Topic: Chain Options

[BenelliSEI]

Reading “clunking chain” post earlier today got me thinking. Some of my bikes have “0” ring chains, because they came with them. When I put new sprockets on a bike, I usually just buy a good quality, regular chain. The one on my K1 has been on for quite a while. On two occasions (doing other work) i’ve had it off in the winter season. It got a light wash, then soaked for a few days in a tub of oil drained from the same bike. I swill it and shake it a few times, to move all the links. After that, hang it on a wire (above the tub) and let it drip for a few days, with occasional wipe downs. It’s lasted a long time and gets sprayed a few times a year, with a “chain wax”, when warm, after a ride.

I also use the same stuff on my “0” ring chains, but assume I’m just lubricating the sprockets and exterior of the roller. Neither seems to last longer than the other style, but I don’t exactly pile on the miles on any of my bikes, other than my KLR. It gets sprockets and a chain every 3-4 years.....

Your thoughts?

[newday777]

As long as it isn't kinking on any of the links after your yearly cleaning and soak, along with passing the pull test at rear sprocket(no daylight), continue on, unless you want to get an o-ring chain.

[dave500]

i even use non o ring on my dirt bike tt600,only had it 18 months but its been submerged and thrashed and dust more then my cb500 has seen since ive owned it!i kero wash at six months and lube it every ride,they are cheap and last fine so long as it aint a cheapie no name.

[BenelliSEI]

Surprised so little feedback......maybe I should have asked”what kind of chain lube is best?”? Oil topics are more popular.....

[Don R]

 I use plain old rk chain that my 750 dealer has installed forever. I remember lubing some of them a while back.

[HondaMan]

Reading “clunking chain” post earlier today got me thinking. Some of my bikes have “0” ring chains, because they came with them. When I put new sprockets on a bike, I usually just buy a good quality, regular chain. The one on my K1 has been on for quite a while. On two occasions (doing other work) i’ve had it off in the winter season. It got a light wash, then soaked for a few days in a tub of oil drained from the same bike. I swill it and shake it a few times, to move all the links. After that, hang it on a wire (above the tub) and let it drip for a few days, with occasional wipe downs. It’s lasted a long time and gets sprayed a few times a year, with a “chain wax”, when warm, after a ride.

I also use the same stuff on my “0” ring chains, but assume I’m just lubricating the sprockets and exterior of the roller. Neither seems to last longer than the other style, but I don’t exactly pile on the miles on any of my bikes, other than my KLR. It gets sprockets and a chain every 3-4 years.....

Your thoughts?

You're one of the [very] few who still know that art!
This used to be the "winter drill" for these bikes when I lived in the Midwest where the winters got so long and onerous, and we'd all be looking for something to do with the bikes to pass the [cold] time.

My Honda mentor Jim Chamberlain had a secret recipe for the 750K0 (sandcast) RK chain he rode over 50k miles in 1969. He took it off on a Saturday after work at the shop, drained the bike's oil (just like you did) and left the chain in it until Sunday AM. Then he came in with his jar of "Chamberlain's Sneaky Sh!t Chainlube" (handwritten on the large glass jar he kept it in) that was about the consistency of grease, which he put into a metal pan and set on a portable backpacker's propane stove (that he used for camping) and melted it. Then he turned off the heat, coiled the chain up in it and left it until Sunday night, when he would come back and put it back on the bike, and remelt the lube to put back into the jar to take home. I only saw him do it twice, but that jar of chainlube lasted him for the 2 years I worked with him. In the mixture was 90 weight oil, some moly paste (we used to be ble to buy it in toothpaste-like tubes before the EPA got wind of it), some graphite grease (from his rifle cleaning equipment) and enough 30w oil to make it fluid enough to barely flow. When it cooled onto the chain it barely threw it off and made the chain really quiet.

He developed this method from reading the instructions in the old "Honda Scrumbler 250cc Service Manual" (honest, that is how the manual was titled!) for the CL72, complete with pictures. The recipe was his own mix.

[dave500]

there used to be a product i think "duckams chain guard"was like that,came in a big pan you heated it soft and soaked the chain in it,once cooled it thickened up again,ill bet most spray can lube these days is as good with less hassle?the idea is sound but in reality a dirt bike chain needs daily lube,road bikes if o ring last for ages with the odd lube here n there?

[bryanj]

Lynklife was before Duckhams and i think Reynolds had one as well

Edit.  Linklyfe(never could spell!)

[RAFster122s]

Fort9 has an interesting vid on YouTube of chain lube testing using an Oring chain... The results will surprise you I bet!
Our use of non-O-ring chains (std or heavy duty) on the SOHC4s kinda makes a comparison apples and oranges because of the open design of std chains.

