so wat is good for a chain

 

For cleaning kerosene or diesel -- for lube keep using the bel-ray or you can use 80 or 90 weight oil.

 

kool thanx for the info

 

I ended up using brake cleaner and lubed it with 80-90 oil. It seems to be working fine, I hope it stays that way.

 

*LUBING THE CHAIN*

I tried a bunch of things: heavy oil (90+ weight), synthetic motor oil (my mechanic buddy likes that and told me to try it), chain wax, and then I also tried white lithium grease.

Here is what I think:

Oil of any weight: flies off too easy and is not thick enough to say on the chain.

Chain wax: wax is not a lubricant. heh (Do they still sell that?)

White lithium grease from a spray can: just the right thickness for the chain and sprockets. Won't fly off too easy. Is a lubricant. I have used it for the longest time and stuck with it -- it became more than just an experiment.

EDIT: to add heading.

 

I know you can still buy chain wax for bicycle chains.

 

Tony -- only problem with white lithium grease is it looks like you got 'happy' on yer chain until you run it 50 miles[8D] Only reason I stopped using the chain grease is it attracted too much sand. Not necessarily on the chain but around my counter sprocket area.

 

I don't understand what you are saying -- "Happy on yer chain" ?



Road dust (unless you ride on beaches). But I think lubrication is still beneficial for the life of the chain/sprockets. I have had the same chain on my '94 since it was new; bike has almost 30,000 miles also. I don't do wheelies (which do stress chains), also I am not into drag racing (also stresses chains). But I used to ride fast and hard through highways and twisties -- but not anymore because I don't have time to be injured or dead. Still, I have had the same chain thoughout all that time and think a factor was because I maintained the chain and lubed it.

Using no lube will indeed keep your rims the cleanest, but at the expense of your chain and sprockets. It is a trade off.

I also don't recommend you use too much lube on there.
too much lube = no good
I like to spray where needed, and then wipe off some of the excess off. If you put on too much, you will just have a trap for dust. All you need is just a thin coat that will be between the chain & the sprockets. Too much on there will get squeezed out anyways and fly off as well.

An example of lube and metal:
With motors components such as cranks within the mains' bearings, and also turbine shafts within their bearings, .0015" is many times the ideal clearance between the journals and the bearings. That is about 1/3 the thickness of white envelope paper -- pretty thin. So you can see, you don't need a thick film at all for lubrication.

Thin coat = good
for me^

 

Hello all, first time being here on the forums. This is the first thread I read and it was very helpful. I'm glad I found this forum!

Be seing you all soon.

 

ive used WD 40 just because 3 motorcycle shops Ive takin my bike to told me to ... been usin it for almot 2 yrs now... works great... never any problems... p.s. one of the guys that told me to owns his shop, races and has been using WD 40 for 10+ yrs