Quote:
Originally Posted by subxero
^ not to hijack my own thread but what kind of life span were you seeing out of non sealed chains?
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Lubricated steel can last forever, much longer than O-rings.
I had chains that rolled for more than 15K miles before showing any sign of wear and stretching.
I also had several MZ motorcycles, which chains lasted much longer, because those bikes had a full enclosure that isolated the chain from dirt and water.
They had a plastic cage around the rear sprocket and rubber boots protecting the top and bottom runs.
Same extended chain life happened for my 50 cc Puch, which had a metal cage that enclosed the whole chain+sprocket with a little sprocket and lever to regulate the slack.
(Even that baby with its 2 HP had a 420 size motorcycle chain !!!)
Later on, manufacturers started providing minimum protection for the chains, which shortened the life of these (mainly due to exposure to water), even when having good maintenance; hence, the sealed chains.
The trick was lubricating the non-sealed chains when hot, just after a long trip; in that way the oil got thinner and penetrated well deep into the rollers and between the plaques.
Clip links never jumped out, so we used and used and re-used them every weekend to pull the chain out of the bike and to give it a good bath in kerosene with a plastic or hair brush.
After those baths, they were submerged in heated grease (grease caught fire once in a while while heating it up).
Once cold, the excess of grease was removed with a rag.
Between weekends, one or two times of lubrication with medium viscosity oil was enough.
Messy? Yes, there was some mess to be cleaned regularly, especially around the front sprocket.
I never had any catastrophic failure with a non-sealed chain.
For more info on non-sealed chains, check this:
http://www.dansmc.com/rearchain.htm