Help Needed Quickly !!! Chains.....

[250girl]

My friend is in a bit of a pinch. Her chain broke, her bike got left on a mountain top. Its a long weekend, so there aren't any bike shops that are going to be open till at least Tuesday. She has no way of getting back up the mountain, and it is snowing like crazy up there as we speak. She won't be able to get up there with a chain until next weekend. But by then it will be a blizzard up there, and who knows if the bike will still be there ( those trails are frequented by rude young guys, parties and all sorts of illegal activity). Top this all off with, she has no clue how to put a chain on her bike. Oh happy day.

Now, there is a way I could maybe intervene. I have 4 bikes in my yard, but they are all 250's. Her bike is a 1998 RT180, so if I pulled a chain off one of my bikes, is there any chance that it would work temporarily on her bike? A 250 size chain on a 180? I could maybe get me, my bike, and a chain over there tmrw, double her up there and put my chain on her bike. But would that even work? Any advice would be awesome, don't think my friend is going to be sleeping tonight lol.

 

[biglou]

According to this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yama...emQQimsxZ20081105?IMSfp=TL0811051110010r19521

It's a 428 x 122 link chain. Your 250 is a 520 x 114-ish chain. I don't think it will work.

And here's a page with pitch sizes, etc: http://www.moto-chains.com/site/898528/page/578189

Best bet might be to tow her out, if possible?

 

[rpm12505]

Any chance it broke at the master link? That's a quick fix if you have another one.

 

[Patman]

Yup tow the bike out and deal with the problem whre it's not snowing. Won't be as fun or as fast as riding out but it will get the job done.

 

[_JOE_]

What's the problem? It's on a mountain top, just coast all the way down! :nener:

Towing a bike with a bike sucks. Do you guys have access to a quad? Much easier if you can tie a rope between the quads rack/grab bar and the forks on the RT. Not to mention towing something through the snow with a bike may be damn near impossible, at least highly dangerous!

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

Need the chains on the pick up truck! Homer would go get it. Do you have the old chain? A chain breaker and a master link may be the easiest. I would really hate putting a new chain on worn sprockets.

 

[motometal]

Good advice there from Foxforks- with an extra chain link plus a couple new connecting links, a chain breaker, and the tools to re-adjust the slack you would be set. Or of course a new chain.

just for the record, a new chain on marginally worn sprockets will work just fine, if the sprockets are shot yes they need replacing but the "replace as a set no matter what" is just a great way for the dealer to sell you parts.

 

[rpm12505]

Sooo 250girl what was the outcome of your friends bike. If you don't mind me asking :whoa:

 

[jackflack44]

Sooo 250girl what was the outcome of your friends bike. If you don't mind me asking :whoa:

+1!

 

[Dirtymotonut]

ya kinda left us hangin....like a soap opera waiting for the next day to watch again....Does she get the bike out or hafta wait till spring.... :laugh:

 

[250girl]

Sorry guys...here's the update;

She (my friend) went over to her neighbour's the next day with her busted chain (and not at the masterlink) to see if he could temporarily fix it. Just by luck the neighbour had his snowblower apart, and used a chain from the snowblower. I have no clue how a chain from a snowblower worked on a bike.... but it it did. They drove the truck part of the way up to where the bike was and walked the rest. Thankfully the snow was only in small patches, so it wasn't that difficult to ride out. The bike is back safe in her yard, and she is very relieved.

But I am still not sure what would cause a chain to just fly apart...specially in some random spot, not even at the masterlink. Its never happened to me, but my Dad is a mechanic and is pretty good about making sure that I look for and recognize wear. I guess I am just lucky :nod:

 

[jake760]

It happens. My chain broke a few miles out in the sand dunes. I pushed it back. Good to hear you got it back out okay.

 

[rpm12505]

Good to hear you got it back out okay.

X2 :cool:

 

[whenfoxforks-ruled]

Standard sized chains come in #40, #50 and so on. Sometimes they can cross with the #420, #520. Or you can get lucky and get a snowblower with a "normal" sized chain. She should get a lottery ticket, and new sprocket and chain. It may have broke from a rock getting in there!

 

[oscaman]

Maybe wait till spring ??