Chain needs some love....

[trepetti]

I am getting all my pre-season work done and I had the rear wheel off the other day. The chain doesn't look bad, but I want to give it the best pre-season work-over I can. I had a few links that didn't straighten completely under gravity on my 05 with 22k on the odo.

I usually soak with WD40 then use chain wax but someone suggested soaking in kerosene.

Any advice ?

 

[Carlos840]

You answered your own question, just clean it, kerosene is meant to be the best, but like you i use WD 40 and it gets the job done, make sure it is not worn out, adjust it to specs and lube it using your favourite brand of chain wax/lube.

Specs for the chain are 45.0–55.0 mm (1.77–2.17 in), but the bike runs better on the looser side of the range.

To check the chain wear, just try to pull it off from the rear sprocket at the middle, if you can see a gap in between the chain and sprocket it is showing signs of wear.
While you are at it make sure your front and rear sprockets look ok.


PS: i use this chain brush and i like it

http://tirox.ca/

 

[motojoe122]

I made it to 24k on my stock chain before it was in the same shape. I figured that was pretty good and swapped out for new chain and sprockets. I bought one of the chain breakers from CG, so if you go new I'll help install the chain, Tom.

 

[Motogiro]

I also have switched over to kerosene as a cleaner. I know that it's O ring safe. I buy a gallon of it, filling a clean dry water jug. Then I pour some in a generic industrial spray bottle and it's so much cheaper than and lot of other chain cleaners and it won't get gummy. I haven't really put a dent in that gallon and it's been well over a year. I also use one of those grunge brushes and other smaller brushes when I want to do a good detail on the chain.

I probably do my chain at 300 mile intervals and I was seeing evidence of kinkiness at 18,000 mile. Although I could not see any wear on the OEM sprockets and chain I replaced all with a kit from Supersprox which included going from a 40 to a 42 on the back. Now that the kinkiness is gone I'm still gettin jiggy wid it with my pimped out rear! Blah

 

[Erci]

Another vote for kerosene. I soak a rag with kerosene and and scrub the chain one chunk at a time (as opposed to holding rag in place and spinning the wheel.. bad things can happen).
My chain looks very good at ~28k miles. I've also switched to not lubing the chain anymore. If the chain gets wet, I dry it off and run a motor-oil soaked rag over it. Can't really lubricate an O-ring or X-ring chain.. can only prevent it from rusting. (This is potentially as debatable as oil threads!!)

 

[tyler2011]

That's an interesting concept. The idea is to keep it from rusting as you can not really lubricate modern chains due to the sealed nature of them. I may go to this. Have been using the a thin lube with Teflon in it.

Edit: I also use kerosene or cleaner type heating fuel from hd.

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

 

[trepetti]

Thanks everyone, I'll be using liberal amounts of kerosene. See you all on the road.....really soon!!!!!

:rockon:

 

[Hellgate]

Another vote for kerosene. I soak a rag with kerosene and and scrub the chain one chunk at a time (as opposed to holding rag in place and spinning the wheel.. bad things can happen).
My chain looks very good at ~28k miles. I've also switched to not lubing the chain anymore. If the chain gets wet, I dry it off and run a motor-oil soaked rag over it. Can't really lubricate an O-ring or X-ring chain.. can only prevent it from rusting. (This is potentially as debatable as oil threads!!)

Remember you need lube where the chain contacts the sprockets. Otherwise they will wear and hook prematurely.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I've also switched to not lubing the chain anymore. If the chain gets wet, I dry it off and run a motor-oil soaked rag over it. Can't really lubricate an O-ring or X-ring chain.. can only prevent it from rusting. (This is potentially as debatable as oil threads!!)

Great, now you started it!!!!

After I clean and lube my chain (with chain specific spray-((not wax)) goes on thin to penetrate and then the carrier evaporates), you can literally see the chain "flow" while underway (maybe not the correct wording) vs before, where it would tend to be "choppy" or not smooth.

IMO, there's no doubt, just by watching the chain movement after the lubing, its getting inside the "O" or "X" rings.

Now, to lube or not lube the clutch cable??? (lube of course)!Blah

 

[Erci]

The only thing that comes to mind is: the geese are troublesome! Blah

 

[yourebarred]

I always use paraffin on chains and seems to work well

 

[dpaul007]

I also have switched over to kerosene as a cleaner. I know that it's O ring safe. I buy a gallon of it, filling a clean dry water jug. Then I pour some in a generic industrial spray bottle and it's so much cheaper than and lot of other chain cleaners and it won't get gummy. I haven't really put a dent in that gallon and it's been well over a year. I also use one of those grunge brushes and other smaller brushes when I want to do a good detail on the chain.

I probably do my chain at 300 mile intervals and I was seeing evidence of kinkiness at 18,000 mile. Although I could not see any wear on the OEM sprockets and chain I replaced all with a kit from Supersprox which included going from a 40 to a 42 on the back. Now that the kinkiness is gone I'm still gettin jiggy wid it with my pimped out rear! Blah

This is exactly what I do. Buy kerosene in bulk, dump in a spray bottle, and you are set for quite a while.