Aprilia Falco Chain Replacement

Between 12,000 and 18,000 miles my chain rapidly took a turn for the worse. It finally reached a wear point where I couldn't adjust it properly. Some spots were tighter than others, so it could be loose enough to touch the exhaust but be too tight in other spots. Once I could feel it in the suspension, I couldn't put off the replacement for fear of damaging the countershaft sprocket.

The Falco comes with a riveted chain, and with its horsepower, it should not be fitted with a clip-type master link. A loose-fit clip link is good for motorcycles of 250 cc or less as it only has about 65% of the strength of the other links. A press-fit master link is recommended for 400 cc or less, and gives 80% of the strength of the rest of the chain. Beyond that, a rivet chain is necessary. And a properly installed rivet master link approaches 100% of the strength of the factory riveted links (for a 525 chain, this is over 8,000 lbs breaking strength). But to install this type of master link, a special tool is necessary. If you don't replace chains often, it may be more cost-effective to have a dealer replace your chain.

An imported chain kit can break and press cam and drive chains of any size used on a motorcycle.

Removing The Chain

The Falco chain cannot be removed without removing the swingarm, or by breaking the chain. The latter is easiest by far. If you wanted to reuse the chain, you will need a new master link, and should break the chain on the old master link. If you are throwing away the chain, you can break the chain on any link.

It is easiest to place the master link on the rear sprocket to hold the chain while you work.

To ease the stress on your chain breaking tool, grind or file off the rivet heads. You technically only need to grind off one head, and you might want to leave the other head as a reference for how far to expand the new rivets.

Configure the tool as a through-press, without an anvil (note the hole on the left side of the C body). The rivet must be able to push through the hole in the C-clamp. For smaller size press pins, a guide is required but for the Falco chain a large #380 pin is used. Oil up all the threads on the press before using.

Snug up the press guide on the chain, carefully aligning the pin to the rivet. If you do not align it carefully, you can break the pin. Its best to tighten slowly, and back off to verify you are pushing on the rivet and not the side plate.

This picture is a bit blurry, but you can see the rivet is nearly pushed all the way through.

Continue to chain installation instructions.

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