Dry chain lube

[ScaredyCat 1,659]

Ok I am a newbie - how often am I supposed to lube the chain please?  Circa 50 mile round trip daily. And advice on what I should get and where from pretty please?

 

I do mine every night when I get in (~35 mile round trip).  I've painted a marker (used nail varnish, not mine) on the chain. I put the bike on the centre stand shake the can and aim it at about 45 degrees with my nozzle pushing finger touching the swing arm. With the other hand I spin the rear wheel (clockwise) and then spray. I spray for a single revolution of the chain. The nail varnish marker helps show when I need to clean the chain too. When it gets hard to see, chain gets cleaned. 

 

You can use gear oil or any of the chain lubes available. I used SDoc 100 for a long time, but it's expensive and seems to attract gunk. I've switched to Castrol Racing Lube ( oh yes ) and it's cheaper, doesn't attract gunk and my chain seems better for it. 

 

For cleaning I've stopped using the sprays and gels, they're useless. Get some paraffin (proper lamp paraffin) around £5 for 5 litres - it'll last a long time. Buy a couple of cheap toothbrushes and/or a chain brush. I use an old coffee jar, pour a bit of the paraffin into it and then dip the toothbrush into it and clean the chain with it, wipe off the excess, rotate the wheel to clean the next section of chain until all of the chain is done. I then go to the back of the bike and use the chain brush from behind and spin the rear wheel by hand. To prevent a load of mess everywhere I use 3 bits of cardboard. One (yellow in picture) goes from the back of the centre stand to the back of the rear tyre. This one protects the surface the bike is on, in my case paving slabs. The second (green) piece goes behind the chain but in front of the wheel. So you end up with the cardboard blocking your view of the bike, but 'highlights' the chain (if that makes sense). This protects the bike from all the crud and paraffin. The third bit is to sit on.

 

 

 

 

Lubes can be had from sportsbikeshop.co.uk or Amazon..

Edited July 27, 2016 by ScaredyCat

[ScaredyCat 1,659]

One was "How would you check the oil"

The answer from quite a few girls/ladies was "I get my boyfriend/dad/husband to do it"

A perfectly acceptable answer, so no fault recorded.

 

My instructor said just say "I'd read the manual and follow the instructions" ...

[Tex 36,817]

And, boys and girls, is why we all love exposed chains on our bikes. Gives you something to fiddle with instead of relaxing with a G&T.

[PoppetM 16,844]

Yes! Husbands are perfect for this job. It's no harder than (say) cleaning the car, or mowing the lawn. There's lots of jobs husbands love to get involved with (after all, girls, you don't keep a dog and bark yourself, do you?) and chain lubricating is one of them. Husbands, like dogs, perform best when given little treats as rewards. If my wife wanted her bloody chain lubed there's only one reward that would do me..

 

Thankfully we have no lawn. He once butchered my flower beds and has now been banned doing that. He is permitted to wash my car but has been banned from washing my bikes after an incident involving one hose and far too much water on a Vespa that then refused to start.

He wanted me to call the RAC - what was I supposed to say? "My husband drowned my Vespa"?!  He had a night of fretting that he had killed it until it eventually dried out enough for me to start it.

 

He offered to wash the Honda today, I told him if he goes one step near it with a hose I promise he will lose his hands. 

 

Although he is an engineer, I prefer to maintain things myself, it's much easier although no doubt he will "help" (read as "Interfere") while I maintain the chain...much like he does in the kitchen....  

[PoppetM 16,844]

 

I do mine every night when I get in (~35 mile round trip).  I've painted a marker (used nail varnish, not mine) on the chain. I put the bike on the centre stand shake the can and aim it at about 45 degrees with my nozzle pushing finger touching the swing arm. With the other hand I spin the rear wheel (clockwise) and then spray. I spray for a single revolution of the chain. The nail varnish marker helps show when I need to clean the chain too. When it gets hard to see, chain gets cleaned. 

 

You can use gear oil or any of the chain lubes available. I used SDoc 100 for a long time, but it's expensive and seems to attract gunk. I've switched to Castrol Racing Lube ( oh yes ) and it's cheaper, doesn't attract gunk and my chain seems better for it. 

 

For cleaning I've stopped using the sprays and gels, they're useless. Get some paraffin (proper lamp paraffin) around £5 for 5 litres - it'll last a long time. Buy a couple of cheap toothbrushes and/or a chain brush. I use an old coffee jar, pour a bit of the paraffin into it and then dip the toothbrush into it and clean the chain with it, wipe off the excess, rotate the wheel to clean the next section of chain until all of the chain is done. I then go to the back of the bike and use the chain brush from behind and spin the rear wheel by hand. To prevent a load of mess everywhere I use 3 bits of cardboard. One (yellow in picture) goes from the back of the centre stand to the back of the rear tyre. This one protects the surface the bike is on, in my case paving slabs. The second (green) piece goes behind the chain but in front of the wheel. So you end up with the cardboard blocking your view of the bike, but 'highlights' the chain (if that makes sense). This protects the bike from all the crud and paraffin. The third bit is to sit on.

 

 

 

 

Lubes can be had from sportsbikeshop.co.uk or Amazon..

 

 

Thanks Scaredy cat!! 

[Andy m 23,540]

You will get as many answers as there are members!

