Acceptable wear in a chain is about 1 to 1.5 percent.
Obviously, in a chain of about 100 links, this means that a chain that has 'grown' by about a link in length is worn to the point of replacement.
You can buy (or make) a chain measure with a fixed point to hang the chain from (not your finger) and markers to show where a new chain of a certain length should reach.
You will of course have realised that you can normally only buy chains in even numbers of links, so any chain that falls between the marks is worn to some degree.
You also have to change or repair chains where one or only a few links have been damaged (by running over a kerb for example).
Chains move in different ways on the sprockets according to the speed and it is possible to tune a chain drive system running at a fixed speed to gain power improvements up to about 3%. However the one thing kart chains don't do is run at fixed or constant speeds, so tuning the sprocket system is probably not efficient.
However the shape of the teeth does make a difference and it is worth keeping one sprocket in new condition so that you can compare the teeth to any on used sprockets, and get rid of those where the shape is noticeably different.
Running without Lube can destroy a chain and both sprockets within 5 laps. DAMHIKT.
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