Proper chain maintenance is an essential part of owning a dirt bike, no matter what type of off road riding you may be participating in. Ensuring that your motorbike chain, sprockets and other drivetrain pieces are kept in a good working condition, prolongs the life of these items and ensures you get the best performance out of the rear wheel of your motocross or enduro machine. Dirt bike chains are available from a wide variety of specialized chain manufacturers which includes EK Chains, Renthal, D.I.D or RK Chains to name but a few. The standard chain supplied as OEM equipment for your Honda, Kawasaki or KTM has more than likely come from one of these manufacturers.

But the way in which chains are constructed and designed to perform means that they will require replacing with a new chain at some point. The links that make up the construction of the chain eventually elongate and lengthen, and at a point become too much for the chain adjusters on most swingarms to contain. When deciding on a new motorcycle chain, there are a great many options available offering different design types such as X-Ring, O-Ring, non-sealed. The decision on which of these options is pretty much determined by the type of riding that you are doing, but as a whole, are all fitted to your machine in a similar fashion. When replacing a chain, while not always necessary, it is also a good chance to bang on a new front sprocket and rear sprocket. At the very least you should be assessing the wear on these other drivetrain items, as already worn components will shorten the life of your new chain.  Regarded as a fairly easy maintenance task, that is certainly aided by having the right tools for the job, and a good chain breaker and a good set of pliers should be a permanent resident of any motorcycle tool kit. Chain links are the crucial final piece of the chain design, ensuring the other 120 or so links perform as they should. Known also as master links, these single links feature a joining mechanisms different than the pressed together chain itself. The different options are rivet links or clip links, each designed to suit the applicable chain type.