Vortex. Little more weight, but it should hold out a little bit longer with less wear. Ron's been extremely helpful in putting my system together. The conversion he did on his bike was even a bit more involved as with his 240 rear conversion, he also had to integrate in spacers, etc. I'd suggest talking with him. | ||
| Sscbueller |
Has anyone done the chain conversion to an 06 XB?? I ask only because the different swingarm, I am in process of doing this now. took 3 months to get rear sprocket from vortex in the states. |
