XR650L: Spud Rollers for Your Chain Guide

I have never liked the chain guide slider on my XR650L. Therefore, I decided to replace the chain guide slider with two chain rollers. After employing two different, commercial chain rollers, I decided to experiment with polyurethane tubing. You can read the details of my chain roller modification in the following thread.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=667646

My polyurethane Spud Rollers have proven to be far superior to the commercial chain rollers I have experimented with in my chain guide. For example, here is a photograph of a sealed bearing chain roller, and an unsealed, Delrin chain roller after 2,400 miles of wear in my chain guide.



The chain guide is a dirty, harsh environment for chain rollers. Besides rolling friction, the drive chain impacts the chain rollers, subjecting them to further abuse. Therefore, it is not surprising my sealed bearing chain roller fractured after 3,800 miles of wear. At that point I decided to replace the sealed bearing chain roller with another unsealed, Delrin chain roller.



The unsealed, Delrin chain rollers have sustained chain impact better than the sealed bearing chain roller. However, rolling friction from the drive chain still wears the commercial, unsealed chain rollers at an unacceptable rate. In the following photograph, the front chain roller, on the left, has 1,200 miles of wear. The rear chain roller, on the right, has 5,000 miles of wear.



After observing this wear, I decided to experiment with my polyurethane Spud Rollers. I am pleased to report my polyurethane chain rollers are performing superbly; they are far superior to the commercial chain rollers I have previously employed in my chain guide. After 1,850 miles of service in my chain guide, my Spud Rollers are showing virtually no wear.



I bought my polyurethane tubing from a local, industrial supply shop.

If you decide to perform my chain roller modification, you will also need to purchase two, 3/8 x 2-inch, hex head bolts, two 3/8-inch, nyloc nuts. These bolts, nuts and washers are readily available in almost every local hardware store.

If you are interested in buying one or more of my Spud Rollers, please send me a personal message, and we can arrange for payment. I accept either personal checks, or payment via my PayPal account.

Spud

That's cool spud, where locally did you find the poly tubing? Are we locally in the same area, Boise/Meridian?

I live on the other side of the state, Doc. I prefer to keep my material source confidential.

Spud

Today I inspected my Spud Rollers. After experimenting with two different types of commercial chain rollers, I installed my polyurethane Spud Rollers in my chain guide. Here is a photograph of the "left" side of my Spud Rollers after 3,000 miles of wear.



Here is a photo of the top view of my Spud Rollers. As you can see, my Spud Rollers have virtually no wear after 3,000 miles of riding.



My Spud Rollers are virtually maintenance free, and have survived a lot of punishment in the dirty, harsh environment of the chain guide. For the purposes of comparison, here is a photo of two, commercial, chain rollers after 2,400 miles of wear in my chain guide.




Spud

Installing my Spud Rollers requires a slight modification of your XR650L chain guide. I recommend you follow this procedure.

Spud Roller Installation Guide

1) For each pair of rollers purchase the following items from a local hardware store.

Two 3/8 x 2-inch, hex head bolts (any grade metal is fine)
Two 3/8-inch nyloc nuts

2) Loosen the two bolts, and remove the chain slider from your chain guard.

3) Using a 3/8-inch drill bit, enlarge the two holes in the chain guard to 3/8-inch.

4) Install the polyurethane rollers using the hardware purchased in step 1, placing the nyloc nuts on the wheel side of the chain guide.

5) Tighten the bolts securely, but not so tight you can't rotate the Spud Rollers by hand.

6) Every few hundred miles, inspect the bolts to ensure they are still tight.

If you are interested in buying one or more of my Spud Rollers, please send me a personal message, and we can arrange for payment. I accept either personal checks, or payment via my PayPal account.


Spud

I'm glad you're selling these! I was just thinking about asking you when I got back from my mini trip.
How do I pay? Send me some!

Btw, can you post a picture of the spud roller set up installed in the chain guide? I'd like to get a visual. Do you find that the bolts tend to loosen? I'm wondering if thinner bolts with a 5/16 sleeve would be a better permanent solution so it can be fully tightened. Or maybe I'm just over thinking it.


Mike B

Thank you, Mike. Please send me a personal message, and I will give you the details.

Tomorrow I will take some photos of my installed Spud Rollers, and the mounting hardware. The bolts holding my Spud Rollers have never loosened; the nyloc nuts hold the bolts very securely. I think an inner sleeve would probably add more friction to the Spud Roller assembly, but I certainly wouldn't mind if someone decided to experiment with this configuration.

My Spud Rollers don't require any lubrication, or any maintenance whatsoever. Just tug on the bolts every 200 miles or so, to make sure they are tight. However, I have now ridden over 3,700 miles with my Spud Rollers installed, and the bolts have never loosened.

Spud

As promised, here are some photos of my Spud Rollers in their natural habitat, Mike. The chain guide is a dirty, harsh environment. I have discovered my Spud Rollers reduce friction on the drive chain, especially in muddy environments.







In addition, my Spud Rollers are virtually maintenance free, only requiring a simple, quick, occasional inspection. Every 200 miles or so, merely tug on the bolts to ensure they are tight, and spin the rollers with your fingers.

I'm pleased to report the mounting bolts have never loosened on my Spud Rollers, Mike. Feel free to experiment with sleeves if you wish. However, I recommend using 3/8-inch bolts, without sleeves. If you try my recommended installation, I am confident you will discover it is very rugged, and reliable. I also believe my recommended installation will gather less dirt, and induce less friction than an installation employing sleeves.



Spud

Perfect, thanks Spud!

Mike B

Gotta go look at Katie see if I can flange up your rollers. Nice simple solution

Yesterday I inspected the Spud Rollers in my chain guide. After 4,700 miles of wear, here is a photograph of the port side of my polyurethane Spud Rollers.



