T7 Chainguides

[Revy]

I searched for "chainguide" in the search and nothing came up so here goes; What are your thoughts on the chainguides out there? Yamaha, Acerbis, BRP etc. Anyone have any thoughts about why one may be better then the others?

[Tenerider]

Try "chain guide" (in parentheses):

 

 

 

 

 

General consent seems to be: OEM is very noisy, Acerbis is great (and cheaper).

There are some other options which I never considered - Acerbis know their stuff, so I went with them.

[Goody Boy]

The Ali Express ones work fine for me. If it wasn't for that, I would go with the Acerbis.

[RIDER GUIDER]

If you're ever venturing off road I'd say this is one of the very few MUST fit items.  From what I have seen the Yamaha one is as good as any and with it being original equipment/factory it will of course have had more R&D than aftermarket. 

[Ray Ride4life]

26 minutes ago, RIDER GUIDER said:

If you're ever venturing off road I'd say this is one of the very few MUST fit items.  From what I have seen the Yamaha one is as good as any and with it being original equipment/factory it will of course have had more R&D than aftermarket. 

That's an assumption and assumption is the mother of all f**k ups.

[Rider 101]

35 minutes ago, RIDER GUIDER said:

If you're ever venturing off road I'd say this is one of the very few MUST fit items.  From what I have seen the Yamaha one is as good as any and with it being original equipment/factory it will of course have had more R&D than aftermarket. 

I would say the OEM is a "cheap" chain guide.

I put the Acerbis ( and may have been the first to do it ) as the OEM wasn't available in Oz at the time.

The Acerbis is wearing well and I doubt will need replacing for several years.

[RIDER GUIDER]

39 minutes ago, Ray Ride4life said:

That's an assumption and assumption is the mother of all f**k ups.

Not assuming, Yamaha introduced this particular bike a full two years before it was ready for sale, in that time they'll have (off) road tested, researched every conceivable breakable part for wear & tear.  I'd say more than Acerbis have and I'm sure theirs being a top brand is also very very good,  but I doubt it will have had the same R&D as a factory one.  I also doubt there would be much in it between the two but there's good reason in some cases to go factory.  I've not got much wear on mine considering - 22000kms

[RIDER GUIDER]

38 minutes ago, Rider 101 said:

I would say the OEM is a "cheap" chain guide.

I put the Acerbis ( and may have been the first to do it ) as the OEM wasn't available in Oz at the time.

The Acerbis is wearing well and I doubt will need replacing for several years.

Acerbis being a top brand is also very very good.  Will there be much in it between the two?  There's good reason in some cases to go factory.  I've not got much wear on mine, if any and 22000kms in. 

[Ray Ride4life]

Accessoiries are often made by third party's.

Everything nit standard on a bike may or may not be tested.

The Acerbis is used by many and therefore proven to be at least a decent product.

I'm not saying the OEM is bad but unless you work at Yamaha and know for a fact that accessoiries are tested the same as the bike itself it is still an assumption.

[Redneckj]

I can promise anyone this:  If Yamaha puts its name on an aftermarket part, it is good quality part.  

[winddown]

If I get one it will be the Acerbis, but honestly it will be mostly just for looks.  I met a dedicated dirt rider up country the other week, he had the 2019 T7, no chain guide and the chain was hanging down like limp spaghetti.  I don't know how these riders are losing their chains but somehow I don't think a guide would make much difference on a stock bike with a properly adjusted one.  Are they swapping out their front sprocket? 

[winddown]

1 hour ago, Redneckj said:

I can promise anyone this:  If Yamaha puts its name on an aftermarket part, it is good quality part.  

 

Sorry but I have to disagree.  I wouldn't call their center stand a good quality part at all, I think it was engineered wrong, the kick leaver is way too long, dangerously long.  And the OEM tank grips look great, I have them.  But they are useless, they are rock hard and don't grip anything like other aftermarket ones.  In fact I'll be pulling mine off soon for a set of Oxford's, and not soon enough either.  A waste of $125.

 

 

[Ray Ride4life]

1 hour ago, Redneckj said:

I can promise anyone this:  If Yamaha puts its name on an aftermarket part, it is good quality part.  

And that's why we have problems like rust and crackking frames?

We live in different times, now it's all about profit and cutting costs.

I see it everywhere, once good brands throwing away the good name.

[Windblown]

4 hours ago, winddown said:

If I get one it will be the Acerbis, but honestly it will be mostly just for looks.  I met a dedicated dirt rider up country the other week, he had the 2019 T7, no chain guide and the chain was hanging down like limp spaghetti.  I don't know how these riders are losing their chains but somehow I don't think a guide would make much difference on a stock bike with a properly adjusted one.  Are they swapping out their front sprocket? 

 

It depends on where one rides offroad, and ones luck.  Even a very loose chain is unlikely to ever spontaneously spit itself off. However get hard dirt, rock,  pushing the chain to the side as the tire spins when stuck in a narrow rut and it can pop off pretty easily. Same for if a branch pops up between the chain and swingarm and tries to self feed into the rear sprocket. The guide prevents all of that. 

 

FWIW I run the Acerbis. IMHO a chain guide is a chain guide is a chain guide. I would trust any company that's been making them a long time with a decent reputation to come up with a suitable unit.  Tougher is not always better though.... I bought a name brand one that was built like a tank for a bike and I eventually broke the mounts on the swingarm for the guide from repeated hits, the guide was ok though..  In hindsight I'd have rather replaced a beat up guide.

