Change of Chain/Sprockets on Triumph Tiger 800

After 50124km, the chain has been a bit chattery over the last 2000km so it was time for a change of chain and sprockets. I've never had a chain last this long before. Anyway, I've detailed the process of removal and replacement below - it takes a leisurely 2 hours on your own.

I bought a sprocket/chain replacement kit as a genuine part from Triumph at BikeBiz Granville for $288.04. This was considerably cheaper than buying individual non-genuine parts of the same quality. The kit includes:

• 16T front sprocket
• 50T rear sprocket
• 122 link RK525X-Ring chain
• New lock washer for front sprocket.

Tool list:

• 36mm socket - for front sprocket removal
• large flat blade screw driver
• hammer and flat piece of 1/8" metal about 30mm long and 25mm wide - to open/close lock washer
• 8mm socket and 8mm ring spanner - to remove front sprocket cover and gear lever
• 27mm socket - for rear axle nut
• 13mm and 12mm open end spanners - for chain adjuster bolt/nut
• 3mm and 5mm Allen keys - for removal of chain guard
• Chain tool.

Some of these tools are shown here:

1. Put the bike on the centre stand.

2. Remove front sprocket cover - 2 x 8mm bolts after removing the gear change rod bolt and leaning it to one side.

3. Lever up the lock washer side securing the sprocket nut with the flat blade screw driver.

You can see the lock washer secures the nut by being bent over it. Its fairly soft and easily bent off the nut though.

4. If you are doing this job by yourself, sit on the bike and fit the 36mm socket to the front sprocket nut in your left hand. Put your foot on the rear brake and loosen the sprocket nut - this way the chain takes the strain rather than putting it in gear and straining the gearbox.

5. Leaving the loosened nut and front sprocket in place, get your chain tool out and break the chain at the rear sprocket and remove the chain. Roll it out around the front sprocket and pull it out the back. Remove the chain guard. Remove the front sprocket and lock washer.

The gap between the teeth was significantly worn compared to the new front sprocket teeth gaps.

The wear in the chain compared to the new one is evident in the sideways play - see below. By the way, if you don't have a good quality chain tool for a 525 chain, its worth the money to buy one - about $100. I've had one for years and used it on many bikes.

New chain (bottom) has way less sideways movement compared to the old one (top).

Chain tool - breaks and makes chains from 420 to 530 size.

6. Undo the 32mm rear axle nut and remove the rear axle and wheel.

7. Lay the wheel disc-side down on a towel. Remove the 6 x 14mm nuts holding the rear sprocket in place. Clean up the rim/wheel/hub/nuts etc and put the new sprocket on and tighten the 6 nuts back up. I always do them up across diagonals - eg. do all nuts up to finger tight, then tighten nuts in the following order - 1, 4, 5, 2, 3, and 6. This ensures no warping of the sprocket. There wasn't a lot of wear on the old sprocket surprisingly but it was differently shaped - see below.

8. Fit the rear wheel back onto the bike - you'll need to loosen the chain adjusters as the old chain would have stretched quite a bit. For reference, my new chain adjustment with the new chain/sprockets in place had 6 dots showing on the chain adjusters.

9. Roll the new chain around both sprockets and sit the two ends next to each other on the top of the rear sprocket. Insert the new chain link joiner after inserting 2 of the included rubber O-rings onto the link. After inserting, fit 2 more O-rings and the flat plate finger tight. Use your chain tool to press the plate onto the chain compressing the rubber O-rings and allowing about 1mm of the chain link studs to show through the plate. Change fittings on the chain tool and then splay the ends of the chain link studs to keep the plate in place. Don't go overboard splaying the ends though, otherwise the link might become stiff - if you are using a good chain tool, it won't let you over splay the link.

Splayed chain link stud ends.

10. Sit back on the bike and put on the rear brake while you tighten the front sprocket nut. Then use a flat bit of metal and a very gentle tap of the hammer to bend the lock washer over on side of the nut. There is probably a genuine Triumph tool to do this but this works ok.

11. Adjust chain to factory spec - 30mm slack.

12. Reassemble front sprocket cover, gear linkage and chain guard - done.

Triumph 800 - Travel and Gear Review

A week's trip to the Gold Coast and Beaudesert to catch up with family and friends and test some of the gear fitted - Michelin Anakee III tyres, SW-Motech chain guard, BMW Ralleye III pants.

