Chain Maintenance

[juice]

Just wondering what the consensus is in here about oiling/degreasing/cleaning your chain ?

Reason being, where I live is pretty harsh on bikes..It's constantly humid, when it rains we get run off onto the road which basically consists of sand.

I lube the chain every week but only clean/degrease, re-lube it once every couple of months. Is that not enough, should it be once a Month, once every couple of weeks ? I'm very conscious of the fact that lube + Sand sticking to the chain is not ideal in terms of keeping it pristine and in good health - given these conditions, should I be doing it once a weekend instead or is that too much? My routine is to degrease with an Oil based degreaser,wipe off then clean again with soapy water then a quick ride to warm the chain up...then get home and apply the chain lube...Just wondering if I should be doing more though

Edited by juice on Monday 7th April 00:33

[Silent1]

Get something like this:

http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/c...

And some proper chain cleaner, as some cleaners will perish the orings in the chain leading to a knackered chain.

I used to clean mine atleast once a week and lube it after each day riding, that's just a habit from motocross though.

[Rubin215]

Scotoiler.

Constant drip of clean oil onto chain washes any gunge out of the links, and you can adjust the flow rate for when it's really icky.

Only downside is if the flow rate is high you get fling onto the back wheel, but this washes off easily enough (more easily than most chain sprays and waxes).

[black-k1]

Rubin215 said:

Scotoiler.

By far the best answer.

[Steve_T]

Scottoiler makes sense to me. You have a couple of choices with lots of sand - either try to keep it out - chain wax, or a lighter oil to fling it clear - Scottoiler. Chain wax will probably form a nice sandpaper paste unless you change it regularly.

[dern]

black-k1 said:

Rubin215 said:

Scotoiler.

By far the best answer.

I think it's the easiest or at least the most convenient but not the best. I've had it on 3 bikes and only one one did I get a half decent result and even then it doesn't do anywhere near as good a job as cleaning the chain and handlubing it. I found the application of the chain oil to be the main problem. When working well it only goes down one side of the chain unless you have a double application nozzle thing (and I've heard that gets blocked easily). The times when it's working well are few and far between though as mainly it's either over oiling or under oiling. I've set the thing up so many times following the instructions and for it to work well for a while but as soon as the temperature drops the oil gets more viscous and the flow slows down and if the temperature goes up the flow goes up and you get oil every where. I've got the reservoir mounted away from the engine and the exhaust as recommended and still have the same problems. I've now switched mine off and gone back to the old way and the chain feels much better for it.

[catso]

dern said:

black-k1 said:

Rubin215 said:

Scotoiler.

By far the best answer.

I think it's the easiest or at least the most convenient but not the best. I've had it on 3 bikes and only one one did I get a half decent result and even then it doesn't do anywhere near as good a job as cleaning the chain and handlubing it. I found the application of the chain oil to be the main problem. When working well it only goes down one side of the chain unless you have a double application nozzle thing (and I've heard that gets blocked easily). The times when it's working well are few and far between though as mainly it's either over oiling or under oiling. I've set the thing up so many times following the instructions and for it to work well for a while but as soon as the temperature drops the oil gets more viscous and the flow slows down and if the temperature goes up the flow goes up and you get oil every where. I've got the reservoir mounted away from the engine and the exhaust as recommended and still have the same problems. I've now switched mine off and gone back to the old way and the chain feels much better for it.

I have the 'dual-injector' double sided scotoiler thingy and it works well, chains last much better than without. Now maybe if you care for your chain properly it's better but I always neglect chain servicing, put it off for another time so the scotoiler is a great piece of kit.

[juice]

Hmmm , differing views on the Scottoiler - I guess I'd have to try one to find out first. We don't have massive temp changes this time of the year so setting it up *should* be pretty easy. I think I'll try one and see. While I'm waiting for it to be shipped in though, what's the best (manual) way to keep it clean - I read that paraffin is a good degreaser, not sure we can get it locally though - other than that - would WD40 do a similar job or should I be going for proper chain cleaner ?

Sorry for the newbie questions, this is the first (proper-ish) bike I've had and given there are no Derbi dealers on the Island, I'll be doing my own maintenance so want to make sure I get it right first time.

[dern]

juice said:

would WD40 do a similar job or should I be going for proper chain cleaner ?

I haven't used it because I read many times that there's something in it which will rot the o-rings. Parafin is generally available from diy shops or possibly garages for putting in things like parafin heater/lamps. If I couldn't find parafin I think I'd use petrol (usual safety disclaimers etc).

Edited by dern on Monday 7th April 12:52

[dern]

catso said:

I have the 'dual-injector' double sided scotoiler thingy and it works well, chains last much better than without. Now maybe if you care for your chain properly it's better but I always neglect chain servicing, put it off for another time so the scotoiler is a great piece of kit.

This is true, if you tend not to look after your chain then a scotoiler is most definitely better than nothing.

