Chain life

[yticolev]

I am a proponent of WD40 for luring gthe chain. I got 55,000 miles out of the original chain on my 95 VFR by spraying it every other tank (400/450 miles.)

Just replaced the chain on my NC at 17,000. Guaranteed the original owner didn't do due diligence.

It got a Scott Oiler now. Need to fill the reservoir.

Why did you get an oiler? Or is it full of WD-40?

 

[cattmando]

WE now for cleaning, Scott Oiler blue eyes lube til it's used up then 90 weight gear oil. Hoping for long life and little adjustment.

 

[ST13Fred]

This and the other chain threads talk more of lubing than chain tension. I've concluded running these modern chains w/minimal lube (I'm using liquid WD-40 on a tooth brush) and on the loose side is the ticket to longevity and a very clean rear end.

 

[Nofear2trek]

Just wondering, after a long trip, would soaking an o-ring chain in kerosene be a bad thing to get all the road grime and stuff out of the links? And what about lubing after a good kerosene soaking?

I'm talking about removing the rear wheel and submersion of the slack chain in a container of kerosene and then working the links to free up any grime.

Ray

 

[Deleted member 5383]

no problem, though in my experience, overkill unless riding dirt bikes...

 

[b_rubenstein]

I would imagine that with time the chain O-rings lose some of their sealing. Using a solvent like kerosene would wash the lubrication out, and crud into, places the O-rings are trying seal. WD-40 is a low viscosity lubricant that's pretty good for cleaning off the gunk.

There's an awful lot of practices that made sense for 50+ year old technology that really don't apply well to current technology.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

Myths: Solvents & O-ring Chains

 

[b_rubenstein]

For a multitude of reasons I'm not very interested in results of Science Fair Experiments conducted by laymen.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

perhaps you discount people who experiment and publish if the conclusions were not the ones you've already drawn ; }

 

[sumo]

For a multitude of reasons I'm not very interested in results of Science Fair Experiments conducted by laymen.

perhaps you discount people who experiment and publish if the conclusions were not the ones you've already drawn ; }

Damn that's some good english!

 

[b_rubenstein]

perhaps you discount people who experiment and publish if the conclusions were not the ones you've already drawn ; }

It has nothing to do with what I think about chain care and the "experiment" they did. In 1994 they put O-rings of unknown material in different fluids. Without knowing what the O-rings were made of, and not knowing what the O-ring material used in your chain, the whole thing is meaningless.

In the world of grown ups and real companies, a chain manufacturer would get in touch with an applications engineer at a company that made O-rings to determine the best O-ring material and design. The chain mfg would then provide maintenance information for end users. Which unlike an internet forum probably wouldn't recommend boiling it in a cauldron of rendered yak fat, or some other thing.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

Grown ups? Are those the people who ignore recommendations from chain manufacturers and cycle owners guides, at least some of which often include using kerosene? I mean, maybe all those google hits are lying just like all those yak fat people on forums?

 

[Deleted member 5383]

...though some neo-rustics will state that it is important, however, to rub down the freshly dipped chain with handcrafted artisanal toilet paper to keep those x-ring and o-ring chains tough like chains of yesteryear.

[video=youtube;vRlBtabKRFM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRlBtabKRFM[/video]

 

[b_rubenstein]

Little wonder why high tech companies in this country depend on H-1B visas.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

Nothing so high-tech about x-rings and o-ring chains which have been around for quite awhile. And compounds used for the rings probably have more commonality than differences, maybe even supplied by just a few manufacturers as is often the case for such items -- and designed to cope with common usage and cleaning practices if they are at all smart about staying in business. Nobody evolves their product toward early failure if they are sane, they learn from others and may even hire engineers that have been around the block. Trying to make like these little delicacies are fragile, with each example needing specific pampering treatment, is ludicrous. But hey, carry on wit' yer bad self ; }

 

[MalcolmReynolds]

There are plenty of vids out there showing various methods for cleaning and lubricating a chain and good demonstrations and tests to go with it. WD40 is fine for cleaning the chain as it is largely just kerosene which is great for cleaning. Plenty of tests out there showing no ill effects to using kerosene to clean these chains. A simple search will provide you the details... Most of the purpose built cleaners are just repackaged kerosone.

Some say you don't need to lubricate the x-ring/o-ring chains, but just keep them clean. Others say you should lubricate the chain. Both camps agree to keep your chain clean. You can buy purpose made products for cleaning, but WD40 works fine so far for cleaning my chains.

I understand the arguments made by both sides of the lube vs nolube, but I tend to fall in the camp of keeping the chain lubricated. So I use WD40 periodically to wipe off the chain, and then follow up with a little oil. I have a chain oiler that is sitting in my project box to put on the bike which I will probably end up getting around to it over the winter. Past experience with the chain oilers allowed me to extend chain life on my bikes, but a lot of that has to do with riding style also. I am very easy on and off the throttle, and I don't ride my bikes hard so my chains are more likely going to last longer than someone who rides it like they stole it.

I think many times we forget to take the element of the rider into the equation for chain life. If we ride them hard we are going to use up chains and sprockets faster than riding them easy.

Keep that chain clean. Your choice of lube or no-lube really looks like it comes down to personal preference. I am old school so I lubricate the chain. I am already cleaning it, it only takes another couple of minutes to give the chain a little oil afterwards. I would understand the frustration if it was something additional that you have to do that takes you out of your normal routine, but honestly we already have to clean the chains, so to me it seems that oiling it is a no brainer since I am already there anyway.

 

[Deleted member 5383]

I think many times we forget to take the element of the rider into the equation for chain life. If we ride them hard we are going to use up chains and sprockets faster than riding them easy.

Then too, each chain that comes off each assembly line is not going to have exactly the same duty cycle. In general though, the state of chain manufacture is pretty doshgarned good these days.

 

[joydrive]

A corporate mechanical technician for Ducati USA told me that WD40 is all you need to clean and lube a chain. That was over 20 years ago and I bought it. I've only used WD40 since and average 25k miles on chains and sprockets. Spray it on the chain, wipe off with shop rag about once a week or before long ride. I do spend the money for the best chains.

 

[supertux1]

After a few days riding in the rain at the CADVR rally this week, my chain was looking bad after a couple hundred miles.

Stopped at gas station and I cleaned it with WD40 and used some chainsaw oil on it. $10. Looks new:

 

[DeeJay]

I was only able to get 35,00 miles out of the original chain. The sockets needed to be changed around 32,000 miles due to a noise I figured out after 35,000 miles...................

Stupid question - which “sockets” were causing the noise ?