Hey guys!

Well I figured I'd write up a simple F3 chain cleaning walkthough after my biker friend next door said,
-- "Wait, you have to clean your chain? I just put wd-40 on it"

Dun Dun Dun!

( Feel free to request any of these how-to posts to be stickies, I am trying to build us up an F3 database walkthrough page! )

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Alrighty well first thing first, you need yourself some chain lube or chain wax.
I recommend one of the 2 listed below, but feel free to use any other.
I hear lots of people using gear oil and it working perfect (Jules?).



I prefer and use chain wax simply because it sticks well and lasts quite a long time,
(and has easy easy easy clean up.)
Some lubes tend to sling grease and it goes all over the bike and swingarm..

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Ok here's a picture and quick list of things to have which makes the whole process much easier.



aside from your chain lube/wax:

1) Rear wheel stand makes this process take 1/4 of the time
2) Nitrile gloves are a must for this process
3) Toothbrush to get in the chain crevices.
4) Bowl with gasoline (about 6 ounces) does all the cleaning magic!
---EDIT: I would recommend kerosene instead because it's much safer.
I did this outside, but the fumes are very dangerous.
5) Engine Degreaser will clean up the gasoline and any other dirt
6) Purple power will take off all the rest!

I also recommend lots of paper towels or some rags you can throw away.
This process will get messy.

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Here she is.. not really all too dirty... but I am OCD.



Here you can see all the grime on the chain



She is in need of some love

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After rear standing your bike, (and putting it in neutral)
Dip your tooth brush in the gasoline and work your way around the chain
You need to dip and clean the top, left, right and inside of the chain.





Note: Never, ever, ever, clean your bike while the engine is running.
I have seen wayy to many disasters happen.

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It's gonna drip ALOT, so have some raggs or something to catch all the debris.



Make sure you get the whole sprocket as well!
Work your way around the groves and nuts and whole drive!





Once you clean the chain, sprocket and rear drive, you need to get off the gasoline!
Spray on some engine degreaser too all areas,
Feel free to use the whole can, the more, the better!
work your way around the elements again with the toothbrush...
since engine degreaser is white and foamy... it's kinda like flouride!

After it sits for a minute, hose her down with Purple power!





When you are finished,
Your chain should look something like this:



Take your bowl and rinse it out, fill it up with warm water,
and pur it over your chain, sprockets, and rear drive...
It will wash off any excess so your chain is bare!

Let it dry for a few minutes or wipe it off!~

EDIT: thanks to Kuro for his input
---before you put the lube/wax on, it's a good idea to warm the chain up a bit
so fire her up and take her around the block or so...
and then when the chain is warm..

Fianlly, apply the chain lube/wax:



You can see what the wax looks like on the chain,
Spray on all 4 sides until the whole chain is covered...
usually i get some on the sprockets and drive, but that's fine.





And BOOM.
You are done!

Easy as cake.

Lemme know what you guys think...
This was a bit rushed.. so i am positive i missed a few things...
Feel free to step in and add any additional info!

 

personally, i would never use gas on my chain. the o-rings dont like the gas, or maybe it is the other way around. and the tooth brush may push debris down into/past the orings, causing issues down the road.
i like to clean mine with kerosene on a rag, and then i use chain saw chain oil, again on a rag. just to put a coating on the chain to keep it from rusting.

 

Not trying to sound dumb, but why can't you just put some chain oil on it and call it a day?

 

you want to keep the chain clean to avoid wear and potential damage to the orings. the orings are what keeps the factory lube on the pivot pins of the chain. the lube is to keep it from rusting. i like chain saw chain oil because it is very stick, and wont fly off. it makes a terrible mess of the undertail, wheel, and license plate. it is all i used on my busa, and the original chain now has 15000km on it, and still going strong. another thing to watch is to keep the chain adjusted properly.

 

The old lube will have dirt and debris in it, eating at the orings and chain. Putting new lube on top of it won't do any good with the old being caked on in place.

 

well you might just be right...
ive been cleaning my chain like this for the last year or so and it's been perfectly fine..

 

miller makes a good point but i really do like this, i actually didnt know you had to clean it, i think the engine degreaser alone would work great, maybe use it then wipe it off to get the bulk off then spray again and use the tooth brush that way you wont be pushing big chucks of dirt anywhere. i think thats what ill be doing, i learn so much from this forum i love it

 

http://www.ducatitech.com/info/chain.html
here's a pretty decent link about a guy and what he uses.

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on a side note, dirt showed me an interesting article here also.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345397

i think some people are skeptic about using gasoline to clean your chain, and in that case, i would strongly recommend using kerosene instead.

in that article the guy clearly says wd-40 doesn't harm the o-rings,
however from the effects of using it several years ago on my standard chain, I would not recommend it.

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I guess, since I've been doing it the same way for so long now, and all has been fine so far, I don't think ill be changing my habits to much.

 

I've been hemming and hawing about this how to. I think the thing that bothers me is the gasoline thing. Here is what I'm seeing in my mind. Someone comes on here and reads this, maybe some nubee who lives up north. Someone waiting to be able to get out on his bike when the thaw happens. He figures what a great thing to do, I'll clean my chain. He's in the garage, cleaning away, and in the corner is his gas hot water heater, pilot lite and all. Next thing you know there's a big boom and, well you know where it can go from here. If they get the chance to ask him... what were you thinking??

There's a tiny little piece of me that would feel a little responsible. Even it it was only just a little.

It's one thing to have gas in a tank, that goes through a hose to an engine, but in an open container with a brush spritzing it all about with fumes going who knows where... I just can't in all good faith recommend this proceedure. I know you haven't had any problems and probably take all the precautions, but whos to say that the next person will be as cautious.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox and go put my flame suit on (no pun intended).

 

That's actually a really good point,
I really never thought about it that way...
My bike stayed off, in the cold, out on the sidewalk by myself
I never really considered the possibility of a fire.

Well, I would imagine the Engine Degreaser would be just fine then,
the gasoline just made the process much faster.

Ill edit the post above on the how-to