Chain oiling
 

How often do most travelers oil their chain when doing it manually?

Bob

I havehad a Scott Oiler fitted for many years now and wonder why so many people do without. You don't need to use the "proper" Scott Oiler oil, you casn make do iwth chain saw lube, or engine oil if nothing else.

But to answer the question, the best answer is
"as often as needed"
Different bike use in different conditions will mean radically different chain usage and abusage.

HTH

Chain lube interval
 

It depends how long you want a chain to last. I have had a chain last 50,000 miles and I have had a chain last 5000 miles. Even tho you have a 'O' ring or 'X' ring chain you still need to lube the sprocket to chain interface. I like to use a sticky gooey chain lube and lube at least every 200 miles. Or the best is to have a automatic oiler (scott etc. or home made) and just ride. I am amazed how many people come thru the shop where I work and wonder if it is normal for the bike to make that strange noise back there.....it's the chain slapping the swingarm or draging on the ground!

When I can hear it squeaking over the noise of the engine.
Matt

Bill and Bruce,

How do you guys avoid or deal with the mess created by a Scott Oiler? I installed one on my KLR for my rtw trip last year (my first experience with one) and never could get it set so it didn't create an oily, greasy mess. It seemed like either the chain was too dry or there was a mess, no in between. And, my chain (a Sidewinder) broke three times between Vladivostok and Frankfurt, something I had never experienced before in 36 years of riding.

I finally got fed up with the situation, removed the Oiler, and have gone back to Chain Wax, which I apply every 250 - 400 miles. But, if you guys can tell me what I was doing wrong I may try the Oiler again. Thanks.

Bob, the KLR 650 owners manual specifies 400 mile intervals for chain lubing. I would consider that to be the upper limit.

Mike
Idaho
www.rtwrider.net

Seriously though...
When I remembered, every 3 days or so and not at all in the desert.
Matt

Chain wax
 

I use Castrol Chain Wax and recommend to my customers to spray every 500 km or evening if they rode through water or on dirt roads. ope they do it.
The chains DID X-Ring last ca. 25000km on the KLR.
I used to have a Scottoiler on a KLR a while ago and threw it away after a while as it did not extend the lifetime of the chain but created a horrible mess.
The chain wax works very well here in South Africa. If you spray in the evening and don't ride immediately after spraying it does not fly off.

I had a chain snapping on a Suzuki DR 650 in 2002 (original O-Ring chain). Got the bike home on a roller chain from Bearing Man for 140 Rand (20US$) all the way from northern KZN to Cape Town. Had to be adjusted daily but worked. The snapped chain had a broken side plate (through pin hole) and done some 10000km. The chain was far from the wear limit. Replaced all other Suzuki chains with DID. Never had a DID O or X-Ring chain snapping so far.

I've never suffered an "oily mess" with a Scott oiler, I usually turn it down pretty low so it is just about dropping oil and I get around 500-600 miles from a fill (tube is at about 70degrees).

Unless your issues ar KLR related, I am not sure why you had a problem. I am about to fit one to my wifes Ducati.

I always use EP-80 gear oil as recommended by Honda. It's clean with no mess, other that a few drips when I stop- but that's ok.

Good roads

Better no oil than a sticky film which will form an efficient grinding paste with sand.
Yes, there are waxes etc. but I didn't use them because:

a: I have used waxes in the past and remain unconvinced of their lubrication performance. They also seem to last about as far as the supermarket before dissapearing completely. Particularly in the hot for some reason.

b: I had none with me, for the above reason.

Not oiling your chain in the desert seems a fairly common practice, but maybe someone can let us know of a good 'dry' lube. I've used the Castrol one which some people like but I didn't.

Matt

Once again, Matt is spot on. Grinding Paste is exactly what you get when you
mix dirt/sand/grit with oil, especially any sort of Sticky chain lube or chain wax. Useless products and well known for a few years now by many high mileage riders who do on and off road.

No oil in the desert is exactly the right call Matt. Look at the pros and what
they are doing. Dirt bike chains are run dry.

A good lube for road use is Synthetic 90 wt. gear oil OR Dupont Teflon
spray. The Teflon product is good when you are going on and off dirt and are
too lazy to stop and wipe the chain before and after every dirt encounter.

It doesn't pick up much dirt at all. It only stays on about 2 or 300 miles at best however. Useless in rain, where a Scot Oiler or Auto oiler rules.

Pure unadulturated SNAKE OIL. ;-) Larry Krause has been snagging newbies for over 20 years. He makes the cheapest crap out there. Actually, he doesn't
"Make" anythiing. It all comes from Asia and has done WAY before it was any
good. He makes Sprockets too which by some reports are OK. I don't trust the dude. He is a crook, I would avoid him.

In the last ten years I've looked hard at many different chains over the long
term. With our test bikes and my own personal bikes I've had a good opportunity to see how they do.

The clear winner at this point (and I have NO idea exactly why) is DID.
Their chains are out lasting all others. Some DID OEM chains are not great, but the X ring VM aftermarket ones are the very best I've used. My Tiger (now sold) was at 30K on the chain and still looking good and requiring only ONE adjustment in this time. Useage included lots of dirt ridiing, wheelies and
general hooliganism.

