Rubber seals on factory chain??

Does anyone know if the factory chain for an 82 440 LTD has rubber o rings for seals in the links?
I am thinking of trying a ceramic coating of the chain to improve the lubrication and reduce the need to use waxes or chain lube as often. The process requires the removal and heating of the chain in the oven. Not good for rubber. My bike only has about 7000 mi on it and I'm pretty sure it is the factory chain.

Don't know when they started using O ring chains from the factory but I know my '80 KZ650 came new with just a standard chain.

If you are going to cook the chain in an oven, I don't think that will do the internal lube on the pins/rollers any good.

So how are you going to get lube back inside for the rollers and pins and get the carbonized lube out?? I suspect that you will decrease the life of the chain, not increase it.

If you can keep the temp at 200 degrees or less, then you should be ok.

Ask RonKZ650 how long a well maintained stock chain will last. IIRC, he got somewhere near 60k miles out of his.

If it's an O-ring chain, you should see the o-rings. They are between the plates and appear as a little black gap between the plates. If you look very closely you'll see the "gap" is actually the o-ring.

Plan is to bake at 370 to 390 for 15 min. I don't think this is enough time or temp to weaken the metal. The ceramic will be the lube on the pins and rollers. Have reports of chainsaws (known for streaching chains) after being ceramic treated not needing bar adjustments for the entire season, that's one of the reasons I'm looking into this.

Lube, ceramic, etc, on the outside of a chain does nothing to prevent wear, it only prevents corrosion, the lube that matters is "inside" the rollers and lubricates the pin/roller interface. I'm sure your chain will look pretty after you ceramic coat it, I'm equally sure it will wear out very rapidly.

But, when it's all said and done, it's your bike so do as you like.

Just let us know how it's working out after 500 miles or so

Post edited by: steell, at: 2008/02/17 22:22