Chain Cleaning

When I was about 16, I put my sportster up on a milk crate, put the bike in gear, to clean and oil the chain, while holding a red shop rag against the chain to catch the extra oil....yep, you guessed it, rolled around, caught the rag, and pulled my hand in between the chain and sprocket, cutting the end of my thumb off half way up my fingernail....lesson learned I guess.
 
Igofar said:
When I was about 16, I put my sportster up on a milk crate, put the bike in gear, to clean and oil the chain, while holding a red shop rag against the chain to catch the extra oil....yep, you guessed it, rolled around, caught the rag, and pulled my hand in between the chain and sprocket, cutting the end of my thumb off half way up my fingernail....lesson learned I guess.
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I hope you didn't try and clean your chainsaw the same way!
 
rwthomas1 said:
While I was considering different motorcycles when I was returning to riding, I was looking at some chain driven machines. Had I gone that direction I would have installed an automatic chain oiler. There are several designs, simple to complex, but there's no way I was going back to traditional chain maintenance again. Should I ever find myself with a chain again, it'll have an auto oiler on it.

RT
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I have a Tutoro chain oiler - no vacuum, no electrics, simply vibration on a weight inside. I do check the chain every fill up (of gas) to see that it looks like it's getting lube.
 
Igofar said:
When I was about 16, I put my sportster up on a milk crate, put the bike in gear, to clean and oil the chain, while holding a red shop rag against the chain to catch the extra oil....yep, you guessed it, rolled around, caught the rag, and pulled my hand in between the chain and sprocket, cutting the end of my thumb off half way up my fingernail....lesson learned I guess.
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Ouch! I thought you were going to tell us a story like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the Ferrari that went through the garage wall.
 
I've used chain wax on both the DL650 and VFR.
Funny story... I bought the VFR from my Son in Cali, and rode it East to home in MA.
Somewhere around Nashville, I realized that I had a chain that needed cleaning and lube.
I found a Cyclegear in Knoxville, and bought some chain lube.
The lube happened in Virginia, after I rode thru NC and a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
I still have the chain at 50K miles. It had 22.5K on it when I bought the bike.

Steve
 
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Whatever you decide to clean your chain you need to then oil your chain. Cleaning the outside does not always equate to cleaning the inside and visa versa. Lubing the outside does not always equate to lubing inside.
 
Byron said:
Whatever you decide to clean your chain you need to then oil your chain. Cleaning the outside does not always equate to cleaning the inside and visa versa. Lubing the outside does not always equate to lubing inside.
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong but you don't clean or lube the inside of a sealed chain. It comes from the factory pre-lubed & sealed (by the rings) and requires no "internal" maintenance. What you are doing with the cleaning and lubing is helping protect the exterior from rust, wear and abrasion and prevent / minimize damage to the O/W/X rings to keep that internal lubrication in as long as possible. O-ring failure as well as chain wear/stretch etc is why you have to replace them every so many miles.
 
Back then in 750 days always used Blue Diamond chain lube... went on thin to allow penetration and carrier would evaporate in 5 mins leaving thick lube behind
guess it would be like Bel Ray Blue Tac Chain Lube today
 
The main lubrication on a modern chain is internal and for life. If the O-rings are intact, the grease can't get out and crap can't get in. However, the chain rollers engage and release from the valleys between the sprocket teeth in the course of the chain running on the sprockets. And this is the important part, chain tension. A chain that is too tight will be stressed and stretch prematurely, possibly even break. A chain that is too loose rides up the "hills" on the sprocket teeth in the course of use, constantly moving up and down, up and down. That is where the wear happens. Ideally, the chain tension is just enough to minimize this climbing or "working" action, but not too tight to prematurely stretch it. The lubrication is there to take some of the shock and wear out of the chain rollers contacting and then breaking contact with the sprockets millions of time each time the bike is ridden. Properly adjusted and cared for, chains last a long, long time.

RT
 
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