Here is a top view of my Spud Rollers after 4,700 miles of wear.



After 4,700 miles, a tiny bit of wear has appeared on a small portion of the rear Spud Roller. Both polyurethane rollers are in excellent condition, and I am still very pleased with their performance, and durability.

Spud

Yesterday I decided to change the mounting hardware for the Spud Rollers in my chain guide. For the last 4,700 miles, I have been using two, 5/16 x 2-inch bolts, nyloc nuts and washers to secure the polyurethane chain rollers in my chain guide. Yesterday I switched to to two, 3/8 x 2-inch bolts and nyloc nuts.



Since both the bolt heads, and the nyloc nuts of my new, 3/8-inch hardware are much larger, I decided not to use the washers shown in the photograph above. I'm pleased to report the hex head bolts and nyloc nuts hold my Spud Rollers very securely in the chain guide.

Spud

The rear of my chain guide had a few cracks in the plastic when I acquired my used, XR650L. Also, my chain guide has recently taken some punishment in the Idaho rocks. Since a new chain guide is relatively inexpensive, and because my Spud Rollers are wearing so well, today I decided to trim the rear of my chain guide, and experiment with a single Spud Roller installed in the front of the chain guide.







My original objectives for this modification were to reduce chain guide maintenance, drive chain friction, and the replacement cost of wear items such as the "chain slipper" and the chain guide slider. I am very satisfied with my success regarding these objectives. However, I now wish to discover if a single Spud Roller in the chain guide works as well as two. Two chain rollers will cost less, make less noise, and induce even less drive chain friction than three chain rollers.





So far I have ridden about 150 miles with a single Spud Roller in my chain guide, and all looks well. I will continue to keep you updated regarding the performance, and durability of my single Spud Roller.

Spud

I should of thought of that
I noticed a good amount of play with the current 5/16 bolts. It's also pretty noisy. Doesn't bother me but I notice it.
I'll run to the local hardware store tomorrow and pick up some larger ones.

Btw; installed that RK chain, front chain roller (spud recommended special ), and a Renthal XRR 15T. Nice design to their sprocket; I'll let you know how it holds up. Had to grind down about 2mm on the backside inner splines to get it to fit (like the Primary Drive one)

Mike B

Thanks for the report, Mike! Please do keep us updated regarding the performance, and the durability of your Spud Rollers.

Spud

Several days ago I installed a new drive chain, and new sprockets. Therefore, I took the opportunity to inspect my Spud Roller. Here is a view of my mounting hardware, and the port side of my single Spud Roller after 5,700 miles of total wear, and 600 miles of wear as the solo roller in my chain guide.



Here is a top view of my single Spud Roller after 5,700 miles of total wear, and 600 miles of wear as the solo roller in my chain guide.



When I installed my new drive chain, I switched from a 13T/45T sprocket combination to a 14T/48T sprocket combination. Since the larger rear sprocket has lowered the bottom of my drive chain, I am glad I switched to a single Spud Roller. The single, forward roller allows more clearance from the rear sprocket, and facilitates removal of the rear wheel, et cetera.





Spud

The following photograph shows the clearance between the drive chain and a single Spud Roller when the rear wheel has a 45-tooth sprocket.



This photo shows the clearance between the drive chain and a single Spud Roller when the rear wheel has a 48-tooth sprocket.



As you can see, the 48-tooth rear sprocket significantly reduces the clearance between the drive chain and the chain roller. Therefore, I think it's best to use a single Spud Roller mounted in the front position of the chain guide when employing a 48T, or larger, rear sprocket.

The next photograph shows the clearance between the drive chain and a pair of Spud Rollers when the rear wheel has a 45-tooth rear sprocket.



I think a pair of Spud Rollers works best when a 45T sprocket is mounted on the rear wheel. Consequently, I am now offering the option to purchase either a single Spud Roller, or a pair of Spud Rollers.

The cost of a single Spud Roller is $7.50, delivered. Each additional Spud Roller will cost $5.50. If you are interested in buying one or more of my Spud Rollers, please send me a personal message, and we can arrange for payment. I accept either personal checks, or payment via my PayPal account.

Spud

I like this setup ,

Thank you, Marko.

I'm pleased to report my single Spud Roller is performing very well in my chain guide. Here is a photograph of the port side of my Spud Roller after 7,200 miles of total wear, and 2,100 miles of solo wear in my chain guide.



Here is a photo of the top view of my Spud Roller after 7,200 miles of total wear, and 2,100 miles of solo wear in my chain guide.



Chain rollers offer several advantages over chain sliders.

1) The open, bottom end of the chain guide collects less dirt and mud with a chain roller, rather than a chain slider, installed.

2) The rotating chain roller induces less friction on the drive chain than a chain slider.

3) My Spud Rollers are less expensive than the OEM chain slider.

4) My Spud Rollers appear to wear longer than the OEM chain slider, especially in dirty, or muddy environments.

5) A chain roller is easier to inspect for wear, and therefore requires less maintenance than the OEM chain slider.

To be fair, a possible disadvantage of chain rollers is they produce more noise than the OEM chain slider. However, as my Spud Roller "breaks in" after 7,200 miles of use, I'm pleased to report it is becoming much quieter. If you are interested in purchasing either a single Spud Roller, or a pair of Spud Rollers, please send me a personal message.

Spud

I just got back from riding the continental divide. About 2500 miles. I installed 1 roller just before I left. At about the 2,000 mile mark it was worn into the bolt. I threw it away and put the other one on. The second one is wearing on the out side. The inside is worn enough that it rattles up and down and makes a horrible racket when riding. I greased the first one and didn't grease the second one.