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[image: Click for full size]
I recently replaced my chain [EK 530ZVX, in CHROME!] and front sprocket [AFAM 17T], along with installing a FactoryPro shift kit. I chose to use EK's Screw-Link instead of buying a cheesy chain tool or trusting a bike shop to do it, etc etc as has been discussed here many, many times. But my problem was that there was very little information out there on exactly how to install it and if it was reliable. In fact, all of the vendors who sell it had little or no idea how it was installed, and some even had it totally wrong!! I Googled the crap out of it, but only our own BatBike Chris had used it, as far as I could tell. He said good things about it, so I decided to give it the full engineer's test and evaluation program. Finally, I got my hands on a many-times-faxed copy of EK's broken-English directions, and away I went.
Let's talk about the testing first, then go back to the install procedure. After I installed according to directions and my best judgement, I rode the bike hard for a few days, making some extended 3-digit speed runs. Then, [since I had bought two link kits for testing purposes] I tried my darnest to pry the sideplate off.
[image: user posted image]
trying to pry.JPG
That didn't work, so I ground the ends of the rivets down, at varying levels of destruction, and pried some more. No luck. Finally, I ground nearly all the way through, and centerpunched the pins out, no problem. So, we now know they're removable, if you work at it. We also know they won't pop off in a hard sweeper!!
[image: user posted image]
ground down pins.JPG
[image: user posted image]
ground down more.JPG
I won't go into the chain install, but suffice to say that when you get it on, with the tension adjuster all the way forward and "loose", the unmade chain ends want to be at about 2 o'clock on your rear sprocket, like this.
[image: user posted image]
new link going in.JPG
I used the x-rings that came with my new chain, and the lube pack. The Screw-Link didn't come with lube (or instructions).
So, once you have the link in place with lube, o/x-rings and the sideplate is pushed on, you run the little black nuts onto the pins finger tight only. IMPORTANT: 1) the nuts have a slight chamfer at the threads on one end only that goes against the sideplate. If you muff this, you'll wring off the pin prematurely. 2) run the nuts in finger tight only. There's a reason for this that I'll get to next.
[image: user posted image]
nuts finger fight.JPG
Once you're finger tight, you take a 5/16 or 8 mm wrench [IMPORTANT: little short wrench, please, NOT a 3/8" ratchet that's a foot long!!] and alternatively turn each nut 60 degress, or one hex flat. This is very important to do gradually and correctly, so that the sideplate is evenly pressed onto the pins. Remember, one hex flat at a time, alternating!
Eventually, the nuts will stop turning with the same basic amount of effort you've been using all along and won't want to turn any more, assuming you're using a little short combination wrench like I begged you to, above. There is no torque spec for this. You simply turn a hex at a time until you evenly press the sideplate onto the pins and the nuts "stop". Now your remove the nuts and throw them away! Have a look with a magnifying glass at where the pin and sideplate meet, and see how it all looks. You should see a very small sliver of the pin where it meets the sideplate, indicating the plate is fully on the pin with an interference fit. If you feel like you should press the plate further on one end of the link or the other, you can replace the nut(s) with the chamfer facing the link, and give it a tiny little bit of rotation, but be careful and don't get greedy, because I have more to tell, below. You really don't want to wring the pin off. It won't be fatal, as it will break at the groove nearest the sideplate. But you won't be able to do the additional little "peace of mind" step I describe below.
I mike'd the chain and the completed link. Chain was .898 [center of sideplate] and the Screw-Link was .876 This was the case for both times I installed the link, so we can assume the link is slightly less wide than the chain. If you use the same chain as I did, you should see these same numbers, of course.
Another interesting thing--as I was cranking the nuts down, I frequently removed them to see how the process was going. Once I loosened the nuts with the wrench, the nuts easily went off and back on with fingers only. However, once the nuts quit turning and the pressing action was complete, I noticed that the nuts would no longer come off by fingers once loosened by the wrench. I assume that at this point the pin threads had stretched a bizillionth, making the wrench sorta required for nut removal, unless you have real strong fingers.
