At least the sprockets survived

Well, that was a disappointment. 

Three years ago, I bought a chain. Nothing extraordinary about that considering I own three motorcycles.

What was extraordinary, however, was that I paid just over $500 for it — USD$401.18 plus the currency exchange, to be exact. That did include shipping but, even by the inflated price of modern motorcycle parts, it was a pretty hefty price tag.

The reason I spent that much money was a promise. By incorporating the very latest in state-of-the-art materials with premium chain technology, I was promised reduced maintenance, the bugaboo of all non-shaft drive motorcycles. Also implied, though not directly stated, was increased longevity.

Now seemingly forgotten, this was BMW’s Endurance Chain. Oh, BMW didn’t make it. Italy’s Regina did. But, at the time, the German marque had unique marketing rights for it, so I ponied up the big bucks and put a $500 BMW motorcycle chain on my cheap-as-dirt Suzuki V-Strom 1000.

The technology that was supposed to make this particular chain so special was its DLC coatings. DLC stands for Diamond-Like Carbon. It’s just about the toughest surface finish one can apply to metal. It is used on, amongst other things, cam followers, wrist pin bearings and pretty much any application that involves high loads and suspect lubrication. Again, the implication was that by burnishing a chain’s rollers with the black-as-coal stuff, friction — and thus, wear — would be greatly reduced. Regina even (initially) said that it would require no lubrication, a statement the company later walked back. Officially, at least according to BMW, it would require but a few sprays every few thousand kilometres and/or when run in the rain. Not the “maintenance-free” that the headlines originally trumpeted, but much reduced from the spray-every-tankful ritual we motorcyclists know and love.

Upon reflection on BMW’s rethought of the maintenance procedures my new plan was that, if this Endurance Chain could manage to eke out a normal existence with such little lubrication, then one oiled in a traditional fashion should last nigh on forever. That was important because my Stromtrooper was being sent overseas and the last thing I wanted to do on my European sojourns was maintenance. So married with a then top-of-the-line Scottoiler xSystem, I slapped said $500 chain — and some new sprockets, natch — onto my lowly Sazook, all with the expectation that premium DLC coatings and constant, metered lubrication would result in extended reliability.

Like I said, what a disappointment. Three years and just shy of 30,000 kilometres, my supposedly superior chain is pooched. As in completely snookered. I can pull the links back from the teeth on the rear sprocket indicating its stretched beyond its normal life. Not only that, but its links and bushes are so worn, I can push it sideways far enough to almost touch the rear tire — another pretty good indication that it is, again, at its service limit. 

The ironic thing is that I replaced my V-Strom’s original chain at 47,000 kilometres somewhat before it was in the same sorry state. I just assumed that this new chain, treated more lovingly and with superior materials technology, would last even longer than whatever original run-of-the-mill O-ring affair Suzuki saddled it with.

I probably should have known better. Before I ladled out those, again, 500+ bucks, Paul Pelland, a long-distance Iron Butt rider, tested Regina’s claims that the Endurance Chain required no maintenance. On a relatively underpowered Yamaha Tenere 700, he managed but 12,000 klicks before his chain was pooched even more than mine. According to Pelland, the problem is that Regina neglected to coat one important part of the chain — the pins that hold the links together — with that all important DLC and, when he took it apart, they were all in as terrible shape as you would expect from any motorcycle chain that went unlubricated. 

There is, however, one redeeming virtue to the Endurance Chain. That Diamond Like Carbon coating might not have been enough to save the chain, but the sprockets were in amazing shape, mainly because the chain’s rollers were coated with the super-slippery stuff. So, in a reversal of typical chain wear — wherein a meticulously maintained chain will often outlast the teeth that drive it — my sprockets look almost brand new. Not that they’re not going to get replaced, but damned if part of the equation — not the one I was looking for, however — actually lived up to the promise. 

That said, I sure-as-shootin’ am not buying another BMW Endurance Chain. Or the HPE that Regina now markets it as for brands other than BMW. For about a third of the price of the BMW chain, I could have bought a regular DID X-Ring chain. Which is what I am going to do now. Considering that I actually maintained this one more meticulously than any other chain I’ve owned, it is, well, as I said before, a huge disappointment.