Question about chains

[Sailariel]

One of the reasons I joined this forum is to catch up on my motorcycle education. When I quit riding in 1982 the technology was quite different. I note that the 2008 Ninja has an O ring chain. I look at catalogs and see X ring chains. What is the difference? Can an X ring chain be used interchangably with an O ring chain or is there a difference in sprockets? What sort of lube should not be used on these chains and how frequently do you lube? I know that this is a lot to lay on you, but this is the first bike I have owned with an electric starter, no kick starter, directionals, tubeless tyres, and wheels you don`t need a spoke wrench for. All is not lost. I still know how to adjust carbs (another reason I bought a non FI bike) I can still replace a clutch, cables,etc. I do plan to get a shop manual for my bike.

[Alex]

Hi Alex -

An O-ring chain means that the manufacturer has built the chain with internal passageways to hold lubricating oil. The O-rings themselves are what keep this lubrication inside that portion of the chain. An X-ring chain is an O-ring chain, but the O-rings themselves are just shaped slightly differently; if you look at them sideways they kind of look like an X. I think it's DID-brand chains that popularized that term. It just marketing. O-ring is O-ring.

In terms of how to best take care of a modern o-ring chain, well, you'll find a whole lot of advice. All of it may be correct in some way. Some may be less so. Who knows. Anyway, with an O-ring chain, the connections between the side plates and the rollers have lifetime lubrication. So in a perfect world, such a chain wouldn't ever need more. But in the real world, chains get dirty, get wet, o-rings may dry out, or some might even not seal perfectly for the lifetime of the chain. So chain cleaning and lubing is partially about lubing up the areas that are not covered by the existing lube (the rollers themselves, contacting with the sprockets), and keeping the o-rings clean and supple enough to do their work for the life of the chain.

What that really means is that it probably doesn't make a huge difference what type of chain lube people use, as long as they use it often enough to keep the chain relatively clean and keep it from getting too dry. I used to use PJ-1 blue for years, but have switched to use the ChainWax brand for quite awhile now, and chain wear has been fine on bikes much more powerful than our ninjette. I spray on the lube every 500 - 1000 miles, and if the chain looks extremely dirty, I'll clean it with WD-40 and a rag, wait for it to dry, then reapply ChainWax. If I've been riding in the wet, I'll speed up that maintenance interval.

Here's a link to an entry on Wikiipedia about o-ring chains:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-ring_chain

[Sailariel]

Thank you for your carefully researched answer. As you know, I have a bike shop (bicycles) and am the mechanic for our very sucessful local racing team. It looks like the chain maintenance you recommended is exactly the same as what we do on our racing bikes (an aside--my Eddie Merckx racing bike costs $2000.00 more than my Ninja). Go figure. Again, thanks a million.