Author Topic: Chain Lubrication (Read 3090 times)

nashvegas · « **on:** October 06, 2005, 10:24:15 AM »

Hey guys, I have been using some chain lubrication that is wax based, something I am going to correct today when I get out to the store, but I thought I should buy something to soak the chain in to remove the excess residue. What should I get to soak this chain to clean it up nice and neat and have good lubrication.

Thanks

Bob Wessner · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2005, 11:21:45 AM »

I seem to recall that waxed based lubes are used for "o" ring chains and most maint. tips I've seen suggest cleaing the chain with kerosene with mild brush, dry and relube.

Jim Shea · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2005, 11:47:36 AM »

Is there a particular lube that you recommend?

bistromath · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2005, 11:50:22 AM »

Hondalube in the red can is very good stuff both for cleaning and lubing your chain.

Bob Wessner · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2005, 12:02:19 PM »

I use PJ1 Black Label, just don't leave any excess on the chain because it is very black, not easy to wipe off and it will end up on your rim.

Seems to be good stuff though.

Jonesy · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2005, 03:15:33 PM »

Quote from: bistromath on October 06, 2005, 11:50:22 AM

Hondalube in the red can is very good stuff both for cleaning and lubing your chain.

I second the Honda chain lube in the red can. The directions on the can say to clean the chain with Honda Carb Cleaner. Both are available from the Honda dealer and you can usually find the chain brushes with the bristles on 3 sides for removing the thick of the gunk on the links there too.

ProTeal55 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 06, 2005, 03:38:18 PM »

good ol' WD-40

GeoffT · « **Reply #7 on:** October 07, 2005, 05:41:04 AM »

Quote from: ProTeal55 on October 06, 2005, 03:38:18 PM

good ol' WD-40

To clean or lube?

nashvegas · « **Reply #8 on:** October 07, 2005, 06:14:20 AM »

Quote from: ProTeal55 on October 06, 2005, 03:38:18 PM

good ol' WD-40

PT, I too thought using WD-40 to clean the chain would work but doing a little research, I came up with this http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motorcycle-chain-lube/

Since WD-40 can penetrated behind the o-rings, it degrades "the lubrication that's sealed behind the O-rings of the chain at the factory"

However, it would appear that there is not an issue of using WD-40 if the chain is not using sealed o-rings. I don't know how you can tell that short of making note of it when you buy your chain. I guess a good cleaning with the Honda Carb/Brake cleaner, or kerosene which I will use, and a brush is the safer way to go.

Matthew

bistromath · « **Reply #9 on:** October 07, 2005, 08:45:50 AM »

WD-40 will clean the chain but be sure to use a real lubricant afterward, because WD-40 is not a good lube. Also, the Hondalube does at least as good a job cleaning the chain as WD-40 ever did for me.

Chris Liston · « **Reply #10 on:** October 07, 2005, 10:18:31 AM »

I cleaned the chain the other day. Started cleaning with WD-40 but ran out. The directions on the red Hondalube can said to use brake cleaner, so I continued with standard brake cleaner. Worked great. Wiped off dirt/grime with a rag and resprayed with brake cleaner a few more times. Wiped off the excess again and dried it with compressed air then lubed with the Honda chain lube. Did the job well.

Kevin · « **Reply #11 on:** October 07, 2005, 03:57:08 PM »

I am using Maxima chain wax now after using Dumonde' , PJ1, Pj1 pro, and Honda lube on my "O" ring chains and I like it, it actualy sticks to the chain instead of flinging off onto the back wheel.

TwoTired · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2005, 05:52:55 PM »

Film strength -- property of a lubricant that acts to prevent scuffing or scoring of metal parts.

WD-40 and LPS, and other similar products, are not lubricating oils. They are penetrants and protective products that are designed to work their way into the smallest of crevasses, displace water (spray WD-40 on your wet automobile ignition wires), and surface protectants to bar oxygen in the air from coming in contact with ferrous surfaces (precision tools) to prevent rust. They have very little film strength and they will not produce an oil wedge in rotating machinery at any useful load.

O ring chains are prelubed at the critical wear pivots and the orings normally prevent loss of this lube. They also prevent renewing this lube. Penetrant oils will seep past the orings as they are not a perfect seal and dilute or interfere with the film strength provided by the factory lube. I would expect this to shorten the chain life.

Standard non-oring chains could benefit from a good cleaning and treatment of WD-40, particularly if the chain has been subjected to a water wash or operation in wet weather. WD-40 would displace any water under the rollers and other wear points. However, the lack of film strength offered by WD-40 would necessitate the follow up of a good penetrating chain lube to get under the rollers and provide a longer lasting wear preventative.

My chains are all of the standard type. I've been using black label PJ1 with good results. For minimum mess, it is best to apply it at the end of a days ride, preferably when the chain is hot. This minimizes fly off. PJ1 has tough lube suspended in a penetrative solvent that goes on thin and flows into minute crevases. The thin solvents will evaporate overnight, leaving the tough lube behind right where you need it. If you put it on right before a ride, centrifugal force will throw a lot of it off the chain where it will do no good.

For chain cleaning as well as cleaning any lube fly off, I use mineral spirits. (Hardware store, often labeled paint thinner.)

It is my understanding that chain wax works well for O Ring chains. It keeps the chain from rusting, is relatively dry so it won't attract dirt, and doesn't interfere or dilute the lube supplied by the chain provider. I think it dries faster, too, which minimizes fly off.

