520 Chain Conversions for CB350 CL360 CB400 CB450 CB77

Heavy duty chain and sprocket on my bike are from the 1970s, either 530 or 630 series chain... monster heavy for a 50 year old 250... the chain should forge out into some gorgeous Damascus steel knife blades (about all it is good for anymore even though it rolls smoothly)... and the sprockets are still in great shape.

Any chance they'll make a seriously stepped down set for the really old/under powered bikes? Like 420 or 428 chain stuff? 520 on a 250 is still overkill... and a serious power robber on Lisa's 100 beater bike.

I'll have to get the counts off mine to double check, but I think I have a stock count front and 42 tooth rear on the CL72, looks like a hay elevator drive sprocket... ???
 
Scruffy said:
Heavy duty chain and sprocket on my bike are from the 1970s, either 530 or 630 series chain... monster heavy for a 50 year old 250... the chain should forge out into some gorgeous Damascus steel knife blades (about all it is good for anymore even though it rolls smoothly)... and the sprockets are still in great shape.

Any chance they'll make a seriously stepped down set for the really old/under powered bikes? Like 420 or 428 chain stuff? 520 on a 250 is still overkill... and a serious power robber on Lisa's 100 beater bike.

I'll have to get the counts off mine to double check, but I think I have a stock count front and 42 tooth rear on the CL72, looks like a hay elevator drive sprocket... ???

I can check with them. On the CB350's and CB450's they start with the OEM 530 size and machine down the teeth to 520 so that the center bore still remains the same width as OEM specs and the OEM spacer and c-clip work.
 
15/42 steel front alloy rear is what it has now. And a standard 535 chain (not sure you can even find those anymore, 1970s custom stuff, basically a thick side plate 530) on 530 spec sprockets.
 
Thanks PJ, that explains some of the chain wobble. I wish I knew who originally modified the bike and lost about $6K worth of impossible to find parts (like the fenders, tail loop, airbox, stock wheels, chain guard, high pipes, mirrors, horn, tail light assembly, centerstand)... Book value in 100 point restoration condition is only $3800... Oh well, I like to tinker and the 2nd or third owner paid my gas to come get it.
 
Ok, please explain to me what this would do if put on a stock CB360T in layman's terms. Im interested but not sure what the benefit is.

-Matt
 
Basically the 520 conversions are much lighter than the 530 kits thsu reducing the rotating mass of the drivetrain. Reducing the rotating mass on the smaller bikes such as the 350's and 450's will slight improve your performance.

Also with the 520 kits, you can run an O-ring or X-ring chain. All these kits come with a EK SRO 520 O-Ring chain
 
For the record too, a modern 520 o-ring chain is far stronger then the old HD 530 roller chain that is stock on the cb350/360. The O-Ring chain will last longer then the HD chains. A modern 600CC sportbike with about 100 HP uses 520 chains. A 36HP bike is not going to stress it at all...

The only thing the Roller chain has going for it is that it is about $24.

When the chain and sprockets come due on my 360, I will be upgrading to the 520 set here.
 
Couple of questions.
First, what are the front sprockets made of, your post doesn't say (you may want to edit that)? I still don't see a kit for the CB400F
Have you actually measured the weight difference between like sized 530 and 520 and what is the weight difference?
Did you ever mention the manufacturer of these kits or are you keeping that secret?
I would be interested in a set that has a 39 tooth rear for a CBR600 and a 17 tooth front for a CB400F.
how much would that be?
 
I'm also replacing the chain sprockets on my CB400F at some stage and would appreciate a heads up in the price. Do you offer the chain in gold links too?
 
o1marc said:
Couple of questions.
First, what are the front sprockets made of, your post doesn't say (you may want to edit that)? I still don't see a kit for the CB400F
Have you actually measured the weight difference between like sized 530 and 520 and what is the weight difference?
Did you ever mention the manufacturer of these kits or are you keeping that secret?
I would be interested in a set that has a 39 tooth rear for a CBR600 and a 17 tooth front for a CB400F.
how much would that be?

