removing chain master link temporarily

RE: removing chain master link

They're a bitch to get off but it is possible.

Easiest with a set of tiny electrical flat head screwdrivers. The really really tiny ones. You can use one in the open end to pry them open and another one to get underneath and flick it off.

When you flick it off wear some classes or sunnies as it will fly - then enjoy your time spent looking for it...

It is possible.
But getting it off is the easy part with a used chain.
When your putting it back on you have to make sure the master clip is facing the right direction.
The "c" part of the clip faces to the right as its running across the top run.

Do you have any G Clamps? Otherwise you'll want a chain breaking tool me thinks...

can you loosen the chain as much as possible, remove the rear wheel and take the chain off?

if theres some major obstacle in this theory, then im removing all responsibility coz its 10 to 4 in the morning lol

if its a pressed link then grind it off and get a new link

but the question is why are you taking it off ??

Pliers, took me years to get that thing off although new chain would be the safest option.

+1 chain breaker.

why do you need to take it off is the question. your rims are already off the bike aren't they?

I need to get it off the swingarm because thats going to the powdercoaters.
I can't just mask it off either because it has o-rings.
And i'm not gonna get a whole new chain, this one is still very new.
and yes sneddy, I do have a few g-clamps[hr]
It looks like I'll have to get both ends off simultaneously. I've put it in 2 clamps, then got 2 flat heads under either side of the face and almost popped a hemorrhoid.
im pretty stumped for this one.

Ninexz - 1
Chain - 0

hammer FTW

Yogi said:

It is possible.
But getting it off is the easy part with a used chain.
When your putting it back on you have to make sure the master clip is facing the right direction.
The "c" part of the clip faces to the right as its running across the top run.

Click to expand...

Can anyone else confirm this? I have never checked the direction I have put it on. When I get home tonight I'm going to check the direction.

THATS AWESOME!

dayeve said:

Yogi said:

It is possible.
But getting it off is the easy part with a used chain.
When your putting it back on you have to make sure the master clip is facing the right direction.
The "c" part of the clip faces to the right as its running across the top run.

Click to expand...

Can anyone else confirm this? I have never checked the direction I have put it on. When I get home tonight I'm going to check the direction.

Click to expand...

That is true.
You have to have the closed end facing the direction the chain is running. Otherwise if the master clip may accidentally knock something, it will fly right off.

richo said:

Erm.. sounds a lot like you may have just rooted a chain..[hr]

Click to expand...

Richo, can you explain why that may have rooted my chain?
I tapped the two pins out as slowly and carefully as I could.
Or are you getting at the fact that the master link isn't meant to be removed once its on.

Well you said that you've been wedging shit in there and hitting it with a hammer.. personally I wouldn't be taking the chances. You can get new chains pretty cheap (I got the last 2 RK 520 o ring chains for $99 a piece at PS), they haven't lasted that well but hey for $99 why not. I cracked a link in a more expensive DID chain before that and consider myself REALLY lucky to have noticed it while lubing the chain before the thing failed completely.

250 chains aren't terribly highly stressed, but in saying that they're also 428 (or did you 520 your bike? I think I remember reading about you changing ratio's). Just food for thought, if you're at all suss on the chain after the ordeal, chuck it. In saying that, if the only component you mangled was the master link, get a new rivet link for $5 and solve all the problems at once.

Cheers, I might just do that. Don't think I can go wrong for $5
And yes, i am running a 520.

Make sure you get the same brand/type of masterlink as the chain you are running.