Snow chains - DIY advice needed
 

Anyone turned their hand to making snow chains? I'm thinking ahead to next winter and trying to come up with something that'll work on my 125 - so TT snow claws and cut down car chains won't work (I've tried the latter) as it's only a 2.75" rear wheel.

I'm posting here because it's bodger fix technology I'm looking for. I've got a budget of £10 if that helps! :rolleyes2:

I've used multiple single 6-inch lengths of chain secured with half-inch cargo straps on outfits back wheels. You just go to B&Q, buy ten feet of chain meant for garden used and buy a dozen straps on e-bay. Cut the chain into lengths long enough to go across the tyre tread with the cargo strap going over the rim. Repeat ten times evenly round the wheel.

This works to cover the odd mile or three to get you out of places you shouldn't have got. They break if you go too fast or too long or find the tarmac through the snow.

Picture part way down here https://sites.google.com/site/threew...d-places/tyres

Honestly, on a solo bike, if knobblies and going slow enough not to hurt yourself isn't working you need ice studs. As these are illegal on UK roads and lethal when you back onto cleared roads they are less practical than getting the bus outside of Scandinavia.

Andy

Thanks Andy - a good start. The background to this is twofold. Over the years I've done quite a number of winter rallies on a variety of bikes so I've got some experience of snow and ice. I've also ended up in my share of ditches when it hasn't quite worked. I've used snow chains on cars many times but never on any of my bikes.

We have a flat 2000m up in the French Alps with a 15km tortuous climb up to it from the valley floor and at this time of year it's a lottery whether the road will be snow bound or not. I was over there a few weeks ago and the road was clear when I arrived but the next day it wasn't. When it is snow / ice covered the police won't allow you onto the road without chains (there's several spots where there's not much between you and a 1000ft drop). I was lucky this time but if I'd been a day later I'd have been stuck in the valley. I want to try and come up with something that a. is easy to fit with frozen hands, b. might actually work, and c. will pass the cursory check the police give at the barrier. Oh, and d. doesn't weigh 20kg like my car chains.

I've got a few designs that I've been playing with but there's little point in trying to reinvent the wheel - hence my post. I've tried the chain and straps method in your link but it doesn't seem to fit my wheel very well and I can't get it tightened - it's a small tyre and rim and the buckle is too big.

I've tried using industrial grade cable ties to secure the chain instead but it's hit or miss whether they do up securely - some do, some don't. And that's in my garage. In a snow storm at the side of the road it's going to be miss every time. I'm playing with an idea where the bits of chain are tensioned by their counterpart across the wheel but it's early days for that. I'm not quite sure what sort of chain to use either. Atm I've just been using fence chain as it's cheap and easily available near me but that's just for the prototypes. Ultimately I'll probably buy some cheap car chains from Lidl's and cut them up but I need a finished design first.

Just to progress this a little bit and maybe help anyone in the future researching bike snow chains I thought I'd record any progress I make here. I'm in no rush as I don't need the finished product until next winter, nine months ahead, so updates may be infrequent but for what it's worth here's part one.

Firstly a disclaimer - the chains are for my 125 Suzuki so whatever I come up with may not be suitable for anything much larger.

After playing around with some garden fence chain from my local agricultural merchants I concluded that it was a road to nowhere. Firstly the stuff was flimsy - even for the stress a 125 would subject it to. I'd also need about about £40 worth of chain and then spend a lot of time welding links to construct it. Buying a set of secondhand car chains seemed like a much more suitable starting point and after a few failed bids, sniping software won me a set at a price so low I'm embarrassed to mention it. Here's what I ended up with -


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psb313b9e1.jpg


Wrapping one of the chains around the rear wheel results in this -


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psf1a08ed3.jpg

Not the best of fits but nothing that a few minutes with an angle grinder and half a dozen rewelded links won't sort out. There are some extra bits in the box for tensioning the chain - rubber bands and clips, and they'll come into play in the next update when I've got the chain to fit. Laughter, puzzlement, suggestions and criticism all gratefully received as I'm happy to crowdsource the final design. Just remember though that I've only got £9 of my original budget left :rofl:

Innovative bit of bodging there! £9 left? perfect ! enough for one of those!
p.s Instead of cable ties/straps- have you thought about using paracord to hold the chains in position across the rim?
550lbs breaking strain and no scratching the rims- just a thought-



( sorry, it's sunday and I could not resist it!):blushing:

Paracord - Ok, I'll add it to the list of things that may get used. A work colleague is a parachuting enthusiast and I'll ask if he's got any spare. Rim scratching is an issue with the 125 as the tyre is only as wide as the rim. I did a trial fit on another bike with a large (worn out) knobbly tyre where it overlaps the rim and the chain fit was much easier -

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd1994fc8.jpg

It's not fitted very well in the picture but with a bit more care and using the tensioning bands it would be ok - and nowhere near the rim.