29 replies to this topic

[peve]

Hi.

This winter i am going to take the swingarm of to get the chain of to clean it. And lube the arm´s berings.

I thing it will have a longer life if i do so. But the question is with what.

Do í soak it in oil, wd40, soap or something else.

It's an X-link chain.

[Jonc]

I always wash the chain with micture of water, mud and sand. I never wash the chain, only lube it quite often.

[Studley Ramrod]

Nature's natural cleanser !

For me, a soft toofbrush an some diesel to get the crud off, then dry off with some cloths and then run some oil-soaked cloths over it..... when I remember to do it

Left me chain on the bike when oi did me gearbox last winter and despite my best attempts, and using a scottoiler, the lickle bits o wubba are appearing all over me swinger and the vibes are appearing. New chain fer meeeeeeeeee !

Bike didn't get wet, it was just the damp winter air wot did it. Took me rear wheel off in Feb/March and the chain more or less stayed the same shape

EDIT: oh yeah, it's easier to clean a warm chain, like after you've ridden the bike. That scottoiler goo can be really errrr, gooey !
I use WD40 to clean the sprockets and engine/swinger etc.

Edited by Studley Ramrod, 05 December 2011 - 12:28 pm.

[celticbiker]

Do not use WD40 it will destroy the seals.
Best thing is to clean it with parrafin or diesel and a soft nylon brush but to be honest regular lubrication is sufficient for modern chains.
A scotoiler or similar will greatly extend chain life. I get over 30000 miles from mine.
How many miles has yours done?

[peve]

Do not use WD40 it will destroy the seals.
Best thing is to clean it with parrafin or diesel and a soft nylon brush but to be honest regular lubrication is sufficient for modern chains.
A scotoiler or similar will greatly extend chain life. I get over 30000 miles from mine.
How many miles has yours done?

Thankyou all for your reply.

My new chain has only got 4000 km on it but the last one ( orginal ) died in 29.000 km. I think that is not much but i use the bike on gravel roads, wet and dry, and i use it in rain, unlike many Icelanders who dont go out with there bikes in rain og wet. Maybe that killed it.

At least i am going to try to get more km out of this one.

[Limbo]

For cleaning the chain, I recommend diesel or heating oil.

If the chain on the Bike , I clean with a brush.
Dismantled you can immerse yourself in the chain just a bowl of diesel.
The chain But not very long-time in the bowl, otherwise the diesel penetrates through the seals into the interior of the chain, and dilutes the lubrication.

In Germany there is a device "Kettenmax" that simplifies the cleaning of the chain and the ground is not heavily polluted .

limbo

P.S
My englich writes the Google Translator.

[dapleb]

P.S
My englich writes the Google Translator.

Not bad at all. Think it is the google translator that is much more involved and heavily stats dependent to translate...rather than a word for word translator. Clever stuff, maybe one day it will even be able to translate dapper jabber.

[Studley Ramrod]

Hi lee un like lee !

They're gonna need to reach the next step up the technological ladder to get a pc to translate "jibber-dapper"

[jacol]

Paraffin and a toothbrush for me too. Works surprisingly well and after six months of using it (not only for the chain) I still have 3/5 of the bottle. I'm using Wurth Dry Lube thingy to lube it at the moment, but might try something else when I run out of it.

[Matt101]

Whats a chain?!?!

[Rallyist]

Whats a chain?!?!

If you aint got one you are not going far.

only if you push it.

[tullyhubbert]

Paraffin and a toothbrush for me too. Works surprisingly well and after six months of using it (not only for the chain) I still have 3/5 of the bottle. I'm using Wurth Dry Lube thingy to lube it at the moment.

Ditto, but I use an inch paint brush. Wurth stays on the chain and resists corrosion well. Paraffin, Kerosene & home heating oil are all the same thing, should you ever need any its cheapest to dip a jam jam in yer oil tank.

[TKH]

There was a thread about a year ago on this. I think the end results was:

Don't use WD40
Don't use a brush
Don't use any petrochemical cleaners

Do use the expensive cleaners that the chain manufacturers recommend.

BTW the Yamaha owners manual recommends a gentle clean with a brush.... or words to that effect (RTFM if in doubt).

I used to use brush and diesel. Now I use a cloth and a bit of oil every few hundred miles and then a reet good de-gunk with derv and a softish brush every 1000 to get rid of all the grit and other detritus.

[jacol]

inch paint brush

Oh yeah I used a brush for a while, but toothbrush is better for me.

[harvey krumpet]

I use a kerosene soaked rag, run the chain through the cloth a few times til it's sparkly, allow to dry & use a good lube. I spread the lube around with a plastic bag which also removes the excess, minimising splatter. If you want to be pedantic, the front sprocket area needs to be cleaned now & again too. I've noticed now that I'm doing a lot of gravel riding that the chain ends up running through the build up of dust & spooge & your right back to square one again if you don't keep on top of it.

I'm not sure how much difference the dust makes to chain life, the chain seems to be fine as long as it is lubed regardless of how dirty it is. An enduro rider I met years ago who ran an off road tour fleet of DR's & XR's used o-ring chains & ran them dry, he reckoned they lasted longer than when lubed so...., the jury is out.

The worst way to treat a chain I think is high speed & heavy rain, it's like water blasting it for an hour or two.

Edited by harvey krumpet, 05 December 2011 - 10:02 pm.

[LewisBlackburn]

http://www.members.c...0experiment.pdf

I never thought WD-40 was good for chains until I read the above article. Has anyone every used WD40 on a chain and had it fail? or is it just the principle that people think it wont work.

Also this has people using it for chain lube. If its used for lube I cant see a problem with using it for cleaning. http://www.r1-forum....ad.php?t=274610

Edited by LewisBlackburn, 05 December 2011 - 11:04 pm.

[celticbiker]

There was a thread about a year ago on this. I think the end results was:

Don't use WD40
Don't use a brush
Don't use any petrochemical cleaners

Do use the expensive cleaners that the chain manufacturers recommend.

BTW the Yamaha owners manual recommends a gentle clean with a brush.... or words to that effect (RTFM if in doubt).

I used to use brush and diesel. Now I use a cloth and a bit of oil every few hundred miles and then a reet good de-gunk with derv and a softish brush every 1000 to get rid of all the grit and other detritus.

Be careful with that rag, just look what can happen.
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES
LINKY

[peve]

Be careful with that rag, just look what can happen.
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES
LINKY

Holy s**t

Cleaning chains can be dangerous.
Maybe i just forget about it and buy new one when this one dies.
Or just wont start the bike while cleaning.

[Rallyist]

Be careful with that rag, just look what can happen.
WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES
LINKY

Maybe Yamaha not fitting a centre stand is Health & Safety related

[Limbo]

Clean the chain with the engine running is not a good idea.
Lubricate the chain when the engine goes, if you have a safe stand, and with your fingers away from the chain stays, and greasing the chain fat with a spray can with spray tube.
If the chain bites the spray pipe, it does not hurt

limbo