Cheers,

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2005, 06:29:38 PM »

The problem with O ring chains is just that, the O rings. They seal in a little cheap grease for eternity, which of course breaks down with time and weather conditions and slowly seeps past the O rings as they deteriorate over time. Kerosene and other cleaning solvents (certainly brake and carb cleaners) attack rubber and will destroy your O rings, so don't immerse your chain in any solvents or you'll be sorry.

Personally, I like non O ring chains. Sure they require a little more maintenance, but that's fine, even here in Oz you don't ride every day, so I like to remove the chain, soak it in a bucket of diesel fuel for an hour or so, then brush off the old lube and dirt etc, hang it to drain for another hour, then I use a little "chain and bar lube" that I buy from a chainsaw repair shop, it's a sticky oil that clings quite well, but will still fling off a little, which doesn't bother me too much, a little "truck wash" detergent gets that off the rims, no problem. Cheers, Terry.

frostypuck · « **Reply #14 on:** October 07, 2005, 06:41:55 PM »

This is a bit off the topic, but...
A few years ago, I saw a crock pot at a yard sale for like $.50 I bought it, specifically to cook used oil. Each oil change, some of the old oil went into the crock pot, then when I had a particularly nasty chain, I'd set the crock pot on LO and let the chain set in the warm oil bath for a few hours. The hard, rusted chains would come out somewhat supple. Not good enough to run on the road, but perfect for using on the bike while getting it running. I was contemplating using kerosene or diesel to see what it would do, but never got around to it.
As an aside, the crock pot does a phenomenal job with carb dip in it, for cleaning carbs and other small parts.
(And the wife's dishwasher does great to clean engine cases)
I guess I'm kind of the Julia Child of motorcycle maintenance.
Chris in Boston

Sam Green Racing · « **Reply #15 on:** October 07, 2005, 06:46:38 PM »

There you have it,two perfect replys.
If you are prepared to use Terrys idea your bike belive it or not will be a little faster and return better fuel figures.
The amount of friction in a O ring chain is unreal. If you take it off and hang it over somthing you can get hold of the two ends and turn them up and they will stay there defieing gravity.
It has been proven on dynos that an O ring chain can sap upto three brake horsepower from your motor.

Sam.

mcpuffett · « **Reply #16 on:** October 08, 2005, 11:44:18 AM »

hi fella's i use the same method as terry ,i usually use castrol chain wax give the chain a spray the night before a ride and a spray when i get home ,and a couple of times a year i will clean the chain in kerosene or diesel and then let it soak in good clean engine oil overnight,then next day take it out hang it up until it has stopped dripping then refit etc you will get a bit of oil being flung off at first but nothing to bad

mick.

Harry · « **Reply #17 on:** October 08, 2005, 11:31:18 PM »

Well, being the lazy sod I am, I swear by my Scottoiler. I fill it with ATF, and run it a a high drop rate if my chain needs cleaning. After 20km the chain is shiny clean, and I go back to the two-drop-per-minute rate. What a great product, use it once and you will have it on all your bikes afterwards!

BTW have you noticed, the ads above our posts seem to be intelligent. I posted about my Scottoiler recently and noticed today two ads for oilers on this thread. Ain't technology great! You know, I am really glad to belong to a pre-PC generation ('64), to love 70s technology, and to experience the leaps and bounds of computers!

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #18 on:** October 09, 2005, 02:27:57 AM »

Quote from: Harry on October 08, 2005, 11:31:18 PM

Well, being the lazy sod I am, I swear by my Scottoiler. I fill it with ATF, and run it a a high drop rate if my chain needs cleaning. After 20km the chain is shiny clean, and I go back to the two-drop-per-minute rate. What a great product, use it once and you will have it on all your bikes afterwards!

Hey Harry, when you do your "clean", where does all the excess oil go? Not all over your tire I hope? Scary................

Harry · « **Reply #19 on:** October 09, 2005, 04:54:27 AM »

Hey Terry, surprisingly little oil ends on my tire. However, I am aware of the need for caution. The cleaning is only neccesary on my XT600 which sees a little offroad use - I have never had to clean the chain on my 500-4, where the Scottoiler is set to tw0 drops per minute.

oldfart · « **Reply #20 on:** October 09, 2005, 04:00:04 PM »

Well, not trying to start an argument, but as a professional tech I would say it matters more how you lube your chain than what you lube it with. The average person lubes if from the back of the sprocket. This just lets the lube fly off within the first 20 miles. People also typically lube the wrong part of the chain, the rollers. Again, the lube isn't getting to where it needs to go, and is just going to fly off anyway. Lube the chain when it"s hot (after a ride), lube it on the lower run, and lube only the sideplates. As to what you lube it with, you certainly want to use a real lubricant, not WD-40. As someone has already pointed out, WD-40 is not a lubricant. As for o-ring chains, I wouldn't use any other kind. They contain the lube longer, taking the lube intervals out from the 300 mile range of the old days to more than 500 miles, sometimes nearly 1000. Of course, it depends on the quality of chain and the level of power your bike makes, but on older 70s bikes running Tsubaki chains all of my chains have lasted over 20,000 miles. :-)

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Author Topic: Chain Lubrication (Read 3090 times)

nashvegas

Jim Shea

nashvegas