Thursday 17th April

Home to Nymboida Coaching Station

Odo start: 41245
Odo finish: 41919
Total: 674km
Depart: 7.00am
Arrive: 4.30pm
Breakfast stop at Singleton 9.30am
"Somewhere to Meet" cafe. Coffee is excellent as is the raisin toast.


Petrol
Muswellbrook BP10.39am
41495km
252km
Premium 95
12.22 l @ 164.4c/l = $20.05
Km/l = 20.6


Lunch at Uralla 1.40pm 241km


Petrol 
Armidale 2.35pm
41763km
268km
Premium 95 
12.01 l @ 171.9c/l = $20.64
Km/l = 22.3


Overnight at Nymboida Coaching Station overlooking the river. 2 double beds with spa bath $140. Excellent dinner and Grafton Bitter to wash it down.

Arrive 4.35pm
Odo=41919km
Trip=155km

Friday 18th April

Nymboida Coaching Station to Kingscliff
Odo start: 41919
Odo finish: 42186
Total: 267km
Depart: 7.00am
Arrive: 12.30pm
Breakfast stop at Grafton 7.30am
Coffee in town centre was excellent as was the raisin toast.


Petrol
Grafton Caltex 8.00am
41961km
198km
Premium 98
9.38 l @ 170.9c/l = $16.03
Km/l = 21.1


Early lunch at Uki Cafe 10.40am - well worth a stop - an absolute gourmet experience.

2 nights at Kingscliff.
Arrive 12.30pm
Odo=42186km
Trip=225km 
Overall Home to Kingscliff = 941km

Sunday 20th April

Kingscliff to Beaudesert
Odo start: 42186
Odo finish: 42283
Total:  97km
Depart: 11.30am
Arrive: 1.30pm 


Petrol
Nerang BP 12.00pm
42227km
265km
Premium 98
12.93 l @ 174.9c/l = $22.61
Km/l = 20.5
Morning tea at the Outpost Cafe at Canungra - lots of bikers stopping here.

Arrive Beaudesert 1.30pm.
Odo = 42283
Trip = 55.8

Wednesday 23rd April

Beaudesert to Hopkins Creek
Odo start: 42295
Trip = 68.5
Odo finish: 42393
Total:  98km
Depart: 11.00am
Arrive: 12.30pm 
Odo = 42393
Trip = 166.1

Thursday 24th April

Hopkins Creek to Belmont North
Odo start: 42393
Odo finish: 43095
Total: 702km
Depart: 6.25am
Arrive: 4.45pm


Petrol
Murwillumbah Mobil 7am
42417km
190km
Unleaded 91
8.73 l @ 170.9c/l = $14.92
Km/l = 21.8
Breakfast stop at Woodburn 8.20am - next door to a German Bakery cafe - the raisin toast was the best so far.


Petrol 
Coffs Harbour 10.40am
42694km
277km
Premium 91
12.45 l @ 151.5c/l = $18.86
Km/l = 22.2


Petrol 
Port Macquarie 1.07pm
42861km
157km
Premium 98
6.59 l @ 174.9c/l = $11.53
Km/l = 23.8


Petrol 
Hexham  3.55pm
43063km
212km
Premium 98
10.17 l @ 177.9c/l = $18.10
Km/l = 20.8

Overnight at Belmont North.
Arrive 4.45pm
Odo=43095km
Trip=31.8km

Friday 25th April

Belmont North to home via Redfern in Sydney for lunch at Pitt St Diner - another detour well worth the effort.
Odo start: 43095
Odo finish: 43311
Trip = 248.5km
Total: 216km
Depart: 10.40am
Arrive: 3.45pm

Total trip = 2066km 

Gear Reviews

Michelin Anakee III tyres

I fitted the Anakee III's about 4000km ago and this is their first touring test two-up with gear. They track well and were fantastic through the windy roads to Nymboida and in the Gold Coast hinterland. No wear detectable so far, but I won't be buying them again because they are so noisy. They really howl loudly - we turned heads passing through some towns with just the noise we were making.

