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Breaking sprocket teeth

1195 Views 12 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  dricked
Alright, so I have a problem. About two months ago, I started getting more into power wheelies. Aside from that, my bike is at redline and under hard acceleration often but anyway . . . . My chain and sprockets were old then and I remember doing a power wheelie and feeling a clunk . . . It seemed to only happen when I got the launch perfect to wheelie and it's no different than a regular bicycle, you know when the chain/sprockets are fucking up but I didn't know my teeth were snapping. Noticed it the day after and bought a DID Gold chain with aluminum vortex sprockets... I've put about 500 hard miles on them and within the last few days, I have snapped 3 sprocket teeth doing power wheelies I'm guessing. I felt when the first one snapped.. and the second... Not too sure about the third unless I snapped two at once.I wheelied and it was just rough.. Felt like riding a bull. I was advised to get steel sprockets but is this problem common? Front sprocket is fine, chain is fine, alignment is fine, but I'm running through these aluminum sprockets faster than expected
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Never heard of that happening. Learn to clutch it up. Power wheelies are boring.
I gotta think the chain isn't adjusted properly (doesn't have proper amount of slack). Also, the Vortex aluminum sprockets will wear out VERY fast. I used to run them on my race bikes but I switched to steel. They should last more than 500 miles though. I wheelie my bikes every single day and have never had that problem. When you replaced the chain/sprockets you replaced both front and rear sprockets right?
Are you running the stock chain size or 520 conversion? I tried vortex aluminum sprockets on a 520 conversion and the sprocket was junk in 2 weeks.
I get around 15 race weekends out of the vortex aluminum sprocket, maybe longer. Roughly 3500km. It's still usable.
IMO aluminum sprockets if you race or want nice color bling. What wrong with steel sprockets??
Runing aluminum sprockets is the problem, switch to steel problem solved
Runing aluminum sprockets is the problem, switch to steel problem solved

What he said. :grin2:
you're running the Metz rr on the rear is my guess.
Are you running the stock chain size or 520 conversion? I tried vortex aluminum sprockets on a 520 conversion and the sprocket was junk in 2 weeks.
Yea, running 520 with -1 up front

Runing aluminum sprockets is the problem, switch to steel problem solved

Yeah, steel sprocket should be here tomorrow.
Ya know every single professional race team in the world from Superbikes to MotoGP with 250+ rwhp uses aluminum sprockets without any damage whatsoever racing at the absolute limit of performance.



It's either you are abusing the drive system to much with your wheelies and hooliganism which is 100% A-ok with me OR you have a mechanical issue like incorrect chain slack, misalignment or worn wheel bearings etc...
The only aluminum sprockets that I've ever had good luck with are AFAM and Superlite. They seem to hold up much better than any of the others I've tried. I've been told its due to their specific anodizing process which uses Teflon but I don't know enough about anodizing to be able to talk intelligently about it. The grey colored AFAM aluminum ones seemed to be practically immune to wear but they've become impossible to find.

Drive systems makes some very light weight steel sprockets that may be worth looking into. I've got one on my ZX10 now and it seems to be holding up quite well. Or you could buy a $40 Vortex or JT steel sprocket that weighs a ton but is basically bomb-proof.

In my experience, Vortex aluminum sprockets are cheap but they wear out really quickly.
Ya know every single professional race team in the world from Superbikes to MotoGP with 250+ rwhp uses aluminum sprockets without any damage whatsoever racing at the absolute limit of performance.



It's either you are abusing the drive system to much with your wheelies and hooliganism which is 100% A-ok with me OR you have a mechanical issue like incorrect chain slack, misalignment or worn wheel bearings etc...
Exactly. I could sheer off teeth doing wheelies every chance I get but that doesn't really help with lap times. Vortex has two different types of aluminum sprockets as well, one with a harder anodizing.
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