Chain Lube

[Django]

I observe a big difference in lifetime between chain with/without chain oiler (CLS).

Without chain oiler, trying different methods like chain lubrication spray or 80 gear oil I had 2 chains toast before 30,000 km. Both were not lengthened to their extend, but suffered from sticky links and unequal lengthening. Especially with 80 gear oil I noticed, that the chain was very fast dry after higher speeds or riding in the rain.

With CLS chain oiler the chain is good for around 50,000 km at my bike. And my chain has to pull quite hard. I think, also riding at all weather conditions may impact the chain differently.

Since end of 2014 I have done around 130,000 km on chain. From 1995 to 2014 I was on shaft drive (K1100RS).

[GoldOxide_imp]

Django: Chain oiler.

[Houtman_imp]

After watching the video and reading the owner's manual, I'm convinced that gear oil is the best solution. However, I will continue to use Maxima chain wax because I like the way it smells. Seems as good a reason as any.

Sometime in the future, I may switch to gear oil and keep some chain wax around as an "air-freshener" for my garage.

What about using it as an aftershave ?
The smell will be close to your nose !

[GoldOxide_imp]

After watching the video and reading the owner's manual, I'm convinced that gear oil is the best solution. However, I will continue to use Maxima chain wax because I like the way it smells. Seems as good a reason as any.

Sometime in the future, I may switch to gear oil and keep some chain wax around as an "air-freshener" for my garage.

What about using it as an aftershave ?
The smell will be close to your nose !

What about using it as an aftershave ?
The smell will be close to your nose !
Old chain wax seems to work well on electric hedge trimmers.

[Gone in 60]

Funny you mention the smell, EmptySea. My garage is always a symphony of weird smells. Anything that is slightly offensive will be smelled half-way down my stairs to the garage, and will be noticed by my wife. She's particularly repulsed by the smell of Maxima, which she says "gets into the clothes" that are perpetually hanging on the drying line near our washer. For years, after lubing my chains with Maxima, I've been forced to take any rags or paper towels involved in the process straight to the dumpster after use, mainly so that she'll keep doing my laundry.

If Tirox is that much worse, I imagine I'll be relegated to doing my chain maintenance in the Walmart parking lot two miles from our house.

And dangit, enough about gear lube. If I don't spend $200 annually in chain maintenance products, I won't feel like I'm doing it right.

[emptysea]

"mainly so that she'll keep doing my laundry"

[Bazbro_imp]

Great post, Gone in 60!!

[max]

Something that is related to chain wear is chain tension, on my cb919 i once adjusted the chain too tight, it had play when on the sidestand but came under tension when i rode it because of the geometry of the swingarm.
Only rode it for 20 km. before i noticed something wrong and re-adjusted the chain.

That proved enough because the chain began to exhibit uneven elongation not long after, i thought at first that the rear sprocket was excentric but when i put some tape on the chain and looked at the interval; it was the chain itself that was wearing uneven and rapidly wearing from the inside of the links, it showed the red rusty dust between the link plates where the o rings were, and the chain was oiled normally, i check it regularly and the chain had done 45.000 km. at that time, so i think it was at it's end but i had sped it's demise up by overtensioning it.

Bazbro is right, rubber is not meant to move over metal surfaces unlubricated, which is why i regularly ( with every tyre change ) clean and lubricate the seals on the shafts and put grease inside the little hollow grooves of them and put red rubber grease ( approved for brakes ) sparingly on the seals for the brake pistons so they don't have too much friction on the pistons, don't dry out and keep corrosion at bay.

Found this link about chain wear;
https://katriders.com/forum/service-depa...w?t=102624

and a picture to illustrate;


Interesting thing was that the o'rings were worn on one side of the chain, i had read this before from a new owner of a bike and he stated that all o'rings on the side of the scottoiler had disappeared, i guess the wrong lubricant had been used but found it interesting.

