Goodbye goose hello Triumph

[Guzzistajohn]

All the cool cats ride dual sport! Chain drive? No biggie! I switched to a dry chain lube made by 3M. Everything stays super clean and runs completely silent. 

[moto-uno]

  WD 40 is a great chain cleaner but a terrible chain lube , that kind of mileage is probably more to do with keeping the chain
so clean .But hey, it's your bike, and it worked for you :) . And for heavens sake , just how busy are we retired riders that oiling
a chain is so much work !!!!  , Peter

[faffi]

I learned to use WD40 this way from a bloke who got 77,000 km out of his chain and sprocket on his ZX-11, that he also drag raced. The important lube is the one sealed off by the O or X-rings, not what is put on the outside. Cleanliness is important, though.

[Vagrant]

FWIW, I started using a gallon of WD40 in a spray bottle on a DID cheaper O ring chain 4000 miles ago on a 650 Versys. I do it every night when I get home. Usually about 150 miles. 200 is the max. It is keeping the chain clean. The side plates still are wet at 150 but close to dry at 200. I quit wiping it off as there is almost no spray off. Any over spray comes right off  the wheel. But, I think if I had to ride in the rain I'd have to stop every 50 miles.

[dave1068]

Interesting chain maintainence info, never heard of dry chain lube, As many suggestions like an oil thread lol  Ive heard one school of thought that sayd clean the chain w/ wd-40 or light break cleaner and then either: A; leave it at that and don't lube it, B: Use chain wax, C: Use chain lube, D: use WD-40 E: Use white grease.

decisions decisions

[faffi]

FWIW, I started using a gallon of WD40 in a spray bottle on a DID cheaper O ring chain 4000 miles ago on a 650 Versys. I do it every night when I get home. Usually about 150 miles. 200 is the max. It is keeping the chain clean. The side plates still are wet at 150 but close to dry at 200. I quit wiping it off as there is almost no spray off. Any over spray comes right off  the wheel. But, I think if I had to ride in the rain I'd have to stop every 50 miles.

A decade ago, I had a KZ650 and my son a CB400SS. On a vacation ride over more than 1100 miles, 400 of those in rain, we never lubed the chains. We used WD40 before and after the vacation ride. When I sold the KZ650 with nearly 18K miles on the chain and sprockets, they were still fine. On the CB400, the (too) cheap chain got some stiff links after 15K and was replaced. The second chain was still as new after 10K.

FWIW, my cousin rides mostly on gravel roads, and never lube his chains at all, only use degreaser and water after every ride, and then wipe it off with a dry rag. He has done this with his XR650R, 500-EXC, 950SE and his two 1250 Adventure Rs. Typically, he gets 10+ K miles from a set of chain and sprockets.

[Cam3512]

You’ll be back.  They all do…

[Dave Swanson]

You’ll be back.  They all do…

 

[rocker59]

FWIW, my cousin rides mostly on gravel roads, and never lube his chains at all, only use degreaser and water after every ride, and then wipe it off with a dry rag. He has done this with his XR650R, 500-EXC, 950SE and his two 1250 Adventure Rs. Typically, he gets 10+ K miles from a set of chain and sprockets.

I got 20,000 miles on Triumphs in the '90s/'00s using WD40 and gear oil every now and then...

[Moparnut72]

Project Farm on utube did extensive testing on chain lubes. Gear oil came out pretty much at the top. It would have come out first except for the flinging off if I remember correctly, it has been awhile since I have seen it. It is what I used. When I installed the belt I was appalled at the amount of goo and crap behind the counter sprocket cover.
kk

[Seventy One]

I got 48k miles on the stock chain on my '16 Versys 1000LT. I adjusted it once from new and it was still in spec when I changed it. I only changed it because I had the chain/sprockets and the time. As far as maintenance goes, I just brushed it off with diesel once/month and never really lubed it. I just hit it with a shot of chain wax after each cleaning. The goal is to keep it from getting rusty. That's it. They don't require "lube".

I hope you have better luck with your Triumph than I had with mine. I'll certainly never own another one.

[adventurelounger]

Interesting thread. I went in the opposite direction!

I have a 2020 Scrambler 1200 XE that I've enjoyed...but despite trying to make it function like my primary ADV bike, it just didn't swing it. Brilliant engine. Superb suspension (those Ohlins!) But with the high exhaust limiting me to one bag...and even with the tail rack and a higher aftermarket windscreen, it's still more of a giant naked high-performance dirt bike. I've tried motocamping and some distance travel with it...but it's just not purpose built for that, to me at least.