So now if you're satisfied with the job, you simply snap the long ends of the pins off. It's real easy, using a basic plier.
[image: user posted image]
nuts done, snapping pin.JPG
[image: user posted image]
all done, sweged proper.JPG
So now, you're done. But as promised, I have some more good news. As it turns out, these black nuts aren't metric (!!), they're a good, ol' 10-32 thread. And if you notice, there's a few threads left after you snap the pins off!! So, I know what you're thinking---put the black nuts back on for safety. Wrong. They're way too long and hit inside the front sprocket cover. But, as you can see below, you simply use a quality 5/16 10-32 nut. Stainless would be cool! Do this: using lacquer thinnner or brake kleen, very thoroughly clean your hardware store nuts and the few remaing pin threads. Apply a dab of Loctite to each nut and thread onto the remaining pin stub. IMPORTANT: I torqued these nuts to a mere 30 inch-pounds, and I could feel the few meager threads beginning to yield. So, DON"T crank these nuts down, it's NOT necessary. [Remember the grinding I had to do to get the first link off? It's a tight interference fit!] Allow the Loctite to do its job to hold the nuts in place, giving you total peace of mind. These little nuts are the exact same length depth as the remaining pin stud, so you can be sure it will clear all the stuff up forward in the front sprocket area, but I stronly suggest you run it through by hand like I did before I fired it up for a test ride. Note: My addition of these "safety nuts" is not part of EK's directions. They provide little o-rings that go on the groove for the same purpose. I'll take the Loctited nuts, thanks. Another concern: If you have the stock sprocket, these nuts might touch the rubber damper. But since you're changing the chain, you'll be replacing the sprocket(s), so get an aftermarket and don't concern yourself with the false belief that the stocker is "smoother" or "quieter". It's not true, trust me on this one. You won't hear anything over your slip-on and your helmet, anyway. And nothing is "smooooother" than a new chain.
[image: user posted image]
10-32 nuts installed.JPG
[image: user posted image]
nut comparison.JPG
You'll need to tension your new chain, of course. I have no advice there...I'll leave that can of worms alone, along with the type of oil I use and color of bike is best.
As for chain tensioning in general, I have some advice. First, make sure your pinch bolt is properly torqued [70 ft-lbs], and put matching punch marks on the bolt and on the swingarm. You can see my little punch marks at that corner on the arm. Then, all you have to do after any future adjustment [like an unscheduled roadside adjustment!] is crank the bolt back to the punch mark to properly tighten it. Second, I don't use the spanner tool.....it's too....clumsy.....for small adjustments. Instead, I leave the pinch bolt a little snug and use a long, beefy screwdirver and a light hammer, and gently tap on an adusting notch one way or the other until I'm happy with my perfect tension measurement. goofy.gif
Now, will the Screw-Link work with other quality chains, such as DIDs? I don't know. But, I did mike the pins on the Screw-Link, and they're .2125 inch in diameter [that's to ten-thousanths' folks]. So, if the master link on other chains has this dimension, I would assume it would work. However, I suggest you ask the vendors if they have better info. The link width is another key dimension, and that is probably a spec that's easy to find.
I'm totally confident that this mysterious Screw-Link is on there to stay. The x-rings are visible but compressed, and the link is exactly as flexible as the rest of the chain. It feels no different when worked. I will use it again when I help a pal with a new chain on his imported bad-ass FireBlade.
This is a good product. It's been around for 12 years, but nobody trusts it, and thus won't use it. Instead, they take a chance with a dicey chain tool that has little control over pin staking depth and the resulting o-ring compression, or they take the clip-on risk, or they have to go to a dealer or shop and hope they get it right. And as we know, they often don't. Of course, if you have a quality tool and you're experienced in master link staking, you'd have no issues with it. But if you do a chain every 15-20K miles, well, your results may vary. The Screw-Link gives proper, accurate results, every time.
