Stuck in Perito Moreno, Argentina with a broken connecting link...grrr
 

Hey guys, does anyone have an F650 connecting link and will be riding through Perito Moreno in the next couple of days? Mine broke on Ruta 40 and I had to have the bike towed into Perito Moreno.

The mechanic says that he can fix it without a connecting link by using the extra links that came with the chain. Is this an acceptable way to fix a chain.

BTW: I had a spare connecting link but some how I lost the male part of the connecting link.

Can't help you with parts but, if you want a place to stay, look up Mini Camping Raul.

The bloke who runs it is such a nice person (Raul): really friendly and don't be fooled by appearances: the place is immaculate!!

Very reasonalbly priced, too!

If nothing else say hello to him for us...

Nick and Kris (Nov 06)

that would be tricky, preferably he has another master link that matches the size of the chain. But i have heard of people doing this, probably this mechanic has had to cadge a few fixes, there would definitely be a knack to putting the link on, besides the alternative is to buy a new chain right?

unless he has an attractive daughter and you feel like hanging in town for a while , go for it.

connecting link
 

Hey Cat Cat,
What do you mean by "broke"? There are ways to fix it. If the lock plate is gone, you can easily fabricate another from a piece of stock. Let me know.
Rich81

answered 6 hours ago on http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-my-f650-34117

He has a more complete explaination there.

No, I do not think this one is repairable. It is snapped in half pretty much and it stinks because I had a spare connecting link but it seems that I have lost the important peice which forms the connection.

Thanks for the help guys. I have hitch hiked to Coyhaique (decided I did not really want to test my bike out in the dirt with a crappy chain). The mechanic here might have a spare master link but if he doesn´t I will use the extra links that came with the chain and do a weld fix.

Try to fix it
 

As long as the end of the pin is burred over again so that the side plate doesn`t come off,
then this should be fine. Many chains do not come with a side plate and clip, and rather are
sold as continuous when new and i know from when i worked in motorcycle stores
many customers have broken the chain (with chain breaker tool which forces pin through) and re-connected, then burred the end. Rather than unbolt footrests or swingarm or whatever is required for that bike. Joining like this is never recommended, but i`m sure 3rd world countries do it all the time too. So don`t stress about it, providing the rest of the chain is actually ok!

You said in the other post that it is 3,000 miles old. Does that mean you bought it in Sth America? If so, read the side of it to see the manufacturer and model. Asking for an F650 link may only help if you bought it from a BMW dealer and they only use chains from their BMW distributor, or they order the exact same chain from an after market supplier.
You should have to pay about US$1-130 for a suitable o-ring chain for your bike. There are a lot of 450cc 4 stroke dirt bike guys that race/ride on this continent and many of them would use such a chain. Most KTM stores, for example.

If it broke in 3000 miles then i`d suspect it was either under-rated or low quality, or
something like a rock got in between the sprocket and chain although very rare and unlikely. Happens a lot to belt drive Harleys ridden off road though as the belt has (should) little freeplay, if you needed to know that!

The normal measure of worn is if you lift the chain off the rear sprocket and see more than half a tooth, and if so then the thing is just crap, 3,000 miles or not.

If it is very worn then don`t keep adjusting it as it will only continue to stretch to how
it wants to be, and eventually break. Leave it say 30% worse then recommended adjustment if you want to ride to wherever your next chain and sprockets are, and don`t go nuts when off road or it will jump off the sprockets!

We all know you like an adventure Geoff, so give it a go... :-)

Thank you for the advice Simon. Unfortunately I was not able to read this while in Perito Moreno because of the crap internet there. I ended up having the mechanic fix the chain by removing 2 links and replacing them with new links. I was very nervous on the ride to Buenos Aires I was very nervous and oiled it almost very hour (there are no o-rings on where we connected the chain with the pin on the bike). The chain has held up and I think now that this setup could easily last another 2 months probably (provided no dirt) but I think the smart thing is to replace the chain. When the connecting link broke I was really driving hard on Ruta 40 so maybe it broke on a big pot hole.