Chain lube

[faffi]

After dave1068's topic on his new  Triumph got stolen by final drive discussions in general, and chain maintenance in particular, I thought I could start a new thread on topic.

MOTORRAD recently compared 13 chain sprays and found S100 White chainspray 2.0 to be the winner, and the second placed Procycle Dry Lube considered to be the best value, costing just a bit more than half that of the S100 for the same volume, with nearly the same quality results. Third was the old S100 Dry Lube. These 3 where the only ones receiving a VERY GOOD rating. The three worst received an ACCEPTABLE rating, the remaining 7 all ended up classified as GOOD.

The whole list can be seen here https://www.motorradonline.de/zubehoer/motorrad-kettensprays-vergleichstest/

[kballowe]

Chain lube threads have a life of their own.  Not as lengthy as oil threads though.

Still, a lot of information.

I have my favorites - something that doesn't attract grit and also keeps away the rust. 

Here's another comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noshjM5CDas

[Dirk_S]

I’ll deviously add to this (it’s a Tuesday, and I’m pissed it’s not Thursday):

RyanF9 says gear oil is the most economically efficient:

https://youtu.be/VnPYdcbcAe0?si=6TB6y7cMLmRebQqv

[Perazzimx14]

Get a continuous chain oiler like a Scottoiler and your chain drive bike becomes almost as simple as a shaft drive bike. Top up the 3 oz reservoir every 600 to 100 miles and ride. Chain is self cleaning, never worry about forgetting to lube the chain, chain rarely goes out of adjustment and chain and sprockets last 2 to 3 times longer. A $5 quart of store brand ATF will last you 20,000 +/- miles.

Now all the naysayers will come along and tell you how dirty chain oilers are and that is true if you set them up improperly and dump gobs of oil onto the chain. If you set them  to drip one drop of oil every 60 to 90 seconds your bike will get less fling that than using regular spray on chain oils.

Do not get confused by the cheap periodic chain oilers where you press a button and it dispenses oil for however long you hold the button then stops upon release. These are no better than lubing the chain in you garage top of a moving chain will  and possible worse. Dumping a glob of oil on top of a moving chain will have about 90+ % of it flin right off. You need a continuous oil system that continually applies oil when the bike is moving. You also need to apply the oil to the inside of the chain ideally at the rear sprocket so each drip if flung outwards through the chain and the sprocket carries it around for even distribution over the entire chain surface.

[lti_57]

What it this chain you speak about ?

[John A]

What it this chain you speak about ?

It’s in the throttle on  loop frames like Ambassadors.

[rocker59]

I’ll deviously add to this (it’s a Tuesday, and I’m pissed it’s not Thursday):

RyanF9 says gear oil is the most economically efficient:

https://youtu.be/VnPYdcbcAe0?si=6TB6y7cMLmRebQqv

WD40 to clean it, then a little gear lube to oil it. 

That was my regimen on my Chain-Drive Triumphs.  Usually took just a few moments before a long ride to wipe the chain down. 

It really wasn't a big deal, and rear drive type has never been a buying priority for me. 

As far as messy goes, you should see the rear wheel on my Cal EVT right now.  Weepy bevel box drain plug washer has made a mess.  It happens.

[Huzo]

Oil on the rear tyre…
What could possibly go wrong ?   

[rocker59]

Oil on the rear tyre…
What could possibly go wrong ?   

25 years later, I'm here to talk about it.

Last step is to wipe the excess with an oily shop rag.

My wheel and tire were clean and dry.

Funny, the shaft drive bubble we're in, here at WG.  Millions of chain drive motorcycles around the world survive every day with little or no chain maintenance, or a light oiling and wipe down with a rag...

Hundreds, or possibly thousands of leaky old shaft drive Moto Guzzis run the roads with gear oil splattered everywhere...

[jcctx]

I doubt the modern sealed chains benefit much, if any, from "lube"?? Suspect that spraying with WD-40 to clean makes us feel better about it tho??  :>)

[Perazzimx14]

25 years later, I'm here to talk about it.

Last step is to wipe the excess with an oily shop rag.

My wheel and tire were clean and dry.

Funny, the shaft drive bubble we're in, here at WG.  Millions of chain drive motorcycles around the world survive every day with little or no chain maintenance, or a light oiling and wipe down with a rag...

Hundreds Tens, or possibly thousands into the teens of leaky old shaft drive Moto Guzzis run the roads with gear oil splattered everywhere...

Fixed 

Your post reads with a certain filter eluding chains never fail whereas drives shafts are almost certain failure. AS for leaking sure rear drives leak oil in some instances so do engine cases and transmissions, forks or anything else that has fluid in it that can leak out. In any event there is no clear winner chain drive verse's shaft drive. They both have their positives and negatives. The good thing is we have the choice and can pick either, both or none. 

