Chain lube and cleaning

[Wombat]

Bought myself one of those "Grunge Brush"s today. That should be good for getting all that crap off the chain.

Bob

[trix]

..I recently fitted the loobman to my TRX
http://www.chainoiler.co.uk/
It works quite well. There are pictures of a set up on a TRX on the website. I copied this originally but found that it wasn't in a very good location. The oil took to long to get to the chain so I repositioned mine lower and further back on the frame, near the fuel tap, and the oil goes straight on.
I do a lot of miles and its much easier than putting it on a paddock stand and oiling it every 300miles. It does get messy on the swingarm and wheel but its very easy to clean up. Also, at this time of year, its no harm to have a nice coat of oil on the undercarriage! One quick wipe with a rag soaked in kerosene and the wheel and swingarm are clean and shiny. They'd be krusty and caked in salt otherwise.

I'll try and post some pictures on here.

[arrivisto]

I had a Scottoiler on a VFR750 years ago, and it worked well; so when I recently bought a Yamaha TRX 850, I decided to fit a chain-oiler. I bought a Motrax Lubetronic unit from eBay (new, unused, half-price!) , and I wired it into the lighting circuit, as I always ride with some lights on.

The Motrax sprocket dispenser was pretty crappy, so I fitted a Scottoiler "Dual Injector". Some people say this item is a gimmick; but I reckon it must be better to feed oil onto "O"rings on both sides of the chain. The Dual Injector is fairly rugged, but somewhat overpriced.

I also bought a Scottoiler Lube-Tube, but I wasn't too impressed; so I sold that and built my own oil reservoir. I made it from a 7" length of large-bore reinforced clear poly-tubing (available from a chandlery), with a bung at each end made from half a cotton reel, secured with a stainless jubilee clip!

The Motrax unit is jammed in place by the rear brake fluid reservoir; and the home-made oil reservoir fits in the R/H dead space of the seat cowling.

I use aerosol lube as well, but I am well aware that the grease attracts grit and turns into grinding paste; so one must be sparing. The great thing about a chain oiler is that the oil washes the grit off and keeps the chain clean. I sometime add thin 3-in-1 oil to the mix, just to keep things flowing. Also,when I can be bothered, I use a paintbrush to paint a film of Scottoil over the links.

[Trixz]

I was in search for the ultimate (is that possible??) chainlube for a long time, now found Valvoline white chain lube and it works fine. Sticks to the chain very well, almost no spatters, only spraying it on isn't the best (no spray will ever be eejj )

Greetz
Gerben

[arrivisto]

Since fitting my chain-oiler (see above) the chain has been beautifully clean, as has the back sprocket, which no longer gets gunged up with congealed grease. I have been getting up to 55-60 miles per gallon, which is the best I have ever had on a big bike (I was expecting 45-50 mpg). I can get 340 km (200miles) out of a tankful. It is clear that the lubed chain is seriously reducing frictional losses. I had to push the pike the other day (ran out of petrol after 345km!); and I was amazed at how freely it ran; almost like pushing a push-bike!

[devlin]

I have been a fan of the Maxima chain wax for a long time. Recently rather use that i used my Finish Line Wet Lube that I use on my road and mountain bikes. The difference in the effort needed to rotate the back wheel was impressive. There was only minimal splatter as well that was easily cleaned up afetr the initial ride. Didn't even need a degreaser/solvent there was that small amount. Note I am using the squeeze bottle not the aerosol and I put a decent drop onto each side of each roller. Sure it takes time but I am putting the lube where I need it and not everywhere. The chain to sprocket interface gets whats left of teh wax and the extra of the wet lube that flows.

http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/c ... y-lube.htm

This is a new product out that I have been waiting to get my hands on. Could be teh ultimate lube.

http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/pro-road.htm

[Greg]

I've always used Scott-oilers and have never had any problems with them - I got one from Ebay which didn't have the little ceramic thing to even out the pressure pulses and with a bit of blagging the gal at Scottoiler sent me a new one AND a dual nozzle free of charge ... BONUS!
I also have the squidgy tube reservoir thing - I was dubious at first, but it does what it says it should do, and contrary to Arrivisto's finding mine worked perfectly, but it does need to be very soft and pliable to allow the oil to flow without building up a vacuum. Arrivisto - do you put a breather into the tube thing you made?

As far as the oil is concerned, I've run out of Scottoil now, but have heard that using chainsaw oil is a good alternative as it has virtually no 'fling'... I'll try that next - I'm off to the garden centre to get some this mornig!

Greg

[HansJ]

I have been a fan of the Maxima chain wax for a long time. Recently rather use that i used my Finish Line Wet Lube that I use on my road and mountain bikes. The difference in the effort needed to rotate the back wheel was impressive. There was only minimal splatter as well that was easily cleaned up afetr the initial ride. Didn't even need a degreaser/solvent there was that small amount. Note I am using the squeeze bottle not the aerosol and I put a decent drop onto each side of each roller. Sure it takes time but I am putting the lube where I need it and not everywhere. The chain to sprocket interface gets whats left of teh wax and the extra of the wet lube that flows.

http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/c ... y-lube.htm

This is a new product out that I have been waiting to get my hands on. Could be teh ultimate lube.

http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/pro-road.htm

I've heard from other sources that Maxima's products is "da shithe", haven't tried it yet, but will as soon as I source a dealer that has it in stock.

[handsomejackuk]

my trx is shaft drive so don't bother with lubing...

Jak II

[devlin]

What?! Your TRX has been shafted?!

[arrivisto]

I've just come back from a 4-day trip on the TRX to Magny Cours, France, during which time we covered around 1250 miles. The chain-oiler was brilliant, keeping the chain clean and oily despite constant rain on the outwards journey. The contribution to good fuel consumption of a free-running drive chain is amazing; I am getting over 55mpg! One of the arms of the Dual Injector came adrift at the end of the trip; but Scottoiler are sending me some more of the thin black tube free-of-charge; thanks!