[Mr OCD]

juice said:

Just wondering what the consensus is in here about oiling/degreasing/cleaning your chain ?

Reason being, where I live is pretty harsh on bikes..It's constantly humid, when it rains we get run off onto the road which basically consists of sand.

I lube the chain every week but only clean/degrease, re-lube it once every couple of months. Is that not enough, should it be once a Month, once every couple of weeks ? I'm very conscious of the fact that lube + Sand sticking to the chain is not ideal in terms of keeping it pristine and in good health - given these conditions, should I be doing it once a weekend instead or is that too much? My routine is to degrease with an Oil based degreaser,wipe off then clean again with soapy water then a quick ride to warm the chain up...then get home and apply the chain lube...Just wondering if I should be doing more though

Edited by juice on Monday 7th April 00:33

Mine gets lubed every 300 miles... it gets cleaned and re-lubed every 1000 miles... despite having about 8k on it still looks like new

I'd do it more often than you mention to be honest - perhaps consider an auto oiler as mentioned ... I have been told the pro oiler is very good if a bit pricey.

Edited by Mr OCD on Monday 7th April 17:08

[Rubin215]

dern said:

juice said:

would WD40 do a similar job or should I be going for proper chain cleaner ?

I haven't used it because I read many times that there's something in it which will rot the o-rings. Parafin is generally available from diy shops or possibly garages for putting in things like parafin heater/lamps. If I couldn't find parafin I think I'd use petrol (usual safety disclaimers etc).

Edited by dern on Monday 7th April 12:52

Petrol will definitely rot the o rings so stay away, wd40 is not much better.
Parafin is best, diesel is also pretty good, however with both make sure you keep it off the tyre or at the very least give it a good scrub afterwards with hot soapy water.

With the scotoiler, I've always mounted it fairly close to the engine on the basis that as the engine heats up, so does the oil, and this will give a uniform flow rate no matter what the time of year or weather.
I also find it a lot easier to adjust the flow rate when it starts to rain if the unit is down by my left knee instead of underneath the seat or behind the number plate (though I should probably wait until I stop!).

I keep hearing from people who have had difficulty getting the drip feed set up, however I have had no problems with this and I am onto my 6th bike with one on. Maybe I'm just lucky .
The only problem I have had is with the dual injector when one side seems to get blocked, however those nice weegies from Scotoiler suggested cutting the drip nozzles at an angle away from the sprocket and it's never done it since.

[dern]

Rubin215 said:

dern said:

juice said:

would WD40 do a similar job or should I be going for proper chain cleaner ?

I haven't used it because I read many times that there's something in it which will rot the o-rings. Parafin is generally available from diy shops or possibly garages for putting in things like parafin heater/lamps. If I couldn't find parafin I think I'd use petrol (usual safety disclaimers etc).

Petrol will definitely rot the o rings so stay away, wd40 is not much better.
Parafin is best, diesel is also pretty good, however with both make sure you keep it off the tyre or at the very least give it a good scrub afterwards with hot soapy water.

Really? Oops, thanks for correcting a bad suggestion

[catso]

Rubin215 said:

[With the scotoiler, I've always mounted it fairly close to the engine on the basis that as the engine heats up, so does the oil, and this will give a uniform flow rate no matter what the time of year or weather.

Mine is under the seat just above the exhausts (Ducati 916), so whilst it gets hot it is pretty consistently hot. I have to use the thicker 'Hi-temperature' oil (for hot climates) otherwise it flows too quickly and even then I have the flow set on low. But there is very little variation due to temperature so it works quite well.

[Brummmie]

You should run chains dry in sand, as the oil will cause it to stick to it, therefore changing pitch/diameter of the sprockets, in fact the stickier the lube the worse it is, this applies to any application sand or no sand as it attracts all the crud. The best thing for O ring chains is EP 90 applied lightly by brush then wiped by rag to clean excess oil off. O ring chains have lube sealed into the bearings/rollers ( this is what the O rings trap in ) so the oil is just to stop the chain corroding externally.

[Craphouserat]

I always cleaned my chain once a month with Wurth chain cleaner. Spray it on, clean up any excess, give it 10 min and then re-lube.

[SVS]

Hi all,

dern said:

I've had it on 3 bikes and only one one did I get a half decent result and even then it doesn't do anywhere near as good a job as cleaning the chain and handlubing it.

It won't, because Scottoiler lubricates but doesn't clean. You still have to do clean the chain yourself.

Having said that, I'm a big fan of Scottoilers. A bit of trial and error to get the right flow rate, then it's brilliant

However, next time I'm going to use Accumen's new CL10 'intelligent' chain oiler:
www.superbike.co.uk/news/SuperBike_new_chain_oiler...
www.acumen-electronics.co.uk/category/Chain_Lubric...

This looks like the next generation on from Scottoiler.