I'm on my 2nd DID X ring VM on my current Vstrom (45K miles on bike). The original OEM chain only lasted 10K miles. (I take good care of my chains but ride hard at times) I went with the DID.

This first DID lasted 25K miles ( so now up to 35K on bike) but still looked very good. But since I was looking at a 7K mile trip I thought I better change it out. I always change to new sprockets as well. Always steel, never Aluminum.
At 25K the countershaft sprocket was slightly hooked. The rear sprocket was not too bad but was sharpening up some. Not good.

This time around I am going to try something some very experienced LD riders
passed on. They said with high torque/power bikes the countershaft sprocket
tends to wear prematurely. Especially with "spirited" riding. Once it starts to
"Hook" even slightly, the chain will begin to wear more rapidly.

So they say to change out the CS sprocket only at about 10 to 15K miles. I will try this. The OEM Suzuki sproket is only around $25. They claim 40K miles
from the DID if well cared for.

On the road I maintain my chain everyday. On long rides of 500 miles in day or so I use my home made gravity feed oiler. I use 90 wt. gear oil very sparingly.

Chain lube and other sticky waxes and oils build up and collect spluge around the Countershaft sprocket, creating a NIGHTMARE clean up job. Also, all this
collected grit just continues to grind away, even if your chain is clean, that
crap is STILL in there and will get on the chain...again.

So, bottom line for me? Keep it clean. I use WD40 or solvent or diesel to clean my chain every morning. I wipe down chain and try to clean in and around
the rubber swing arm buffers, above and below. Then I oil with a very small
amount of 90 wt gear oil. If I'm using the auto oiler I use a very minimal amount, except in rain. All this takes about 5 minutes. Big deal.

Adjustment and alignment is also critical. Set adjustment according to your
load. Check chain slack with rider(s) and gear on bike. Don't run a too tight
chain. Loose is bad too. (noisey, rough feeling)

When headed into dirt on the Vstrom (or any chain drive bike) I stop and clean off the chain the best I can. Oil and dirt/sand/grit are not happy bedfellows. Always run your chain "Dry" in the dirt. Trust me, it will last longer
than if you oil it. 40 years of dirt riding has taught this lesson very well.

Once you resume the pavement, oil her up ...... Lightly! You just don't need
a lot of oil on your chain!!!

Well, time to go clean my chain!! ;-)

I'm off to Norway next week for a couple of weeks. I have a wee bottle of wet bicycle chain lube I'm going to try out. I'll let you know if it's any good!
Matt :)

<<How does Sidewinder compare to DID? I know from personal experience that Sidewinder fails completely at customer service, they just don't want to be bothered with business. And their priceguide on the site dates from 2004 (yet doesn't list any prices anymore, so you can't even get an idea of costs). Is their stuff actually as good as some claim, or are they just selling a Sidewinder Snake Oil?>>

I'm inclined to agree that the Sidewinder chains are "snake oil." Certainly I couldn't recommend one after having mine break three times. I chose this chain for my rtw trip based on Sidewinders claim of 14,000 lb tensile strength, the highest in the industry. The chain certainly looked strong enough, appearing more "beefy" (for lack of a better word) than other chains. But breaking three times speaks for itself, I think, and that's starting the trip with a brand new chain, supposedly Sidewinders best (and most expensive).

I've used RK chains extensively in the past and never experienced any sort of problem with one, so I'm back to using these now.

Mike
Idaho
www.rtwrider.net

Hey Mike,
Man, I can't believe you had a chain break 3 times!!:cursing: Holy crap, even
Krause's Slimwinder....its low spec Taiwanese but even their chains usually do not break. Wear out quick, yes, but break. Now that is unusual. Jeez, I haven't broken chains since running my old Triumphs in the 60's. (bad old days:nono:)

Any unusual circumstances as to why this happened?

I used to use RK exclusively until I discovered DID about 10 years ago. I've also used Regina, Tsubaki, and EK. All pretty good chains. Most OEM chains are fairly low spec. But the aftermarket ones are usually much better if you get the high spec one. The RK is quite good too.

The stock OEM chain on the Vstrom is a DID. It too is low spec and typically lasts between 8 and 15K miles. (this from reports I've seen on the 3000 member Vstrom2 group and on Rapid forum Vstrom group over a five year period)

The DID VM X ring is...THE... chain on both these forums with many riders going over 30K miles. The only negative I've ever heard was from an Iron Butt rider who had an incompetent mechanics install a Clip Link DID on his Vstrom right before the Rally. He was in the top five when the damn thing came apart. (not the chains fault, but improper installation and the fact they used a Clip link on a 90 hp motorcycle)

When it came off, it took the engine case with it. Game over. He finished the
Iron Butt way down the order on another bike he bought. Guy name of Rick
Sauter.

My Vstrom has done way more dirt than average and I expect to see 30K on
my current DID VM X ring. I am very pleased.