chain cleaning & lubrication

[BillyHey]

Being a total newbie when it comes to motorcycles, I've been flicking through the owners manual and notice the advice is to lube the drivechain every 200 miles, after riding on wet road or in the rain.  Is this normal? Some more general advice I'd read online was suggesting 600-1000 miles.

Is it worth getting a Scottoiler?  What does everyone else currently do?

[Shandy]

It's true, you are supposed to lube / clean more often after riding in inclement weather frequently.

However, how one man chooses to use his lube is a very personal thing  and it depends on the individual 

Best thing is to work out your own routine, I just do it every time she needs a wash, I will clean the chain too.

A quick visual check every so often will allow you to get to grips of how and when you ride and how often you need to clean and or lube chain.

I'd say every 500 miles is a good start and then alter as required. I'd also suggest cleaning and lube on a two to one ration. I.e. clean and lube then next time just lube, then clean and lube, etc...

If you clean the chain you need to lube it but if you lube you don't necessarily need to clean. got it

[PaulyC]

what are you guys using for chain lube?  I'm typically of the belief that if you just actually lube the chain often, it's more important than the type (on a street bike), but wondering what you guys are doing...

[markjanemhan]

Originally Posted by PaulyC

what are you guys using for chain lube?

I use Motul C2 Road Chain Lube.  Good product, just use sparingly to avoid  fling.

[BillyHey]

This is a good watch - 55 chain lubes tested

[MtnTiger]

Pretty comprehensive video.  To be honest I watched the first section to see what the premise of the testing is and the last section to see the conclusion.   

I was happy to see the Maxima Chain Wax near the top of the list, that is what we have used for years now with decent results.   Both on our street bikes with road grime and our enduro's that see a lot of trail dirt and water. 

[PaulyC]

I've been watching the previously linked video and others... this one on cleaner was interesting... after some testing, WD40 DOESN'T get through the O-rings... so can be used as a good chain cleaner... so if you wanna go cheap.  Clean with WD40, Lube with Gear Oil!!  Basic! 

[Shandy]

Both Bennetts and Ryan F9 are great sources of info for this stuff.

F9 is generally first but products featured are often not available outside North America or different to those in UK.

Bennetts being UK based are much better for us however, production quality isn't as good.

I subscribe to both though, the most interesting for me recently is how Bennetts now consider all types of garden sheds as garages, so long as they are on a concrete base. Great news for me as I use old summer house as garage.

[mrlm]

An important point to note is that you are not actually lubricating the chain as it has x-rings. Most of the grease will stay clean and sealed inside for the life of the chain.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ring_chain

It is good to have a bit of oil on the outside to keep the rings smooth and prevent surface rust but most of it just collects dirt and does nothing else.

If the chain looks dirty after a few hundred miles clean it, if it looks dry use a little lube and spread it around with a brush.

Scottoiler has no place on modern chains unless there is some special reason for it.

[markjanemhan]

Originally Posted by PaulyC

if you wanna go cheap.  Clean with WD40

Or if you wanna go even cheaper, buy yourself a container of kerosene from the hardware store. Works great!