Triumphrat

danfost · 06-20-2008, 12:52 AM

Did Triumph give any more information on chain maintenance in the Service Manual other than placing it in the scheduled maintenance chart? In the Owners Handbook they recommend Mobil produts, is this it? I'm thinking about using ProLink MFR Chain Lube.

TripleThreat · 06-20-2008, 10:05 AM

danfost,

Any lubricant that is specifically made for o-ring chains should be fine. I use Bel-Ray Chain Wax and have had no problems at all. I can check my service manual later today and let you know if I find anything special in it.

I usually put the chain wax on my bike after a ride, while the chain is still warm so that it seeps into the chain as much as possible.

TripleThreat

Will · 06-20-2008, 01:22 PM

I have used all kinds of lubes on the chain, and they all work fine as long as the chain is adjusted and aligned.

Budo · 06-21-2008, 12:01 AM

I lube and clean w/ WD-40. A lot of people don't agree with me, but I have never had a chain fail on me and always have good chain life

7589 · 06-21-2008, 07:11 AM

The stock chain on the D675 is an O-ring? Interesting...

If so... why did they put a X-ring on the Sprint ST?

-Kory

kneepad · 06-22-2008, 06:12 AM

I've had bikes for 35+ years. Always kept the slack and alignment ok and lubed with any designated bikechainlube/vax after about every time filling gas. Never wiped or cleaned the chain. Sprayed with the little tube aiming for the o-rings by having the bike running on 1st gear on the stand. So after a while I end up with a crappy looking (although perfectly functioning) chain and black spots all over the rear end.
I can't have that now on my new 675SE. So I now do the lube with the chain at rest and let it soak in overnight. Since I'm spraying from top down on the lower part of the chain I don't see the "soaking-in" being very efficient on the upper part...Maybe one should spray from under to up as well?
The time consuming thing is "wiping off excess with a cloth" which i.e. is new to me. To keep it the way it came from the factory means rubbing every individual plate intensively to get the dirt off. And the back sides you can't see so they take even more time. I'd like to avoid degreasing for obvious reasons. But is there any shortcut to that maneuver?

Will · 06-22-2008, 12:42 PM

Sure, the shortcut is to get the bike good and dirty and don't worry about it!

Honestly, I don't know a good shortcut for keeping the chain clean. There is a tool called a Grunge Brush that helps, but I don't have one and my chain always looks awful.

kneepad · 06-22-2008, 01:03 PM

Thank you Will. I see the point. I went through a lot of info on this subject by typing in "chain cleaning" on the search engines here on RAT and that left me more confused than ever. People seem to just skip lubing at all, warnings about WD40, happy about WD40, never use kerosine/gasoline-do use kerosine...Chain manufacturer says you can't and don't have to lube o-rings. Well, all I wanted was the chain to LOOK ready for the showroom. So an occasional squirt of WD40 or similar could would probably not damage anything in the cleaning process using my old underware (as cloth....) concentrating on the sideplates. And after that any lube to prevent corrosion.

Will · 06-22-2008, 09:42 PM

The lube works on the sprockets, too. An 0-ring chain has internal lube, so the chain itself doesn't need so much lube, but it will be happier with regular maintenance, including lube. Heat is the enemy of chains, as is grit. Regular cleaning and lubing will keep both heat and grit at a minimum. The whole point is to keep the chain's interaction with the sprockets lubed a little. The actual bearing surface won't have lube on it very long, but the insides of the sideplates will stay lubed for a while. Also, if you keep the chain scrupulously aligned, you can get away with a whole lot less lube than you need if there's a misalignment. My theory is that alignment and a bit of slack are more important to O-ring chain life than lube, and I have got up to 20K miles out of a chain in the past. I don't seem to be doing quite so well, lately, but a fair number of my miles has been on the track, and that's very hard on chains, especially if you toss the bike into the gravel and fill the chain with nasty grit.

TemeTriple · 06-26-2008, 06:07 PM

Hey TatRedHead. Don't know if anyone answered you. Cost. The Sprint ST is as Sport TOURER. This means it is not only supposed to be comfortable, but also more user-friendly on service as well. An X-ring chain has a surface around the O-ring that looks like and v, meaning that there is a groove on the top of these small little rubbers that holds oil better than just an O-ring chain. Same as O-ring chains hold more oil than non-O-ring chains, they are equally more expensive than a non-O-ring chain as they have to pay for the rubbers. X-ring chain your not only paying for the chain, the rubbers, and also the small-as-hell grooves being there.

Most racers, who use there bike for just the track will run non-O-ring to save weight and to have less parasitic loss from the O-rings.

I put a ZX-chain on my Speed Triple, less often I have to lube it. These have a "w" shaped surface.