[inditx]

I use the BMW chain lube right after a ride at fill up time and it works well.
However, one can always replace a chain with a belt.
Oh no, I’ve gone and done another thread drift! 
inditx

[bigbikerrick]

FWIW, my son had a cbr 600 that he commuted on, he put some high tech X ring chain on, that was supposed to be "lubed for life". He got over 20K miles out of the chain with zero added lube. I think the bike had around 30K miles when he sold it with the same chain/sprockets. At that point it needed those replaced. Reason he gave for never lubing, is bike had white wheels, that "showed everything"!  ....... Kids!      My personal favorite chain lube that I have used for many years is Maxima chain wax. Good stuff!
Rick.

[rocker59]

Fixed 

Your post reads with a certain filter eluding chains never fail whereas drives shafts are almost certain failure. AS for leaking sure rear drives leak oil in some instances so do engine cases and transmissions, forks or anything else that has fluid in it that can leak out. In any event there is no clear winner chain drive verse's shaft drive. They both have their positives and negatives. The good thing is we have the choice and can pick either, both or none.

Any mechanical device can fail.  Chains or Shaft drive.  As rare as failures are on Guzzi's bevel boxes, there are lots of potential leak points.  Several seals and threaded holes to leak and dirty up the rear wheel. 

[LowRyter]

after many years of Chain Wax, that Frt 9 kid convinced me.  Owning a Guzzi, I had gear oil laying around. That waxy stuff attracts dirt.   

[kballowe]

In my younger years, we took an old paint brush, and slathered on used motor oil.  It was virtually free, and it kept the rust off those rear chrome laced wheels.

[Guzzistajohn]

this stuff is working great for me 👍

[Stretch]

I mostly use gear oil. Recommended by Honda in the manual of my
old GB500. They also recommended cleaning the chain with kerosene.
I'm of the opinion that cleaning an o-ring chain with a solvent probably does
more harm than good. YMMV. I sold the bike with over 17K on the original
chain, which was pretty much like new. I personally know a KLR owner who
put over 100K on a KLR using only 2 chains. He used gear oil and white
lithium grease. He also advised changing the counter shaft sprocket every
7 or 8K.

I'm working on a years-old bottle of conventional 80W-90 GL-5 with my KLR.

(Is that enough bait  to turn this into a chain-lube oil thread?!   
Does the weight, base oil, or sulphur content matter?)

Gear oil lubes the chain well and makes the bike smell like a Kenworth.

Sometimes I use white lithium grease in a spray bomb.

"Fling" takes some of the dirt and lube with it. Moves said dirt from the chain
to everything around it. And keeps the rear wheel from rusting....

                                                      -Stretch

[Moparnut72]

Even O-ring sealed chains need lube. Keeps the rollers from wearing the sprockets excessively. I have seen sprockets that have teeth that would make a shark envious.    Hard to believe that there is this much discussion abut chain lube on a Guzzi site.
kk 

[brider]

For some sick reason I'll look at any parked chain-drive bike to check on the chain condition. A droopy chain is sometimes hard to criticize because you can't quite be sure of the geometry if it isn't your bike, but a chain with rusty plates makes me want to scream. Besides being just wrong, it's gotta be noisy. And I'm talking about o-ring chains that are supposed to be minimal or no lube. I think even the o-rings need lube to properly seal and slide on the faces they're sealing against, but I think some people just don't like the idea of a greasy or oily chain. There's a Duc in my work parking lot with a dry, rusty-patina chain. I want to sneak out to it and give it a loving spray.

[kballowe]

[Shorty]

Part of the beauty of a bike with a chain is the ease of clutch repair when needed. Like my tagline says.

[Guzzistajohn]

Part of the beauty of a bike with a chain is the ease of clutch repair when needed. Like my tagline says.

I was using chainwax on the OEM chain. But I got rid of that POS chain and started using the 3M stuff on the new chain. It's keeping things much cleaner.


And yes Shorty, I have more confidence in a chain drive machine also. If it works for Moto GP, it works for me!

[faffi]

Part of the beauty of a bike with a chain is the ease of clutch repair when needed. Like my tagline says.

I think that only apply to BMWs and Guzzis, and possibly the Gold Wing? The clutch on my Japanese bikes with shaft final drive, including the CX, have been no harder than chain driven bikes.

[Shorty]

I think that only apply to BMWs and Guzzis, and possibly the Gold Wing? The clutch on my Japanese bikes with shaft final drive, including the CX, have been no harder than chain driven bikes.

That may well be. Never owned a Japanese shaft driven bike. Yet. 

[Perazzimx14]

I think that only apply to BMWs and Guzzis, and possibly the Gold Wing? The clutch on my Japanese bikes with shaft final drive, including the CX, have been no harder than chain driven bikes.

Triumph Tiger 1050 

[9fingers]

this stuff is working great for me 👍

Me too!

[kingoffleece]

https://www.webbikeworld.com/more-motorcycle-chain-lubes-reviewed/

[kingoffleece]

https://www.webbikeworld.com/?s=chain+cleaners+and+lube

[rocker59]

I think that only apply to BMWs and Guzzis, and possibly the Gold Wing? The clutch on my Japanese bikes with shaft final drive, including the CX, have been no harder than chain driven bikes.

that's because the transverse engines on the Japanese shaft-drive bikes have a 90-degree change of direction from the output shaft to the drive shaft.  So, the clutch is accessible, as on a chain drive bike.