Mine are:

Loob after the days ride and go to pub knowing you can get up and go. There is also some theory about the warm chain pulling in the lube as it cools. Cold lube with a good grip does seem to stick better but I suspect it makes no difference.

A centre stand is weight all the time, a cost you pay with each bike and therefore a waste if you only lube the chain in the garage at home.

Find a type that works and stick with it. I use Wurth. There is nothing wrong with other types there is simply a learning curve as to what the right amount looks like.

Chain saw oil, boiled whale blubber and stuff sold specifically for BMW's and judging by the price made by squeezing unicorn testicles between the thighs of virgins in Barnsley do no more than chain lube in a can. WD40 is not oil.

A chain brush removes dry crud. Dry crud + oil = grinding paste.

How often varies with use. Up the desert its never. Salt covered winter European roads it can be daily. Mostly every 1000 miles would be reasonable. It doesn't really matter though, the difference between daily and weekly or even monthly is a matter of a few miles on the chain life. Lube when convienient and change it when you need to.

Over adjustment of the chain will cause more wear than under.

Shaft drive just saves up all the work for when the oil needs changing and all the cost for when the joint or splines go.

I'm yet to find a lube system that wasn't just a cost paid to pump oil over the back wheel and that was still working after the four or five chains needed to cover its own costs.

Stop fiddling and go ride!

Andy

Edited July 27, 2016 by Andy m

[Mike5100 2,061]

.......

between the thighs of virgins in Barnsley .....

sorry Andy.  oxymorons not allowed on this forum. 

Mike

[RussB644 379]

I've recently gone from stocks of dry chain loob to a suggestion from Bonekicker a while and many posts ago!  A WD40 and engine oil mix in a spray. It took a while to use up stocks of the previous stuff, but so far so good with the WDmix.

[PoppetM 16,844]

When you say mixed, do you mean that you mixed it?

[Spindizzy 7,109]

Pfft...Loobman, fit and forget apart from the odd press of a button and a very occasional wipe on the sides with an oily rag.

 

Not sure if they do a Looblady, it appears sexism is rife in the chain oiler industry   

 

However just like those who like to reenact scenes from history you may of course continue with your chain machinations......

 

All in jest...ish, but I do rate chain oilers over elbow grease

[CFB 4,601]

Elbow grease does not meet EU standards.

The CO2 emissions are way too high

[Mike5100 2,061]

I'm trying the grease ninja which cost 18 quid inc delivery from the USA. It seems to put the wurth stuff in exactly the right places with the only overspray going vertically downwards and it takes about 30 seconds to do the whole chain. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with this arrangement as it's as clean as having a belt drive and takes very little effort. I'm assuming that with an auto oiler there will be some flung mess?

Mike

[Spindizzy 7,109]

 I'm assuming that with an auto oiler there will be some flung mess?

Mike

Its really a manual oiler, but yes there is some fling, easily wiped off with normal cleaning. Its the fling which is keeping the chain clean. I over oil a bit to keep it looking good.

 

I use a light oil which doesn't really tack up much. 

[RussB644 379]

When you say mixed, do you mean that you mixed it?

 

Yep mixed it into a spray container. shaken before every use to just make sure, so far chain is looking good. Need a good test in some of that annoying wet stuff and into winter to see how well it works then 

[Englishman 165]

I use Wurth and I am impressed with it, less messy than the Rock Oil I was using which used to fling and gather everywhere. I lubricate the chain after a long ride i.e. when the chain is "warm" and when I think it needs it by touching the chain.  Its important (I think) after lubricating the chain not to ride the bike immediately after.  Just as an aside when I changed from Rock Oil to Wurth I had to clean the chain and I used WD40 Chain Cleaner and I am impressed with that too, really cleaned the chain well with the aid of a tooth brush!  The wife cant find hers its gone missing...  

[Tex 36,817]

I had to clean the chain and I used WD40 Chain Cleaner and I am impressed with that too, really cleaned the chain well with the aid of a tooth brush!  The wife cant find hers its gone missing...

Well, at least you didn't put it back in the bathroom..

[matt28 401]

Gave chain good clean today, using Yamaha chain cleaner and chain lube.

 

[Guest sykospain]

Fiddliing with the bike here rather than riding is torture at the moment - forty-two degrees yesterday teatime. You can't see for the sweat pouring down from your scalp into your eyes after only a few minutes trying to clean the chain.   And that's whilst working more-or-less in the nip....

But riding is lovely - a nice cool breeze providing you keep away from the visitor traffic and only have the little screen. The fan cuts in sharpish though, at these ambient temps.

The Muck-Off chain cleaner and chain wax aerosols that I brought last summer from the UK are both now empty.

Couldn't find a source here for the Würth Chain dry-lube aerosol can, unless I order 10-off via my local car mechanics' garage.

So I bought this instead for €8 inc postage from Barça.  Seems similar and boasts of "superior adhesion".

Hope it's the right stuff, Andy m.

 

AL in s.e. Spain

Edited August 2, 2016 by sykospain

[Tex 36,817]

It occurs to me, Alan, that you could make a couple of 'how to' videos of basic maintenance tasks on the NC. Cleaning, lubing and (occasionally) adjusting chains is second nature to us old boots. But newbies may not have a clue. A five minute presentation could be doing a real service for such folks.