On one of the days, I went for a fast ride in the Massif Centralwith three other bikers. They were on: a new Triumph ST, and a pair of Fazer 1000s, one the latest model, one a bit older. I know I was giving away several cc's and a lot of horsepower, but I could only just keep up with them. The main thing is that I didn't feel confident laying the TRX over to the extent that I have on other bikes (eg. MZ Skorpion, or Suzuki SV650). I just felt that the Michelin Macadams were not giving me the sort of grip that I was hoping for. I reckon I'll soon be putting on some stickier tyres. (The November 2008 edition of "Bike" has a useful comparison of tyres for sport/touring bikes).

[idl1975]

I've just come back from a 4-day trip on the TRX to Magny Cours, France, during which time we covered around 1250 miles. The chain-oiler was brilliant, keeping the chain clean and oily despite constant rain on the outwards journey. The contribution to good fuel consumption of a free-running drive chain is amazing; I am getting over 55mpg! One of the arms of the Dual Injector came adrift at the end of the trip; but Scottoiler are sending me some more of the thin black tube free-of-charge; thanks!

On one of the days, I went for a fast ride in the Massif Centralwith three other bikers. They were on: a new Triumph ST, and a pair of Fazer 1000s, one the latest model, one a bit older. I know I was giving away several cc's and a lot of horsepower, but I could only just keep up with them. The main thing is that I didn't feel confident laying the TRX over to the extent that I have on other bikes (eg. MZ Skorpion, or Suzuki SV650). I just felt that the Michelin Macadams were not giving me the sort of grip that I was hoping for. I reckon I'll soon be putting on some stickier tyres. (The November 2008 edition of "Bike" has a useful comparison of tyres for sport/touring bikes).

Macadams are frightening, so no shame there. I have seen truly keen riders going quickly on them, but the feeling when you lean them over can be compared to worn-down dirt bike knobblies on tarmac. I'm sure they were the best thing since back in 1981...but almost anything in that test will be better.

[heanoid]

sorry trixynuts ..do NOT use white spirits on any O ring chain it WILL eventually dissolve the rings its one of only two things to dissolve silicone rubber, i know coz i make and test all types of silicone rubber and the company i work for makes the stuff they make the rings out of

[Wombat]

A rag soaked in kerosene is effective at getting the black "gorilla snot" off chains. Use a race stand to raise the rear wheel (or a mate to tweak it off the ground using the side stand as a lever and then use a block of wood under the swingarm to hold it up). After cleaning allow the chain to dry for a while and apply a light coat of chain lube/wax (Maxima or Motul seem to work for me).
If your chain was very dirty and unlubricated you may find you need to adjust it after cleaning/lubing. Good luck - and wear latex gloves to keep that filthy crap from getting under your finger nails if you're bothered about that sort of thing!

Yeah, and dont adjust the chain when it's dirty and oily, then clean the chain. "Cos it will loosen up. Learnt that mistake

Bob

[arrivisto]

Since my last post, I have junked my Michelin Macadams, and have fitted Pirelli Diablo Stradas (the "sport-tourer" version of the Diablo). Some mates reckoned that the Pirellis would not be as sticky as I had wanted; but so far I have been fairly pleased with them. I haven't had any nasty Macadam-type slips when cornering; and although I haven't scrubbed the new tyres to the very limit, I'm pleasantly surprised at just how far I have been able to lean the bike over.

I have also replaced the silencers with Art cans, which weigh a fraction of the stock units. (Why did Yamaha make them so heavy?!!). My bike is black paint, black frame, silver engine; so the gold cans look a bit incongruous; but it's always good to remove a bit of weight. The straight-thru Art cans sounded lovely, but I would probably have got stopped by the plod; so I put in some Viper baffles to tone the noise down a bit. The Viper baffles are rather crude and heavy items; and I may cut them a bit shorter, and open them up just a bit. The baffles have a "BS" stamp, so they should be legal if I get stopped. I doubt if there's much improvement in power; but I'm pretty sure it's a bit better than stock.

On the chain oiler front, I am ditching my home-made header tank tube for the chain-oiler (see above) as , although it worked, it was prone to leak onto the back tyre! My new plan is to use the TRX radiator expansion/overflow tank as the header tank for the oiler, as it is in the perfect position, with a nice filler cap under the rider's seat. I propose to fit a small coolant header tank in the nose fairing; but to date I haven't found one that will fit. I bought a Gilera Runner unit off eBay, but it was much too big. I will have to keep trying until I find one that will do: otherwise I can get one made up. (To remind you, I have an electronic Motrax Lubetronic oiler with a Scottoiler "Dual-Injector" at the sprocket).

The only mods I have made to the bike are a front "fender-extender", to keep crap off the engine, and a glass-fibre hugger (likewise!). I also put in some platinum spark plugs. I now propose to fit a tubular grab rail, as the standard pillion strap is so poor. I rarely carry a pillion, but when I do it's important for them to have something to hang on to. The grab rail will also be useful when fixing a tail-pack.

Finally, my bike originally had a speedo in kmh; and I do like to know what speed I'm doing when I pass a speed camera. The mph figures were too tiny to read quickly. So I bought a mph unit on ebay, and sold the original (on eBay!) to a guy in the Czech Republic. I was impressed at how easy it was to swap the clocks. Also, I normally like to check a speedo reading against a GPS; because while some vehicles have very accurate speedos, most overstate the speed by up to 10%. However, this comparison exercise is much easier to do on a car than on a bike; so does anyone know how accurate the TRX's speedos are, please?