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Old October 5th, 2021, 04:30 AM   #1
Bob KellyIII
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Chain Lube ?

I just saw a very interesting video on you tube about chain lube and lubing your chain in general....
this guy replaced his chain and did not ever lube it and low and behold it lasted the same length of time as his last one did that he lubed constantly.
.... also there are advocats to the understanding that it's oiling the chain mainly to keep it from rusting... ...
......
I've always oiled my chain I've mainly used motor oil or chainsaw bar oil
which is stickier than normal oil...
however I have ran my chains dry as a bone at times with no ill effects that I could see....
Could this actually be true ? you really don't have to lube the chain at all except to keep the rust off ?
....
I've found that when putting on a new chain that within 200 miles on that chain you need to re adjust the chain tension as it will stretch. no matter how much you lube it ! they do wear in !!!
...
I also found on bicycle chains, a quick sprey of WD40 on the chain usually frees up most of the chain no matter how rusted up they get ! LOL
....( although they are a far cry from a motorcycle chain)
....
....
Back in my Youth I busted a chain on my Honda 90 so I went to the other parts honda 90 I had that didn't have a seat and had bent handle bars on it... and litterally dug the old rusty chain out of the dirt and cleaned it up lubed it real well and got every link to move freely once again and then put it on my bike, which I oiled about once a week and I rode it every day about 20 miles.
that old chain lasted me for years... finally when it was so far gone and the sprocket teeth were sharp points I changed both sprockets and the chain
( they didn't have O ring chains back then) and that chain and sprocket set was on the bike till I sold it.
....
so I kind'a have to believe that it really doesn't matter if you lube the chain or not, but do lube it enough to keep the rust off it..and your good to go !
....
Lubing a chain brings with it a danger the oil or lube that you put on the chain can and will sling off almost immediately and get on the side of the tire
hang a corner too tight and you might go for a slide on the tarmac after oiling a chain ! so keep that in mind ! if you lube a chain take it easy for a good 20 miles and perhaps hit a dirt road as well to get the oil off the tire
....
I'd like to hear comments from everyone about how you lube the chain
what you lube it with and how long a chain will last you with your riding
I am sure some of you know that !
.... Supposedly the guy in the video said he got 27,000 miles out of the chain with lubing the chain and 27,000 miles without lubing the chain.
and that really defies LOGIC ! the chain should last 2 times as long if you lube it... but apparently not !
.....
Bob.........
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Old October 5th, 2021, 07:18 AM   #2
thedrewski86
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My understanding of modern o-ring chains is that they're lubed and sealed from the factory; any maintenance after that is essentially cleaning. I haven't lubed a chain in a couple of years now, I just clean it with a bit of wd or, even better, kerosene. I am pretty meticulous about keeping the chain and sprockets clean though. I usually clean it every other ride.
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Old October 5th, 2021, 08:12 AM   #3
Triple Jim
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The lubricant that's sealed in the chain is in the main pivot joints. The rollers are not sealed, and their lube doesn't stay in there forever. The O-rings and rollers need some lubrication added periodically. That's why owner's manuals give chain lubrication information. Rollers running dry on the sprockets is not good for them or the sprockets.

I don't like conventional oil or grease on sealed chains though. I've been using DuPont Chain Saver for a couple years now. It is wax based and leaves a non-sticky wax coating when it dries, so it doesn't attract dirt and sand to form grinding compound like oil does.
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Old October 5th, 2021, 08:22 AM   #4
DannoXYZ
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O-ring only seals inner pin & bushing. Outer roller on bushing is still exposed. Also you need lube for roller on sprocket interface as well. Grab roller on chain with 10K-miles and spin it, wiggle it sideways and in yaw direction and you'll find it's much, much looser than new chain. This is where majority of wear occurs; on outside unlubricated roller. In many cases of worn-out chains, rollers will actually break off, they've gotten so thin!



"Got X-miles" out of chain is super subjective with no objective 3rd-party verified measurements. What standards are used for "wear"? I can ride for 50K-miles on single chain & sprocket easily! Just that teeth will be completely worn off and chain slides over them at anything more than 50% throttle, but hey, "I GOT 50K-MILES OUT OF MY CHAIN!!!", using nothing but ground-up endangered tropical tree-frogs for lube!

Problem with letting chain wear out too much is it has lots of extra drag. Chains are 98% efficient under best conditions and easily easily saps 15-25% of power when they start wearing out. On my track bike, I use wear-gauge and when it gets to worn part of indicator, I replace chain and flip sprocket. On street bike, I may let it go a little more than that.

Don't use motor-oil, it's designed for pressurised feed systems. Without pressure, it's not very good when parts touch each other. Use gear-oil instead, it has more extreme-pressure/extreme-heat additives and stickier. It's also what Honda recommends.

Link to original page on YouTube.

Personally, I use Chain-L #5 (has more ET/EP additives than gear-oil). Best stuff I've found yet. I've "gotten 30K-miles" out of chain with it by flipping both chain & sprockets. I drip it on rollers only and wipe off excess from outside of plates since there's there's no rubbing there anyway.

And as Drew mentioned, service interval has lots to do with longevity. I lube chain every other tank with cleaning every 4th. Track bike gets chain lube every other session and cleaning at end of day.


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Old October 5th, 2021, 06:42 PM   #5
Bob KellyIII
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Name: Robert
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Very interesting ! the cleaning and lubing from you Race Nuts is longer than I thought it would be.... I figured every race ! LOL
I totally agree with you guys that the chain needs to be lubricated... but in the past I've really seen no difference in the longevity of the chain's life because of it....
But like you say Danno that is a subjective analysis ... I know I'm bias even when I try not to be, but I am ! so it's anything but hard evidence !
...
My New bike will come with a O ring chain on it ( I checked) and should get at least a 30k Mile life but I will be lucky to get that many miles on it with the life I have left in me ! LOL I will lube and clean it like the warranty demands at the proper intervals ...just because the warranty demands it... not because I think it needs it .
....
Bob....
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