oil the chain

i have heard of just using oil, but it tends to be a bit messier and from what my understanding is, you have to do it more often.
 
I had a friend one time, who his dad did heating a/c and coolers and fridges for large supermarkets and had lots of vacuum pumps etc around.

He had a yz426f with an o-ring chain. He made a jar with a lid that had a tube with a schrader valve on it. He would take his chain off, clean it by wiping it down etc, then he would put the chain in the jar, pour in motor oil, and put a vacuum on the jar and let it sit overnight.

I guess it forced the oil into the chain past the orings. His chain was always like new, but he also used a good spray on lube after every ride when the chain was on the bike.

I also had a go-cart when I was young and used oil on the chain, and it always squeaked and I had to lube it often because it flung off. I was to young to know anything about chain lubes, but I know now they are far superior.
 
Good idea with the jar but no need to pull a vacuum. He used a vacuum pump that we use to remove moisture from refrigeration circuits.

You can just put it in a jar and shake it up...the movement of the chain should get it in the rings. the pain would be to pull the chain off, but maybe next time I get a bike...I've already started and plan to continue with the teflon stuff for now. I might change by then.
 
I use Duponts Teflon dry lube. It rocks. Chain stays clean, and no fling off.
 
BTW, I use PJ1... Spray on minimally and wipe off the excess. Great stuff!
 
Just be sure to let it set on and dry for a bit before going for a ride or it will still fling off. I know this from first hand experience.:thumbup:

Very true. I let it set until tacky then use a cloth to wipe it down. Thanks for filling that in!
 
Just wipe down with kerosene if it flings off.

I see lots of references on here to cleaning chains with Kerosene. I think of this a rocket fuel.

OK, so I just googled it. It's actually a jet engine fuel, known in UK as Parafin. I can get this by the pint at the local hardware shop - I never could work out where to buy rocket fuel :Im With Stupid:
 
I had a friend one time, who his dad did heating a/c and coolers and fridges for large supermarkets and had lots of vacuum pumps etc around.

He had a yz426f with an o-ring chain. He made a jar with a lid that had a tube with a schrader valve on it. He would take his chain off, clean it by wiping it down etc, then he would put the chain in the jar, pour in motor oil, and put a vacuum on the jar and let it sit overnight.

I guess it forced the oil into the chain past the orings. His chain was always like new, but he also used a good spray on lube after every ride when the chain was on the bike.

I also had a go-cart when I was young and used oil on the chain, and it always squeaked and I had to lube it often because it flung off. I was to young to know anything about chain lubes, but I know now they are far superior.


Not sure about the whole vacuum approach - the only way to 'encourage' the oil bath to make it past the o-rings would be to create the vacuum (negative pressure) between the o-rings...and pullint the jar down into a vacuum would not do that.
Based on my understanding of the o-ring chain, it comes with a long life lubricant 'built in' behind the o-rings to begin with...
 
Not sure about the whole vacuum approach - the only way to 'encourage' the oil bath to make it past the o-rings would be to create the vacuum (negative pressure) between the o-rings...and pullint the jar down into a vacuum would not do that.
That's true, but pulling a vacuum on the chain and holding it will eventually suck air out from behind the o-rings; oil would then seep back in to fill the void once the vacuum is removed, provided the chain is still immersed in the oil! I don't have a good feel for how long that should be, I'd leave it immersed at least 30 minutes after vacuum removal.
We do something similar on our ejection seat components with Helium, ensuring the hermetic seals are all intact.

Although, if the OP actually sprays on lube after the end of every ride, that's going to take care of everything. ;)
 
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