I recently replaced my chain [EK 530ZVX, in CHROME!] and front sprocket [AFAM 17T], along with installing a FactoryPro shift kit. I chose to use EK's Screw-Link instead of buying a cheesy chain tool or trusting a bike shop to do it, etc etc as has been discussed here many, many times. But my problem was that there was very little information out there on exactly how to install it and if it was reliable. In fact, all of the vendors who sell it had little or no idea how it was installed, and some even had it totally wrong!! I Googled the crap out of it, but only our own BatBike Chris had used it, as far as I could tell. He said good things about it, so I decided to give it the full engineer's test and evaluation program. Finally, I got my hands on a many-times-faxed copy of EK's broken-English directions, and away I went.
Let's talk about the testing first, then go back to the install procedure. After I installed according to directions and my best judgement, I rode the bike hard for a few days, making some extended 3-digit speed runs. Then, [since I had bought two link kits for testing purposes] I tried my darnest to pry the sideplate off.
[image: user posted image]
trying to pry.JPG
That didn't work, so I ground the ends of the rivets down, at varying levels of destruction, and pried some more. No luck. Finally, I ground nearly all the way through, and centerpunched the pins out, no problem. So, we now know they're removable, if you work at it. We also know they won't pop off in a hard sweeper!!
[image: user posted image]
ground down pins.JPG
[image: user posted image]
ground down more.JPG
I won't go into the chain install, but suffice to say that when you get it on, with the tension adjuster all the way forward and "loose", the unmade chain ends want to be at about 2 o'clock on your rear sprocket, like this.
[image: user posted image]
new link going in.JPG
I used the x-rings that came with my new chain, and the lube pack. The Screw-Link didn't come with lube (or instructions).
So, once you have the link in place with lube, o/x-rings and the sideplate is pushed on, you run the little black nuts onto the pins finger tight only. IMPORTANT: 1) the nuts have a slight chamfer at the threads on one end only that goes against the sideplate. If you muff this, you'll wring off the pin prematurely. 2) run the nuts in finger tight only. There's a reason for this that I'll get to next.
[image: user posted image]
nuts finger fight.JPG
Once you're finger tight, you take a 5/16 or 8 mm wrench [IMPORTANT: little short wrench, please, NOT a 3/8" ratchet that's a foot long!!] and alternatively turn each nut 60 degress, or one hex flat. This is very important to do gradually and correctly, so that the sideplate is evenly pressed onto the pins. Remember, one hex flat at a time, alternating!
Eventually, the nuts will stop turning with the same basic amount of effort you've been using all along and won't want to turn any more, assuming you're using a little short combination wrench like I begged you to, above. There is no torque spec for this. You simply turn a hex at a time until you evenly press the sideplate onto the pins and the nuts "stop". Now your remove the nuts and throw them away! Have a look with a magnifying glass at where the pin and sideplate meet, and see how it all looks. You should see a very small sliver of the pin where it meets the sideplate, indicating the plate is fully on the pin with an interference fit. If you feel like you should press the plate further on one end of the link or the other, you can replace the nut(s) with the chamfer facing the link, and give it a tiny little bit of rotation, but be careful and don't get greedy, because I have more to tell, below. You really don't want to wring the pin off. It won't be fatal, as it will break at the groove nearest the sideplate. But you won't be able to do the additional little "peace of mind" step I describe below.
I mike'd the chain and the completed link. Chain was .898 [center of sideplate] and the Screw-Link was .876 This was the case for both times I installed the link, so we can assume the link is slightly less wide than the chain. If you use the same chain as I did, you should see these same numbers, of course.
Another interesting thing--as I was cranking the nuts down, I frequently removed them to see how the process was going. Once I loosened the nuts with the wrench, the nuts easily went off and back on with fingers only. However, once the nuts quit turning and the pressing action was complete, I noticed that the nuts would no longer come off by fingers once loosened by the wrench. I assume that at this point the pin threads had stretched a bizillionth, making the wrench sorta required for nut removal, unless you have real strong fingers.
