racerraul

Out of inspiration from the StickyHydro thread and the knock on WD40, I want to share with you how I decided to clean my chains and why.

You do what you want... but I am sharing this for those who care and that are not easily persuaded by myth...

You ever read the instructions on one of those cans of chain lube? 1st thing they tell you is to make sure the chain is warm. There is some good science behind that... you see metal expands with heat and contracts with cold.

The idea is to get their gooey stick shit to penetrate as much as possible, and with a heated chain, the fluids remain thin longer to penetrate before settling into a thick sticky mess.

Well I say fuck that...

Todays chains have all their lubrication sealed in. So in reality all you need to worry about is the friction of the exposed metals. Paying close attention to the construction of a bike chain will reveal that the center piece of the chains (rollers) that touch the sprockets, are lubricated underneath, allowing the roller to... well roll... as it guides the chain around the sprocket.

That minimizes the fiction against the exposed metals, so what you want to avoid is trapped dirt to grind them to death.

I don't think we need a scientific test to prove that gooey sticky substances can hold dirt, or whatever else you throw at it. So my theory, and I am calling it that because I don't have concrete data to prove it., is simply this... no gooey shit, less trapped dirt.

Not trying to prove myself wrong here... I am simply going to provide my educated guess based on hard to dispute scenarios... good old fucking common sense

So I let my chain cool down... contracted metals should equate to a better oring seal, right? And them spray down the chain with WD40... I then use a rag to wipe it clean, repeat, lather, and rinse and wipe again.

The result is a very clean surface with very little dirt to no dirt in sight.

The gooey sticky shit requires that you use a wire brush to clean it, and quite fankly I think there is a MUCH higher potential to doing damage to the O-Rings with a wire brush than using WD40...

Good luck with the brushes
Might want to consider hard bristle plastic ones...

???

if everything metal expands when hot, wouldn't the o rings be tighter and sealing better when hot than cold?



either way, how long do your chains last? and what sprockets do you use?

I really don't ride enough to wear out chains, I put one on my old bike cause it was worn when I got it, and it never showed any wear by the time I sold it. and that was with the cheap vortex alum sprocket that everyone seems to hate because they wear. so I have just stuck with what I do.

before every other ride or so, I put it on the stand, put a rag under the chain and spray the other side with some white lube I have and rub the extra off. it seems to take most of the black shit with it.

I've never done more than that, but I also try to stay away from sand.

racerraul

Good point... metal expands and contracts in all directions. so in theory you could say there prob is no real difference in the seal of the O-rings... Since the metal is expanding and contracting all around it. For the seal loose you'd have to have a difference in expansion or contraction on either side of the seal.

My guess would be that with heat the O-ings stretch with the metal and when cold the O-Rings are squeezed by the metal...

My last chain was making nasty noises and the rear sprocket (steel) was just begining to show some wear, the front sprocket had significantly more wear. all stock parts... 18k miles.

I can't remember on my prev bikes...

vertigo

I just replace them every 1000 miles.

racerraul

High Roller$$$$$

racerraul

I just wanted to say that WD40 is also great on Computers...
Specially if you run windows... when windows hangs, just spray some WD40 on the data ports on the mother board... it should unclog the ports and lubricate them for some easy added improved computing performance...

WD40 RAWKS!

Fauropitotto

Sounds like BS to me.

The gooey sticky stuff has three purposes.

One is to lube the metal to metal contact (anyone with any mechanical knowledge knows that metal to metal surfaces NEED lubrication. Especially those that move and get hot),

Secondly, most motorcycle chain lubes have two phases. A thin solvent that can seep into the tight spaces carrying the gooey stuff. The solvent evaporates, leaving the gooey stuff in place without flinging off.

Thirdly, he's right. The chainlinks have their own lubrication, and the Orings are there to keep them in. We need lube to protect the orings from damage to allow them to keep the lube inside the link. If you find a single broken oring, its time to change. There's a good chance you'll break more if you fail to lubricate the chain properly.


Again, This is BS. IMO.

???

if your chain lasts 18k miles, then I'd say your way works just fine.


wonder how long it would go if you did nothing at all to it.


I believe the 10 has maybe 8k on it, and it hasn't even needed adjusted yet lol. in this day and age, seems chain care is over rated. or atleast it doesn't matter how you do it. both of our ways seems to be 180* from each other. you keep yours clean from the grit and I only really wipe down the outside so it doesn't look black. leaving all the grit the sticky stuff picked up.

I'd say just slap a new o ring chain on and ride for a few years. you will be ready for a change before the bike is.

kairojya

I get frustrated with cleaning and lubing, I've tried a few things but still haven't found a method that I think is worthwhile.

I do like when the chain and rear sprocket at least look clean as if they are brand new. I haven't had to adjust mine yet either and I'm into 9,000 miles.

kawie636

Here is my theory on the whole thing. Ive repllaced my chain 2 times. ive got roughly 35k miles on my bike. ive replaced front and rear sprockets once. all i do is clean the chain with simple green. go for a ride get the chain hot and spray some chain wax. ive never had a problem.

Now i let my chain go for about 6 months and didnt lube it once. well it ate my sprockets and snapped my chain. a well maintened chain atleast every 500 miles is needed.