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Mounting my Riot without chain rub block

Revv Up

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Nov 26, 2011
292
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43
Revelstoke BC
www.revvup.net
anyone happen to know the length of the rear fixed strut ? ktm 500 exw
Just put my kit together and took for a short blast. feels very very nose heavy.

Go here and choose your kit, bike make, model and year. Looks to me a 2018 KTM 500 EXC with a riot/ ARO kit on a fixed rod should be 13 5/16” for example. I don’t know what year your bike is or what kit you are running.

 
J

JimBridger

Well-known member
Mar 11, 2013
206
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SE Idaho
Aro, not a riot, but I set my strut length as per timbersled spec, and it was super heavy on the ski. Shortened it by about 8mm and the track now lifts level when lifting off the ground. Also feels way lighter on the ski.

Rode in a foot of bottomless fluff Saturday and the bike did very well, and didn't seem to suffer from being too back heavy and didn't trench.

Just play with length until you find that balance. The timbersled specs are a decent starting point is all.
 
H

hankohlson

Active member
Dec 2, 2007
319
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28
HOOD RIVER OR
Hey CATSLEDMAN,
Do you have some pictures of your kit all mounted up? The rolling resistance stock seems crazy so anything I can do to free that up should be a big improvement. I'm also curious how far back in the adjuster range you ended up. Further FWD would be a plus but the resistance I think would be my main motive. How far back do you think it would be if you didn't mod the slider and just ran a link longer?
 

CATSLEDMAN1

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Nov 27, 2007
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Missoula, Montana
for sure just adding a chain link and running the kit back with the big sprockets will be an improvement in overall efficiency. With the stock chain and big sprockets I couldn't put in a master link by quite a bit, so I went the route I planned, move the kit as far forward as reasonalbe.

Pictures here, so compare to stock riot mount.

20191227_091039.jpg 20191119_124616.jpg 20191227_091106.jpg 20191227_091401.jpg 20191227_091216.jpg 20191227_091050.jpg
 
H
Oct 27, 2016
16
2
3
48
Billings, MT
I went with a 1 link longer chain and 15/18 gearing. Without the rub block and correct chain tension i could push the chain up into contact with the aluminum spacer. With the rub block in place and machined as thin as i feel comfortable with, the tips of the paddles just touch the chain. This is on a 2017 ARO 137. When i lift the track off the ground and spin it i can definitely feel when the track touches the chain.

20191227_150121.jpg
 

CATSLEDMAN1

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Premium Member
Nov 27, 2007
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Missoula, Montana
Some follow up on my mounting of Riot kit without the chain rub blocks.

1. over time I could hear the chain slap against the goofy shaped aluminum spacer just ahead of the rear 18 tooth sprocket. I took out the spacer and machined it flat to the mounting bolt. Still at times coming down steep hills feathering my brakes and chain a little loose I could hear that chain slapping.........like chains like to do.

2. A few weeks ago my weekly RIOT upgrade project was to fix that.......mitigate that as professional say.

3. pictures of my current solution, works, quiet things down, almost eliminates the constant chain snapping/flopping.
I have run it with and without the little spring tensioner, works about the same. The end of the block to the rear in front of the 18 tooth sprocket slides over the pin that in the original RIOT set up anchored the top rub block. I machined the long block with a boss riding on the chain rollers , sitting still the chain does not touch the rub block in the back, yet if the chain flops like chains do, it can't touch the aluminum spacer, too keep the chain block from sliding off the pin, the 3/16" plastic flat piece goes behind the aluminum chain case spacer fastened by the two black head sheet metal screws.

at the front the the chain block, a piece of race car plastic on the side of the block and slotted with an 8mm bolt through the kickstand mounting spring bolt keeps the front in place, this is a very light spring, again if there is chain snatch/flopping, the chain can't touch the swing arm bolt, so it hasn't blown off in 3 rides, taking it off it shows no wear..........that was that weeks project.

4. The 15 to 18 chain setup changed my gearing from what I had been running on my other TS kits. I though it was going to be tooo tall, not so, works far better............but due to the Riot kit/better Riot trackt /now heavier better springs on the shocks/ better shock dampening this combination climbs up on the snow better than any kit I have owned.

5. Last weeks plan, ditched my radiators complety to run only my heat exchanger, slimmer more agile riding postion, runs 2 degrees cooler all day, was running like a clock 184, now , 182 ? don't figure.

chain block.jpg chain block closeup.jpg
 
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