Chain Lube - Recommendations?

[TheEnglishman 401]

I use chainsaw oil and an oiler.  it's flingy but I want it to wash the dirt off.  My chain always looks reasonably clean.  Unlike the rest of the bike.  I'm at 46k and on a second chain so it seems to make it last ok.

[Mike5100 2,061]

I use paraffin in the Kettenmax chain cleaner.  Chain is very clean after about 4 or 5 revolutions.  I then let the parafin dry off because I guess any residue is going to dissolve the chain oil.  I have given up on the Wurth stuff.  It's excellent in th summer but is completely gone after one wet ride.  I have found an interesting non fling racing chain oil made by a little company called Staniforth or Stainforth.  This has two big advantages.  It is dyed blue so you can see when you have been right round and it foams so it goes over the side plates when I use the grease ninja to apply it

[SteveThackery 3,090]

I use a Tutoro, because it is automatic but doesn't need connecting to anything (electrical or vacuum).

 

I use Tutoro's own oil in it, which is weirdly "stringy" due to its anti-fling properties.

 

The end result is a permanently oily and shinily clean chain, and black gunge all over the back wheel.  The black gunge does no harm at all to the wheel (indeed it's a waterproof layer of protection), and comes off with a wipe from a cloth soaked in white spirit.

 

Despite being anti-fling, the oil does come off eventually, and seems to take most of the dirt with it.

[coopers12345 99]

WD40 chain wax applied religiously every...erm...when I remember to do it.

[Tex 36,817]

I’m quite proud of myself, the topic has run to three pages (so far) and I haven’t even had a rant about exposed drive chains on road bikes. I’m obviously mellowing in my declining years..  

[Andy m 23,507]

I think we've all decided to save our breath/fingers. The workable enclosed chain died with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German idiots still can't design a shaft using a universal joint with a grease nipple and belts are seemingly a ploy to get you into the dealers just as often. 3000 mile a year summer riders are just fine with open chains, everyone else survives. We can talk about what we like, but IMHO the open chain will be here until the hub-motor becomes the standard.

 

BTW, what oil should I use 😁

 

Andy

Edited December 18, 2017 by Andy m

[Tex 36,817]

I think that’s pretty much how I see it too, Andy.  Since I no longer have a job to go to and have slotted, quite neatly, into the ‘3,000 summer miles’ mob, I find I no longer give a shit about chains. I put a new rear sprocket on over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed nipping a link out to make it all fit. Almost therapeutic. Almost.

 

 I’m done ranting over things I can’t change. I’m saving my energy for battles that I can win. Which is almost none of them.  

[Andy m 23,507]

Ah, if you fancy a rant try changing the front sprocket on a Bullet. To keep the swing arm dimensions they kept the chain inside  the width of the engine. Pre-UCE you had to drain and remove the primary case (two new gaskets or risk leaks), now its drain the oil to get the alternator cover off (the one gasket, but 93 capheads in 68 different lengths).

 

 

****wits👎😠👎

 

You also need a 1 7/8 impact socket for the BGB nut.👎

 

Andy

Edited December 18, 2017 by Andy m

[Tex 36,817]

It’s no longer ‘British’ the Royal Enfield, but the engineering lives on..  

 

I remember replacing clutch plates on the old Brits was, frequently, a lesson in anger management. They would slip, or drag. And sometimes both at the same time.  

 

First Japanese clutch I rebuilt it was, like, “Is that it then? Where’s the hours spent trying to balance spring pressure with getting it to lift straight?” So easy it felt like cheating. 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Tex

[Slowboy 20,413]

48 minutes ago, Tex said:

It’s no longer ‘British’ the Royal Enfield, but the engineering lives on..  

 

I remember replacing clutch plates on the old Brits was, frequently, a lesson in anger management. They would slip, or drag. And sometimes both at the same time.  

 

 

Ah British bikes, build in the midlands by a bloke called Fred, when he wasn't on strike, managed by men called Wilberforce Huntingdon-Jones who were more interested in Golf and their Gentlemen's club.

If you were genuinely skilled they could be maintained at home and be very reliable. Having owned a few, when you got one that was maintained by a skilled man they were great, when they were maintained by enthusiastic amateurs (me and most of us) (but not you Tex) they could break down in unimaginably creative ways.

The jap bikes are easy to work on as their designed to be built quickly by semi-skilled labour, so the hard yards are in design, not fettling to fit on the production line.

Love looking after my Jap classics, love helping father-in-law with the more complicated swearing when working on his Brit classics. His are dead reliable by the way, he's pretty skilled, but they have their moments.

And you tell the kids today and they don't believe you...😁

[Spindizzy 7,109]

Chain.....Wassat ?

 

I have one on my fob watch I think

 

I will 'belt' up now

 

I don't miss chains, but they were never really an issue when I had one as just used a chain oiler and a wipe with a rag now and again where it flung.

[Tex 36,817]

2 hours ago, Spindizzy said:

I don't miss chains.

 

No, and when the Happy day comes (back) to me, I won’t either.  The only redeeming feature of the chain on Percy is that Putoline actually sponsor me with free chain lube. Yay!

[embee 7,288]

6 hours ago, Andy m said:

Ah, if you fancy a rant try changing the front sprocket on a Bullet. .......

 

****wits👎😠👎

 

Try a Tiger Cub. You have to completely dismantle the engine to get to the gearbox sprocket, literally. That's head and barrel off, split the crankcase halves and voila, there it is, simple! Enthusiasts today have the cases machined to accept a bolt-in seal holder which can be removed to gain access without needing to dismantle it completely, work-shy skivers. What's wrong with rebuilding the engine totally every 10k miles ........ come to think of it they seldom did that sort of mileage without needing a total rebuild for a rebore and new big-end, so just change the sprocket each time it's in bits and there you go.

 

[Graham NZ 1,186]

Before my NC, it has been a long time since I had a bike with a chain.  Now that I am using Putoline DX11 my attitude to having a chain to maintain has changed somewhat.  Gosh, I have even stopped wanting full enclosure!

 

To clean the chain I soak a piece of old towel with kerosene, hold it under and at the sides of the chain as it passes over the rear sprocket as the wheel is rotated backwards by hand.  The bike has a centre stand BTW.

 

One outside side-plate is marked with black permanent marker so I can tell when the chain has completed a revolution.

 

Old corrugated cardboard has been cut to fit up behind the chain guard in front of the wheel hub and to cover the ground from the stand lever back to the rear of the rear sprocket.  Between uses the cardboard seems to soak up lube, and I have a convenient place to store it.

 

The spray tube on the DX11 can has been bent down 90 degrees about 20mm from the tip so that it can spray straight down onto the passing rollers of the bottom chain run.  Bending the spray tube is easy if it's held over a match flame until it softens a bit.

 

The DX11 is applied for two chain passes, then another piece of towel soaked with spray is held to the chain for two passes as for the cleaning process.  This coats the side-plates slightly.  Then the wheel is spun around several times to complete the job.

 

I've been treating the chain at 1,000km intervals, so four times so far, and have not seen any evidence of fling.  The rear rim can be washed with water without mucking the brush.  I seldom ride in rain but do ride on un-sealed roads a bit.  The DX11 seems to shrug off the dust surprisingly well too.  Never again will I fit a Scottoiler and three of my riding mates who have them are so impressed by my NC's chain condition that they are moving to ditch their Scottoilers and move to DX11.