So I've put the Scrambler up for sale on ADVRider (in the fleamarket), and picked up a beautiful, fully-kitted-out V85TT Guardia d'Onore at the end of last year. Yes, it's slower. Yes, it's likely not as good off road. But to me, it's ridiculously comfortable, is set up to carry and travel out the gate, and has everything I want on a proper ADV bike. Plus all that delicious Guzzi history and character.

[Dirk_S]

Interesting thread. I went in the opposite direction!

I have a 2020 Scrambler 1200 XE that I've enjoyed...but despite trying to make it function like my primary ADV bike, it just didn't swing it. Brilliant engine. Superb suspension (those Ohlins!) But with the high exhaust limiting me to one bag...and even with the tail rack and a higher aftermarket windscreen, it's still more of a giant naked high-performance dirt bike. I've tried motocamping and some distance travel with it...but it's just not purpose built for that, to me at least.

So I've put the Scrambler up for sale on ADVRider (in the fleamarket), and picked up a beautiful, fully-kitted-out V85TT Guardia d'Onore at the end of last year. Yes, it's slower. Yes, it's likely not as good off road. But to me, it's ridiculously comfortable, is set up to carry and travel out the gate, and has everything I want on a proper ADV bike. Plus all that delicious Guzzi history and character.

Curious—if missing the right side pannier rack is all that was keeping you from enjoying the Scrambler to the max, why didn’t you consider modifying a pannier rack to fit over the exhaust? That’s what Bulldog and I did with our respective V7 IIs with high pipes. For mine, it required a couple spacers at the shock mount, a bend at the bottom pillion peg mount, and a slight chop and weld in the rear:




One thing I learned while traveling through Spain and Turkey on motorbike is that there’s always a welder in sniffing distance. Or at least a buddy with a MIG machine sitting in his garage. Might not be as cheap as over there (the mechanic that this old fart in Turkey led me to charged me a ridiculously low price to weld a mount back onto my buddy’s hard pannier), but it’s still a fairly doable modification.

[adventurelounger]

Part of it was the luggage. But it was also the lack of wind/weather protection and the general manners of the 1200 XE. It's a SUPERB bike for scrambling and hooning around once you get to your destination. It's stupendous off road.

But if you have several hours of slab before that...or you want to use it as a dedicated traveling bike...it's not ideal. Tall, exposed, and the luggage carrying capacity is limited. Finally, it has a manageable but very pronounced heat issue with the high pipe exhaust. The 1200 Scrambler is well known as a leg- and luggage broiler. So I'd be reluctant to mount a bag on the side with the exhaust, as I wouldn't want to melt or cook my right side bag!

[Dave Swanson]

Part of it was the luggage. But it was also the lack of wind/weather protection and the general manners of the 1200 XE. It's a SUPERB bike for scrambling and hooning around once you get to your destination. It's stupendous off road.

But if you have several hours of slab before that...or you want to use it as a dedicated traveling bike...it's not ideal. Tall, exposed, and the luggage carrying capacity is limited. Finally, it has a manageable but very pronounced heat issue with the high pipe exhaust. The 1200 Scrambler is well known as a leg- and luggage broiler. So I'd be reluctant to mount a bag on the side with the exhaust, as I wouldn't want to melt or cook my right side bag!

The riding buddy I ride with the most is in the same frame of mind as you with his XE.  He loves hooning around on it, the motor, and suspension.  It appeals to the hooligan side of him a lot.  But when being a hooligan is not in the cards he finds it limiting.  Using it as an ADV or a sport touring mount is less than ideal.  Which is no surprise.  It is not being marketed or designed to compete in either category. 

His XE is going up for sale soon.  He is trying to figure out what to get next.  It will have to be something that will be fast enough for him, but more usable for some of the trips he has in mind.  But I wouldn't be surprised if he ditches all that and comes home with a Tuono.   

[kidsmoke]

His XE is going up for sale soon.  He is trying to figure out what to get next.  It will have to be something that will be fast enough for him, but more usable for some of the trips he has in mind.  But I wouldn't be surprised if he ditches all that and comes home with a Tuono.   

Not a V100S?

[Dave Swanson]

Not a V100S?

The V100S gets him closer to owning a Guzzi than he ever has been, but he doesn't have a single pair of red suspenders, so it may be awhile yet. 

[rocker59]

  he doesn't have a single pair of red suspenders, so it may be awhile yet.

A good friend would hook him up!   

You should pick up a pair and gift them to him next time you go on a ride.

Let him know the gift requires him to buy a new V100 Mandello or Stelvio...