[Deltarider]

Loooong time ago, I used to treat my chains with oldfashioned chainwax (Castrol), but only when in the mood. It was rather time consuming. Using a spare chain you'd pull the one on the bike. After cleaning with some kerosene, I would let it sink in the warm and fluid chainwax. This was the nice part. Blub, blub, blub, you felt like being one of them medieval alchemists in search of gold. After ten minutes you'd hang the chain and let the excess drip of. The stuff hardened immediately. It was the best and I believe it contained graphite. Chain became real hot this way and not the kind of luke warm after riding. Ï'm afraid it's no longer available. Downside was: much work and messy. Very best IMO is a closed chain housing. Dutchman Henk Besselink claims to have covered 230.000 kms+ on his CB 750 with the same chain in a Tyrra casing, with only one adjustment so far. Another made in Germany was the "Becker Fettkasten". In such an oilbath chains lived forever. I don't know why they've disappeared. Maybe they leaked. If they were still around, I definitely would buy one. I believe MZ motorcycles still have enclosed drivechains. Sensible bikes, them MZ's.

[BenelliSEI]

One of my old Triumph manuals actually has a recipe for the “chain bath”. I’m going to have a look for it soon!

[ekpent]

Somebody in a post here recently was heating petroleum jelly I think and maybe something else ? in a saucepan for the chain to soak in. Lately I've just been slobbering on some gear lube or heavy oil on my non-oring chains with a rag on the center stand  and use another rag to run the chain through while turning rear wheel to get some excess off. Cleans a little grit off at the same time. Makes my hands look manly like a real mechanic also when I'm done ! 

[HondaMan]

Loooong time ago, I used to treat my chains with oldfashioned chainwax (Castrol), but only when in the mood. It was rather time consuming. Using a spare chain you'd pull the one on the bike. After cleaning with some kerosene, I would let it sink in the warm and fluid chainwax. This was the nice part. Blub, blub, blub, you felt like being one of them medieval alchemists in search of gold. After ten minutes you'd hang the chain and let the excess drip of. The stuff hardened immediately. It was the best and I believe it contained graphite. Chain became real hot this way and not the kind of luke warm after riding. Ï'm afraid it's no longer available. Downside was: much work and messy. Very best IMO is a closed chain housing. Dutchman Henk Besselink claims to have covered 230.000 kms+ on his CB 750 with the same chain in a Tyrra casing, with only one adjustment so far. Another made in Germany was the "Becker Fettkasten". In such an oilbath chains lived forever. I don't know why they've disappeared. Maybe they leaked. If they were still around, I definitely would buy one. I believe MZ motorcycles still have enclosed drivechains. Sensible bikes, them MZ's.

A local motorcycle parts shop here (the owner was a friend of mine) back in the 1980s sold an enclosed chain housing for the CB750 (which was THE bike at the time, by the thousands). It was a diecast housing that bolted onto the swingarm and enclosed the rear sprocket almost completely, right up to the wheel hub. There were 2 bellows, upper and lower, mounted to the front of this casting for the chain path, and another casting that replaced the little 2-screw lift-out cover on the 750 engine, over the sprocket. This portion fit over the front sprocket and enclosed it almost completely. It was complex and added 6 pounds to the bike overall, but the riders who installed them and added the recommend oil (I think it was 90w SAE gear lube, like for differentials on cars) with a broken-in chain could ride an entire season without having to adjust their chains.

By the time I decided to buy one, they weren't available anymore!

With all chain lubes, the most important features I have seen kind of boil down to 2 things that always work well:
1. It MUST contain moly.
2. The ones that spray on wet and then 'dry' to a greasy surface far outlast those that don't, and these also penetrate the side plate-roller clearance to oil the pins while they are thin and wet. This is vital to good performance. They are illegal in California, though, because of their ridiculous VOC laws.

I don't think that the old Chain-Kote spray is available anymore (I still have 2 cans of the case I bought in 1990), but that was (is?) the very best of the best, in my experience. It goes on wet, soaks into the pins and sideplates in about 45 seconds (keep spinning the rear wheel while it does) and then dries to an almost grease-like consistency, resisting fling-off until 80 MPH or so with the 48T rear sprocket on the 750. On the smaller Fours it doesn't fling off at all because of their smaller sprocket sizes.

[ekpent]

 I had one of those enclosed set-ups on a bike once Mark, think it was mounted to a k2. I took it off and the chain looked minty and in my early days on the forum I advertised it here and ended up selling it to member Ricky Racer. He like that oddball/rarer stuff then,wonder if he moved it on or still has it.

[seanbarney41]

I use water proof bearing grease on non oring, heat the chain up a bit with propane torch and just slather on with a worn out pair of welding gloves, wipe excess after it cools.

I prefer oring though...just clean them with wd40 soaked rag.  They last like this 12-20 thousand miles, then when they start to kink up you can start lubing them and squeeze a few thousand more miles.