From glancing at my set, front sprocket is steel w/some kind of plating

Cant help you with an ounce for ounce measurement because I tossed my old chain way early, but the weight of the sprockets is significant even in the hand (cant find my old fishing scale)

I actually called the sprocket manufacture he is using, and he sells these kits for less than you can buy a set of 530s from them, if you count in the cost of the chain he includes. My rear sprocket is stamped "rebel gears"
 
The front sprockets are all case hardened steel. The rear sprockets are 7075-T6 certified Aero Space grade aluminum from smelters here in the USA. They come in bare aluminum but we can also have them hardened anodized for $25 extra in any color you want. The rear sprockets are rebel gears. They have been making sprockets for vintage bikes for over 30 yrs and the father was one of the original owners of sprocket specialists. They have been making sprockets for us for years now.

The chains we sell with the kits are EK Sro5 oring chains which are much better and last longer than the heavy duty non oring chains.
 
neevo said:
I'm also replacing the chain sprockets on my CB400F at some stage and would appreciate a heads up in the price. Do you offer the chain in gold links too?

The 75-77 CB400F use the same front and rear sprockets as the CB350's and 360's. Yes we can get the gold chains no problem. The gold chains are usually a $10 upgrade.

The price on the kits is $149.99. We have had a huge response on these kits so we will be running a sales of $144.99 this week. We have the 16/38T stock sprockets in size for your bike right here.
 
Evorussell said:
From glancing at my set, front sprocket is steel w/some kind of plating

Cant help you with an ounce for ounce measurement because I tossed my old chain way early, but the weight of the sprockets is significant even in the hand (cant find my old fishing scale)

I actually called the sprocket manufacture he is using, and he sells these kits for less than you can buy a set of 530s from them, if you count in the cost of the chain he includes. My rear sprocket is stamped "rebel gears"

The 520 chains themselves is where most of the weight savings occurs. They are significantly lighter nd stronger then the 530 Heavy duty chains.
 
I was being facetious when I asked what the fronts were made of. I can't believe no one else caught the mistake in your OP. You need to edit this line:
"All REAR sprockets are case hardened steel and REAR sprockets are made from Aluminum and CNC machined."
Can you get what I need? rear sprocket in a CBR600 and a front for the CB400f?
 
o1marc said:
I was being facetious when I asked what the fronts were made of. I can't believe no one else caught the mistake in your OP. You need to edit this line:
"All REAR sprockets are case hardened steel and REAR sprockets are made from Aluminum and CNC machined."
Can you get what I need? rear sprocket in a CBR600 and a front for the CB400f?

Haha thanks man.

Yes we can get the CBR600 rear sprockets no problem. What year? We sell tons of the CBR600RR sprockets and have them available from several different manufacturers. Driven has them in all different colors. We have the 16T and 17T fronts for the CB400F here.
 
I don't think that the fronts are CASE hardened. They may or may not be induction hardened or any other hardening technique but case hardening is a process for things like gear shafts and creates a very hard surface with a high carbon content but leaves a softer core. They would flake if they were case hardened.

I'm guessing that it was just a slip of the tongue so to speak.

A typical 530 chain has a much higher strength and wear rating than a typical 520 chain because the side plates and pins are thicker. high strength 520 chains such as say a DID ERT2 are much stronger and that's the sort of chain to use in a race bike. Ordinary 520 chains are still more than adequate for a light, low powered bike like the old CBs, but they are rarely as strong as a 525 or 530.

Check here for DID chain specs
http://www.didchain.com/chainSpecs.html

Here for EK
http://www.ekchain.jp/product/street_bikes.html
 
teazer said:
I don't think that the fronts are CASE hardened. They may or may not be induction hardened or any other hardening technique but case hardening is a process for things like gear shafts and creates a very hard surface with a high carbon content but leaves a softer core. They would flake if they were case hardened.

90% of the front sprockets we carry are case hardened steel such as Driven Racing, PMP, Esjot etc.... Most of the 520 chains we carry have a high tensile stength then the cheapo 530 chains alot of guys seem to run on the smaller CC bikes. Yes when going with EK, DID or RK, the 530's will have a much higher tensile strength as the links are significantly thicker. Now a days most of the 520 chains are more then adequate up to 1000cc bikes. We sell hundreds of 520 kits for the 1000cc bikes and never had a complaint on the chain breaking. They are using the EK 520 KVXZ chain which is a bit pricer then the EK SRO5 520.
 
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