Chain Roller

The Suzuki DR650, like all motorcycles, has a few of those mechanical quirks that need to be addressed by their owners. Fortunately not nearly as many as my 2016 Kawasaki KLR650 but a few nonetheless. One of the easiest mods is the chain roller removal.

When I first took a look at the chain roller to see what this big problem area was, I was a little struck by the fact that the so-called chain roller doesn't actually do anything. With the bike sitting unladden, the chain can't even reach up to the roller. The only way the chain could ever make contact with the roller is by significantly compressing the rear coil spring/swing arm, such as coming off a SuperCross-like jump. But then the question is why? What is it protecting if the chain ever gets that high? The answer is...nothing. There's nothing along the entire chain length that it will make contact with and potentially damage. WTF.

Well, apparently the rollers presence in and of itself presents the possibility of damage to the motorcycles frame. In a high compression situation the chain will rise up and make contact with the chain roller with such force causing it to snap right out of the frame! Here's a stock photo of that damage that I'm talking about.

Well the mod is simply removing the roller. It's not needed anyway. The roller is attached with a single M8 bolt with a 125 pitch (12 mm head). Remove the bolt, uninstall the roller.

However, before wrapping it up, the bolt hole needs to be plugged to prevent water from getting in the frame and rusting it out. There are a number of different ways to do this. Some people fill the hole with silicone sealant. Some put a set screw in there with thread lock. Some people just put a bolt in there. I did the later (bolt-thread lock), but I found a bolt with a low rounded head so as to be less obtrusive and not interfere with the chain movement.

It's nice when a mod gets pulled off at no cost.