Fitting a 530 chain to Commander

[David Brown]

Hi all,Has anyone had experience of fitting a larger chain on a Commander. I removed the standard chain because I had previously removed the fully enclosed chain case and the chain was slightly worn. An O ring chain I thought. 520 chain was the wrong tooth spacing but 530 fitted lovely on the Diversion three spoke conversion rear sprocket. The problem is the 530 is quite a chunky chain and the wheel won't turn on the front sprocket. I have returned to the standard chain setup for now. I wanted a shiny new chain for the photo shoot. Has anyone had experience of this and possibly machining engine cases?Please advise.David

[Dell Boy]

I have done over 300,000 miles on Interpol/Commanders & have never changed a rear chain. I have adjusted rear chains maybe 10 times in over 20 years.Why attempt to fit a larger chain? These bikes dont need it unless you`ve increased the power output dramatically.I have fitted an 18 tooth sprocket to one Commander & that made fitting the standard chain difficult because there is so little room for oversize components in that area.Fit a good quality standard size rear chain if the old one is past its service limit.Are you doing away with [ or have already] the chain enclosure?If you fit an "o" ring chain to the oil bath chaincase the oil wont be able to get into the pins & side plates of the chain.Derek.

[gripper]

Spookily I was just looking at the options to fit an o-ring chain to my Commando today. 530 chains are 5/8" pitch and 3/8" wide, (that is what is fitted to a Commander/IP2) 520 chains are 5/8" pitch and 1/4" wide. the extra width of an o-ring chain makes them too wide for a Commando and the same probably applies to the Commander/IP2 The option would be to fit the narrower 520 chain with o-ring but the sprockets would have to be thinned down to suit. This is an easy job on a Commando as you would just use earlier Domminator bits (remembering that the threads on the rear sprocket are whitworth form on the dommie and UNF on the Commando) The thinner 520 chain is strong enough to deal with the power we are talking about here. A friend of mine has an Aprillia RSV 1000 and that has a 520 chain. Not sure how long it lasts but o-ring chains are the way ahead if you have ditched the chain case.

[Wayne]

Hi Reading your article, the fact you want a shiny chain on view and you state its open means you can machine your box, I have photos of the gearbox machined away for race use, pm me with your email as I took photos always round of my race and std box for comparison, Note the race box is the std rc588 race box and not the latter rcw588 big boxRegards wayne

[Wayne]

Hiposted wrong photo right box though, this pic maybe more useRegards wayne

[David Brown]

Hi Wayne,Very useful photos thank you. It confirmed my suspicions that it isn't going to be a quick or easy modification.Yes please I would be interested seeing any other photos you may have.I guess essentially it means some heavy machining is required to run an O ring 530 chain.My email address is davidbrown5@sky.comOut of interest what did you do with the Outrigger bearing that runs in the oil bath. I was advised to remove mine. Is there a sealed type bearing that you know about to replace it with? Please advise. RegardsDavid

[Wayne]

Hi DavidDave Evans has confirmed the rc588 and Rcw588 used Std outriger berings and used grease on them? Dave assured me the grease dosed not fly everywhere and this arangement worked well. It must be rememberd race bikes engines are striped regularly and not subject to normal roard dirt. It may be possible to make a new plate to accomodate a new seald bearing. Mark Simpson has a cut down gearbox that has been used on the road, first done in 89/90 i will ask him what his arangements are next time i see him.Regards Wayne