Skate board wheels for chain / belt tensioners.

[I74]

Been thinking about better chain tensioner wheels for my Mini bikes.
Did some research, & found out that the bearing sizes of skate board wheels are the same size as a lot of tensioner bearings.
Universal OD on skate board bearings are 22mm, with a 8mm ID, & 7mm width.
They are the same as the ones on my Monster Moto bikes.
Think a lot of them are pretty much that size.

Am figuring you can take the poly urethane skate board wheels, & chuck them up on a lathe, drill press,, even a hand drill,,, & cut out the chain guide notch to the desired width & depth.
A good edge guide cutter, is a fine to medium tooth hack saw blade.

Buying a set of 4 wheels, you can cut each one to different depths, to suite where you like the chain tensions, & not have to worry about cranking the adjuster, & or adding or removing 1/2 links ect.
If you get wide enough wheels, you can cut notches for belts.

Am going to get a set of 50mm ones, & try it out.
Cool thing also, is that you can get different colors.
I

 

[massacre]

I used to use rollerblade wheels for my wheelie bars, they worked fine and were cheap to replace.
Ended up buying real wheelie bars wheels eventually

I think your idea is a great one!

 

[I74]

Thanks Man !
I found some really cool sets from ''Shop 709''.
These are 60 by 44mm Polyurethane ones, for $11.20 w/ free ship.
I

 

[msrfan]

Great idea. Been doing that for years on my racing dirt bikes but never for a belt drive. Thanks for the info.

 

[delray]

fab up one years ago on my baja briggs project and has been working great. I also machine a small groove into it on my lathe. keeps the chain more inline with everything.....

 

[manchester1]

I just buy them on eBay. They are like 4.00. been using alot of them on my Micro's

 

[I74]

fab up one years ago on my baja briggs project and has been working great. I also machine a small groove into it on my lathe. keeps the chain more inline with everything...

''Very cool''!
Bet it makes the chain run smoother & quieter also.

 

[manchester1]

 

[Addicted 2 Minis]

What's wrong with those pit bike chain rollers on eBay?, they're like $5 and you can get them with 8mm I.D. or 10mm I.D. bearings.

 

[I74]

What's wrong with those pit bike chain rollers on eBay?, they're like $5 and you can get them with 8mm I.D. or 10mm I.D. bearings.

View attachment 252650

Nothing at all, but In my case,, I need larger OD's, for where I want the roller position on the frame to be.

 

[Charles S]

I would prefer a roller/wheel over a sprocket because it would cause much less carnage should the bearing ever seize. If mounted on a spring-loaded swinging arm, the arm should be a trailing arm (in relation to chain travel). A leading arm would work but a trailing arm is much better/safer. If the bearing should seize, the chain should slide against the roller without causing much damage; with a leading arm, there is a possibility of the chain biting the roller and pulling it into the chain, that wouldn't happen with a trailing arm.


Just for something to think about, imagine a sprocket mounted on a leading arm, which I have seen, and the bearing seizing; best case scenario is the chain breaking, worst case is damage to your body and your bike; the sprocket would be pulled into the chain, causing excessive tension which could break/damage more than the chain. A sprocket mounted on a trailing arm would not pull the sprocket into the chain and may allow the chain to slip/skip on the sprocket and only make scary noise until you get stopped.

Check out the videos on Monstercraftsman, notice their swinging arm tensioners are trailing arm.

http://www.monstercraftsman.com/powell-peralta-bolt-on-chain-tensioner/

http://www.monstercraftsman.com/universal-bolt-on-mini-bike-tensioner-40-sprocket/

http://www.monstercraftsman.com/categories/Tensioners/

Cheap eBay tensioner.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-5...0001&campid=5335845805&icep_item=123643487900

 

[manchester1]

What's wrong with those pit bike chain rollers on eBay?, they're like $5 and you can get them with 8mm I.D. or 10mm I.D. bearings.

View attachment 252650

Yes, that is the one I use. Work well. Just made sure you don't order it from a seller in China. Lol

 

[Charles S]

Thanks Man !
I found some really cool sets from ''Shop 709''.
These are 60 by 44mm Polyurethane ones, for $11.20 w/ free ship.
I
View attachment 252647

Do those have bearings? They look like they just spin on the shaft/bolt...

 

[Charles S]

Nothing at all, but In my case,, I need larger OD's, for where I want the roller position on the frame to be.

The larger OD, the better, IMO; fewer RPM and less bend in the chain. The wider, the better, too; less chance of the chain jumping off of the roller.

 

[I74]

Do those have bearings? They look like they just spin on the shaft/bolt...

Yes Charles, the bearings press in each end of the hub.

 

[doug]

View attachment 252649

I like how your exhaust runs.

 

[manchester1]

I like how your exhaust runs.

Thank you.

 

[owend]

Here is what I did on a DB 30. Chain stays tight and it works great.

 

[chipper]

They work great but why buy them , hit up a skateboard shop they have a million used ones they will give you one or two for free if you ask nicely !

 

[massacre]

Here’s a pic of my rollerblade wheels that I used for the wheelie bar. I doubled up on them for stability.

It worked really well and it kept the bike stable. Bike races 100ft drags is on bars the whole track.
Even though they are cheap to buy, but would eventually fail so I replaced them with Engel drag wheels.

The Engel wheels have performed great and I like the look. They cost a lot more than the rollerblade wheels though.