So now if you're satisfied with the job, you simply snap the long ends of the pins off. It's real easy, using a basic plier.
[image: user posted image]
nuts done, snapping pin.JPG
[image: user posted image]
all done, sweged proper.JPG
So now, you're done. But as promised, I have some more good news. As it turns out, these black nuts aren't metric (!!), they're a good, ol' 10-32 thread. And if you notice, there's a few threads left after you snap the pins off!! So, I know what you're thinking---put the black nuts back on for safety. Wrong. They're way too long and hit inside the front sprocket cover. But, as you can see below, you simply use a quality 5/16 10-32 nut. Stainless would be cool! Do this: using lacquer thinnner or brake kleen, very thoroughly clean your hardware store nuts and the few remaing pin threads. Apply a dab of Loctite to each nut and thread onto the remaining pin stub. IMPORTANT: I torqued these nuts to a mere 30 inch-pounds, and I could feel the few meager threads beginning to yield. So, DON"T crank these nuts down, it's NOT necessary. [Remember the grinding I had to do to get the first link off? It's a tight interference fit!] Allow the Loctite to do its job to hold the nuts in place, giving you total peace of mind. These little nuts are the exact same length depth as the remaining pin stud, so you can be sure it will clear all the stuff up forward in the front sprocket area, but I stronly suggest you run it through by hand like I did before I fired it up for a test ride. Note: My addition of these "safety nuts" is not part of EK's directions. They provide little o-rings that go on the groove for the same purpose. I'll take the Loctited nuts, thanks. Another concern: If you have the stock sprocket, these nuts might touch the rubber damper. But since you're changing the chain, you'll be replacing the sprocket(s), so get an aftermarket and don't concern yourself with the false belief that the stocker is "smoother" or "quieter". It's not true, trust me on this one. You won't hear anything over your slip-on and your helmet, anyway. And nothing is "smooooother" than a new chain.
[image: user posted image]
10-32 nuts installed.JPG
[image: user posted image]
nut comparison.JPG
You'll need to tension your new chain, of course. I have no advice there...I'll leave that can of worms alone, along with the type of oil I use and color of bike is best.
As for chain tensioning in general, I have some advice. First, make sure your pinch bolt is properly torqued [70 ft-lbs], and put matching punch marks on the bolt and on the swingarm. You can see my little punch marks at that corner on the arm. Then, all you have to do after any future adjustment [like an unscheduled roadside adjustment!] is crank the bolt back to the punch mark to properly tighten it. Second, I don't use the spanner tool.....it's too....clumsy.....for small adjustments. Instead, I leave the pinch bolt a little snug and use a long, beefy screwdirver and a light hammer, and gently tap on an adusting notch one way or the other until I'm happy with my perfect tension measurement. goofy.gif
Now, will the Screw-Link work with other quality chains, such as DIDs? I don't know. But, I did mike the pins on the Screw-Link, and they're .2125 inch in diameter [that's to ten-thousanths' folks]. So, if the master link on other chains has this dimension, I would assume it would work. However, I suggest you ask the vendors if they have better info. The link width is another key dimension, and that is probably a spec that's easy to find.
I'm totally confident that this mysterious Screw-Link is on there to stay. The x-rings are visible but compressed, and the link is exactly as flexible as the rest of the chain. It feels no different when worked. I will use it again when I help a pal with a new chain on his imported bad-ass FireBlade.
This is a good product. It's been around for 12 years, but nobody trusts it, and thus won't use it. Instead, they take a chance with a dicey chain tool that has little control over pin staking depth and the resulting o-ring compression, or they take the clip-on risk, or they have to go to a dealer or shop and hope they get it right. And as we know, they often don't. Of course, if you have a quality tool and you're experienced in master link staking, you'd have no issues with it. But if you do a chain every 15-20K miles, well, your results may vary. The Screw-Link gives proper, accurate results, every time.