When I purchased my bike the chain was bone dry so I sprayed on some white "chain lube" and it worked fine. After 3-4 applications it turned black n gunky, what options are there for cleaning it?? Ive heard of gasoline, diesel, degreaser, kerosene..... what do u guys prefer and use? Also what type of lubricant do u all use and find most effective with minimal clean up later on?? Thanks

 

I always use paraffin (kerosene to you guys) with a brush in a bowl ...I hold it beneath the chain and liberally brush the para over the chain and watch the dirt and grit just fall into the bowl below, then I move the chain around to do the rest ..it doesnt take long, once it has dried off its down to personal preference .. some are happy with spray chain lubes etc but I find them incredibly sticky due to anti fling properties and they just seem to hold more grit in the end ..I just use gear hypoid 80/90 oil applied with the tube as I rotate the chain around ..I use this sparingly and very frequently and my chains never seem to wear out :-)

Jules

 

thanks jules, i'll look for that and try it out becuase that spray on deal didnt please me at all. Do u also clean the little procket on the front? Can your pour these quemicals on the sprockets, specially the front one?? Anyproblem what so ever? thanks again

 

I tend not to checo, its hard to reach and I rely on the paraffin soaked chain to clean it ... back one is easy obviously but with the front being so small and have a parafin soaked chain pass over it I think its ok, never had a problem anyway :-)

Jules

 

chain cleaner...kerosene, brake cleaner...yep yep

 

Good info Jules, Im having trouble finding the "hypoid gear oil" locally, do u think another brand with the same weight 80/90 work also??

 

I generally just put my bike on a stand, use a toothbrush and simplegreen and scrub the crap off that way. I've got a cookie tray I put under the chain and just watch the filth crumble away/off the chain. then I use whatever chain lube I have at the time. usually the champion chain lube I get at walmart since I also lube cables with it.

 

An old tooth brush and tide high effeciency laundry soap. Spray it on ,give it a little rub with the toothbrush and hose it offwith water. This is the best degreaser ever. Try it you wont be dissapointed.
And...If you dont like the way it works on the greasy bits of the bike you can always wash your clothes with it!

 

I cleaned the rear sprocket and when I removed the front cover for the smaller sprocket.... surprise surprise



it looks like the previous owner never took the time, well with a little elbow grease and kerasene I was able to wash it off completely!!! Thank u all forthe advice!

 

I used Kero to clean and I used 80w-90 gear oil to lube up my chain on my 4i. I just used SuperTech gear oil I got at wal-mart...worked great....however...when I got a white jacket...i started getting spots on my jacket from the chain throwing the oil/dirt. So I cleaned the chain off the kero. wiped it down real nice with a dry rag and then started using this stuff...WORKS GREAT...need to spray it on a little more often but works great...no more spots on my jacket and the chain stays cleaner much longer....had 16k miles on my last chain when I sold the bike....

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motor...chain-lube.htm



"The spray comes out relatively clear and, strange as it may sound, smells to me exactly like a cross between WD-40 and coconut, if you can imagine. It's very liquid as it comes out, but within seconds the liquid evaporates, leaving a waxy, slippery feeling residue that is supposed to repel water and last a long time.




LOWES sells it...it's about $5 a can.