I always wondered how the oil from a scottoiler got to the other side of the sprocket since there was only one dripper on one side ( or did i miss something?), scottoiler also have a pdf that explains some useful things;
https://www.scottoiler.com/motorcyclecha...shopv1.pdf

Of the many video's i watched of replacing an o'ring chain half did not lubricate the connecting link but used the grease to lubricate the o'rings, all sufaces need to be greased first and then hold your thumb over the two holes as the link is pushed into the chain to prevent the grease from beiing pushed out from the bush but spread into it as the link slides into place with the space filled with lubricant, something to keep in mind when the garage or someone else does the job.

It seems to me that some oil needs to be under ( in between ) the rollers to prolong wear on them, this needs to "wick" in the small slot between the rollers and the outer bush of the link, which is why i use some petrol as a solvent to creep into that space and leave it for some time to evaporate before riding.

For the o'rings i use the same mix, brush it on and motivate the chain to spread it in the right place and leave to evaporate.

Light oil flings off, wax does not creep under the rollers so i use a sticky oil as a lubricant in the mix.

Good to have a bit of an in-depth discussion with the members about these things, thanks all for the interesting points you bring up, i enjoy it, always looking for a bit of proof, a strong indication or a good suggestion.

Yes, great illustrated story '60, so true....

[GoldOxide_imp]

Something that is related to chain wear is chain tension, on my cb919 i once adjusted the chain too tight, it had play when on the sidestand but came under tension when i rode it because of the geometry of the swingarm.
Only rode it for 20 km. before i noticed something wrong and re-adjusted the chain.

That proved enough because the chain began to exhibit uneven elongation not long after, i thought at first that the rear sprocket was excentric but when i put some tape on the chain and looked at the interval; it was the chain itself that was wearing uneven and rapidly wearing from the inside of the links, it showed the red rusty dust between the link plates where the o rings were, and the chain was oiled normally, i check it regularly and the chain had done 45.000 km. at that time, so i think it was at it's end but i had sped it's demise up by overtensioning it.

Bazbro is right, rubber is not meant to move over metal surfaces unlubricated, which is why i regularly ( with every tyre change ) clean and lubricate the seals on the shafts and put grease inside the little hollow grooves of them and put red rubber grease ( approved for brakes ) sparingly on the seals for the brake pistons so they don't have too much friction on the pistons, don't dry out and keep corrosion at bay.

Found this link about chain wear;
https://katriders.com/forum/service-depa...w?t=102624

and a picture to illustrate;


Interesting thing was that the o'rings were worn on one side of the chain, i had read this before from a new owner of a bike and he stated that all o'rings on the side of the scottoiler had disappeared, i guess the wrong lubricant had been used but found it interesting.

I always wondered how the oil from a scottoiler got to the other side of the sprocket since there was only one dripper on one side ( or did i miss something?), scottoiler also have a pdf that explains some useful things;
https://www.scottoiler.com/motorcyclecha...shopv1.pdf

Of the many video's i watched of replacing an o'ring chain half did not lubricate the connecting link but used the grease to lubricate the o'rings, all sufaces need to be greased first and then hold your thumb over the two holes as the link is pushed into the chain to prevent the grease from beiing pushed out from the bush but spread into it as the link slides into place with the space filled with lubricant, something to keep in mind when the garage or someone else does the job.

It seems to me that some oil needs to be under ( in between ) the rollers to prolong wear on them, this needs to "wick" in the small slot between the rollers and the outer bush of the link, which is why i use some petrol as a solvent to creep into that space and leave it for some time to evaporate before riding.

For the o'rings i use the same mix, brush it on and motivate the chain to spread it in the right place and leave to evaporate.

Light oil flings off, wax does not creep under the rollers so i use a sticky oil as a lubricant in the mix.

Good to have a bit of an in-depth discussion with the members about these things, thanks all for the interesting points you bring up, i enjoy it, always looking for a bit of proof, a strong indication or a good suggestion.

Yes, great illustrated story '60, so true....

You'd be surprised how quickly the oiler's oil spreads from one side of the sprocket to the surfaces of the chain. Of course, this works best when riding, but that is often when lubrication is most needed and it leaves a nice light (or heavy if your setting is strong) glossy coat.