[Toymaster]

6 hours ago, winddown said:

 

Sorry but I have to disagree.  I wouldn't call their center stand a good quality part at all, I think it was engineered wrong, the kick leaver is way too long, dangerously long.  And the OEM tank grips look great, I have them.  But they are useless, they are rock hard and don't grip anything like other aftermarket ones.  In fact I'll be pulling mine off soon for a set of Oxford's, and not soon enough either.  A waste of $125.

 

 

 

I have the factory center stand and do agree the kicker is wrong, however the use of a center stand is centered around long-distance travel and working on the bike in the field, this is versus enduro style riding.   The stand itself and the construction is of high quality it is just they put the ease of deployment ahead of the hazard of the kicker sticking out.   

 

When used on the open road, and even wider luggage, the stand is perfectly suitable.  It is on tight trails that it could catch on a passing tree.   My plan is to modify the kicker so it is closer, that will make it more difficult to deploy while sitting on the bike, but at 5' 11" I don't have enough leg to do it that way anyway, I stand beside the bike, foot on kicker, and then lift the bike onto the center stand. 

 

As to the chain guards, I went with BRP, but that was because I found a decent deal on that brand. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by Toymaster

[Hollybrook]

I have the Acerbis chain guide and am not entirely happy with it. When I tried to remove the bottom plate for chain service, the nut inserts turned out of the housing instead of the screws coming out of the inserts. 

 

That was a warranty issue in my mind, so I contacted the vendor, who contacted Acerbis. They chose not to do anything. The vendor ( @Kedo Parts USA) graciously offered to replace it at his cost. Since I am able to repair it if necessary, I declined and thanked him. 

[Windblown]

34 minutes ago, Hollybrook said:

I have the Acerbis chain guide and am not entirely happy with it. When I tried to remove the bottom plate for chain service, the nut inserts turned out of the housing instead of the screws coming out of the inserts. 

 

That was a warranty issue in my mind, so I contacted the vendor, who contacted Acerbis. They chose not to do anything. The vendor ( @Kedo Parts USA) graciously offered to replace it at his cost. Since I am able to repair it if necessary, I declined and thanked him. 

 

When I saw how that was made and suspected it might be a "one and done".  Many OEM chain guides don't have the means to remove or install them without breaking the chain so I didn't think too much about it. I wonder if the OEM Yamaha one for the T700 is removable with the chain in place? I'm guessing it likely is since it is offered as an optional accessory rather than OEM equipment.

[Tenerider]

55 minutes ago, Hollybrook said:

I have the Acerbis chain guide and am not entirely happy with it. When I tried to remove the bottom plate for chain service, the nut inserts turned out of the housing instead of the screws coming out of the inserts. 

 

That was a warranty issue in my mind, so I contacted the vendor, who contacted Acerbis. They chose not to do anything. The vendor ( @Kedo Parts USA) graciously offered to replace it at his cost. Since I am able to repair it if necessary, I declined and thanked him. 

I wasn't aware there are nut inserts. I really thought they'd go directly into the plastics.

I only remember the manual mentions to apply only something like 1.5 Nm torque, perhaps because of those inserts coming loose otherwise?

[Hollybrook]

I suspect that I may have exceeded 1.5Nm when installing and then minor corrosion increased the torque necessary to disadvantage disassemble. I've been wrenching for decades and have s good feel for what is appropriate torque. Past jobs have included being a plastics fabricator and machinist. 

[Tenerider]

6 minutes ago, Hollybrook said:

I suspect that I may have exceeded 1.5Nm when installing and then minor corrosion increased the torque necessary to disadvantage disassemble. I've been wrenching for decades and have s good feel for what is appropriate torque. Past jobs have included being a plastics fabricator and machinist. 

Didn't mean to blame it on you anyways. Just remembered the very small torque they mentioned (I mean like ridiculously small ).

[Uncle M]

2 hours ago, Windblown said:

 

 I wonder if the OEM Yamaha one for the T700 is removable with the chain in place? I'm guessing it likely is since it is offered as an optional accessory rather than OEM equipment.

@Windblown I have an OEM guide and yes it is removable with chain in place. Have 40,000 km on it and not much wear on it yet, so all good so far!

[JTNC110]

10 hours ago, Ray Ride4life said:

And that's why we have problems like rust and crackking frames?

We live in different times, now it's all about profit and cutting costs.

I see it everywhere, once good brands throwing away the good name.

Cracked Frames. hahaha.  Stop it.   The ONE video of ONE operator of rental units out there and here's the regurgitation.   That's not a frame member that cracked, you can remove it and ride the bike around.   Watch the Camel video on the subject for a more reasonable explanation.    

[mcbrien]

Yamaha's heated grips is another epic fail.

[RIDER GUIDER]

4 hours ago, Windblown said:

 

When I saw how that was made and suspected it might be a "one and done".  Many OEM chain guides don't have the means to remove or install them without breaking the chain so I didn't think too much about it. I wonder if the OEM Yamaha one for the T700 is removable with the chain in place? I'm guessing it likely is since it is offered as an optional accessory rather than OEM equipment.

It is, simple remove and refit with allen bolts.

[Windblown]

1 minute ago, RIDER GUIDER said:

It is, simple remove and refit with allen bolts.

 

Heck,  I'm used to guides that only come off when the chain is off anyway, and mine have basically lasted forever unless damaged.