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It's the bit I hate most about cleaning my bikes. Cleaning and re-lubing the chain.

It's not the cleaning bit I hate, It's quite satisfying to see all that crud rinse off the chain after a good squirt of cleaner and a scrub of the ol' brush. And to see that shiny silver / gold chain on there, is quite nice.

But Re-lubing it is a giraffe. It goes everywhere.
Even on a paddock stand, it's like the spray cans are just spraying too wide. Those little nozzle tubes don't stay in place.
Or is this just Muc Off chain lube?
I used to swear by castrol chain wax and I swear it's better, but I get muc off stuff for free at the moment.

Can't say i've ever used muc off stuff so i dunno.

Personally i use wurth dry chain lube...doesn't seem to go everywhere and you can't see it once its on there.

I use castrol chain wax in winter as i feel it does more protecting, it just looks awful once its on!!

I use that Wurth lube as well, doesnt go everywhere.

I always clean the chain first when I've just been for a ride so its still warm and easier to clean and the lube goes on eaiser. Then again the first time I cleaned my bike, I thought it was a good idea to do the chain last but got my wheels so muccy with the toothbrush , I was soo pissed off :smt013

I use wurth too, nothing else looks as good though i suspect there are better lubricants

I use engine oil on my chains, get it up on the paddock stand, dip a toothbrush on the oil and work it in. Any excess i wipe off with a rag, still get a bit of fling but not as bad.

wonderpupp wrote:It's the bit I hate most about cleaning my bikes. Cleaning and re-lubing the chain.

*sniggers*

You know, in my 9 years of bikes I've NEVER cleaned a chain.

I mean, I like the idea of it all, but can never be arsed. Maybe I'd get more mileage out of a chain, but I'd still be looking at just buying a new chain and sprockets every couple of years anyway, because even if the chain outlasts the sprockets they still get changed together.

I have just this week given up using Wurth Dry Chain Lube because I've decided I don't trust it. It's great stuff in as far as no fling-off etc, but even if you manage to spray the entire chain every time you lube it (it's dried before you get back to the start point so you can't see), you still don't reeeeeeeeeeally know when you need to do it again. And especially in this wet weather that's just not good enough for me...

So does anyone else get a really rusty looking chain after riding for a few weeks? Or just me then, being on the south -salty- coast?

I, too never bothered washing chains until I got my brand new ninja. then it just seemed wrong to ignore it.

I scrubbed mine down on Saturday.

But, that was only really because what started out as 'I'll just get a bucket and wipe the bike off' turned into eleven straight hours of disassembly, scrubbing, ruined sponges, multiple buckets of warm water & shampoo, two different cans of gloss paint and a lot of hunching over painfully...

Otherwise, no, I've never bothered washing chains, on mountain bikes OR motorbikes.

As far as chain lube goes, atm I'm trying out a large can of bargaintacious Fuchs Chain Lubricant, which was too bargaintacious to be overlooked. Never had a problem with the nozzle tube coming out, tbh, so I've never had a problem with lube going where it's not supposed to; that wasn't caused by me being a tit and failing to aim it properly.

Never been much of one to clean chains either.

Can't say i lube them much either cause they're O ring - when i do it's RK White grease I use (lubeman is now off as climate has made everything brittle so going to re-make kit with silicone hoses).

I did however wash the chain at the beginning of the season as the cleaner came with the RK kit

I add more when the O rings start to look like they are drying out.

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN PERSONAL RISK:

I have a 500ml square drinks bottle with the top and bottom cut off. I also removed one full side and half of another side to create a U shape.

With bike on paddock stand i run it in gear at tick over and place U tub up near the chain and spray the lube - all over spray is caught and no mess.

Now I must stress I do know this will be frowned upon but it's what I have done for years , the mere slightest twitch from anything and everything would be dropped but to date have never had to.

You can also observe how many tight spots you are getting, I will bin a chain once it's reached three.

Chain lubing takes about 2 mins to do and you get the grease into both sides of the O rings very accurately and controlled.

Chain has done about 12K miles now and has one tight spot in it - certainly no where near ready for being binned, adjusters are about halfway, but that was more to do with increasing sprocket size than wear.

Use your bike in winter and the salt will rot it so needs more care.

i jet wash the chain and sprockets on mine, brings them up like new!

have used that wurth lube but find its near on useless

have gone back to silkolene

gem

Mori Man wrote:Lubing stuff

It's what I miss about VFR's with centre stands! Leave it in gear and spray in a nice even coating. then give it a bit more throttle to work it into the chain properly.

I solve the problem of lube going everywhere by using junk mail!

Just get a letter-sized glossy leaflet (or the envelope itself), fold it in half lengthways so you have a long L-shape, and put it so one side is behind the chain and the other underneath it like a little moveable spray booth.

It's done me proud for years, and is a damn fine use of junk mail.

What a bloody good idea. I hadn't had any thoughts about that, I just let it spray...

Never bothered me much as it only goes on the driveway, but it does also spray the tyre a bit, which DOES bother me.

Mori, I doubt you'll find anyone willing to shoot you down for doing it wrong here... It's so much easier that way!

Jamz wrote:
Just get a letter-sized glossy leaflet (or the envelope itself), fold it in half lengthways so you have a long L-shape, and put it so one side is behind the chain and the other underneath it like a little moveable spray booth.

Yeah, but i'm a cheap bastid and keep the overspray for lubing other things like the deadstops & hinges on the car doors

But nice use of junk Mail BTW - usually a glossy envelope too (Also rev the bike a bit once finished to help drive the lube in while still wet).

MM!

Hey, I found a topic similar to this on another forum, and I am winding them up about my rusty ninja chain.


One response tells me to buy a car and that it'll snap and I'll DIE

To me, it's a case of haven't used it for a few weeks and it's rained.
this is when I'll give it a proper clean and lube session. This is the worst I think I've ever had a chain go though.

Rust on the plates won't do a thing, though. As long as it's not near the o/x-rings or the actual moving parts, anyway...

The plate isn't going to rust all the way through to failure point for about 70 years, so won't be a factor.