SW-Motech Chain Guard

What do you say about a chain guard? Well it doesn't rattle like the original plastic one and being a bit longer, it stops the chain throwing off stuff onto the panniers and pillion. Tick - worth the price.

BMW Ralleye III pants

I bought these for the Adelaide trip last year so they're about 20,000km old now.

They feel good sitting on the bike but doing anything else, I find them a real pain. Walking to a cafe or out to a lookout is uncomfortable. 

I also find them way too hot with the Goretex lining in place so I mostly ride without them in place. Which is fine, except that it is no quick task to fit the lining on the side of the road when it starts to rain - meantime I'm getting wet which makes it harder to slide your legs back into the pants. 

For $750, I think BMW could do better really.

Triumph Adventure Tail Bag Review

I bought the Triumph Bag about a year back now and wrote about it back then. I have now got rid of it due to broken zips which "...aren't covered by warranty, my friend" according to the bike shop guy.

I had tried a couple of ideas before the Triumph bag including:

• Modified Ventura rack and Ventura bag
• The Ventura rack was only temporarily fitted on the bike and moved around a bit. I wasn't too fussed about having an upright bar fitted permanently in case it really didn't work.
• The Ventura bag has an odd shape and struggled to fit my usual gear when parked - helmet, jacket and a bit of other gear - rain gear and boots if required.
• The bag isn't waterproof at all.

• Modified Ventura rack and Gearsack bag
• same rack as above
• I had an old Gearsack bag that vaguely fitted the Ventura rack and so put that back on again. The Gearsack bag is a great shape and suits my gear requirements really well. Its also waterproof.

• BMW Duffel Roll
• I said this about the roll after we rode to Adelaide using it last year:
• "...Unfortunately it doesn't quite sit between the panniers across the tailpiece and is a bit lopsided but attaches firmly with the straps. The zip is the main complaint though about the bag - you need to be Hercules to open and close the sucker. I tried graphite, silicon lubricant, and even grease and none of them made any difference. The other problem is that I can't easily fit my helmet inside it due to the shape of the bag. I will need to try something else in future. I have used Gearsack bags up until now but I find I can't buy them anymore. Triumph make a 55l bag but its not waterproof.

• Triumph Adventure Tail Bag after a year of use:
• its a pain not being waterproof
• the waterproof cover works well though you have to stop and put it on when it rains of course
• the bag looks the real deal and fits really well and sits solidly whether turned onto the pillion seat when I ride solo or turned onto the carrier with a pillion on board
• I didn't really like how the claim of being "55 litres" actually includes the two side pockets. These pockets are about 10 litres each which makes the main compartment only about 35 litres. This makes it able to just fit a helmet and jacket when the bike is parked but that's all. This never really suited my gear carrying requirements.
• the final straw though was the zip to the main compartment breaking in two spots - at each of the two corners - see photo below.

As you can see, the teeth have pulled out of the zip so I can't just sew it back up. The whole 1100mm long zip would need replacing and I've put that in the too hard basket. "For want of a zip, the bag was lost..."

So, I'm back to using the Gearsack again though I have modified the attachment points. I have sewn on some snap buckles at each of the 4 corners on the base and attach it in the same way as the Triumph Bag. So far, it seems to be stiff enough to stand up by itself and, as I said above, the shape of the bag works for me.

This is the Gearsack in the solo riding position. I'll see how it goes over the next little while.

Michelin Anakee III tyres

Quick note to say I've replaced the standard Pirelli Scorpions with Michelin Anakee III's today - $475 for the pair fitted at Western Motorcycles, Penrith. 100/90 x 19 and 150/70 x 17.
Initial impression is that they are at least as sticky as the Scorpions and certainly don't follow the changing bitumen lines like old tyres tend to do. I will make some notes as we go along and get a few miles on board.

A word about the Scorpions - they were a little disappointing really - they stick well but they squared off badly on the trip back from Perth. We were 2 up with panniers but to get only 5000km from the back tyre was a bit ordinary I think - squared off and only 2mm of tread left in the middle. The front was 15000km old and had about the same amount of tread left.

They also both showed signs of perishing - the bike is kept garaged and undercover at work so its not sun perished.

Anyway, I will have a couple of trips this year and test out the Anakees and report back.