Triumphrat

redl1nerpm · 07-11-2007, 10:23 PM

This sounds simple enough, but whenever I lube my chain, once I go riding, it will splatter on the wheel and inside of the tire. Im not too concerned about the wheel but Im sure having it on the tire could be potentially dangerous (though Ive never laid a bike down). Anyway, do you guys have this happen?

[ This message was edited by: redl1nerpm on 2007-07-11 20:23 ]

xmmotorsports · 07-11-2007, 11:13 PM

What I do that keeps most of the excess from flying off, is put your bike up on a rear swing-arm stand, hold a towel under the part of the chain you are spraying, then spin the tire & spray the chain 1 revolution. The excess will go into the towel.
After that, use the same towel, & lightly grip the chain, spin the rear tire until the chain makes one complete revolution. That gets rid of most of it, but you'll still get some on your rims & swing-arm.
Anyone have any better, less 'shade-tree mechanic' solutions???

nsb748 · 07-12-2007, 10:29 PM

I use a spray chain lube in a can. I just give it a good spray after a long ride while the bike is still nice and hot, and then i wipe it off the next time i go out to ride. I get a little bit of chain lube flinging around, but not enough to care about.

hardboild · 07-13-2007, 10:02 PM

After washing i let dry and then lube with spray. I then take it out for a mile or so (also to make sure no water is in the exhaust). I work on gravel so there is no buildup on a floor to slip on...never really thought about it. if i fall next time i'm blaming you guys!

dynagroove · 07-14-2007, 12:26 AM

i try to be pretty religious about this ritual - every 600 miles (per the 2nd odometer), i put the bike up on the rear stand after a ride to service the chain. i get one long skinny piece of cardboard and cram it between the chain and the swingarm/wheel as far forward as i can and then place on piece of cardboard below. then i use a container of kerosene that i have just for this purpose and a toothbrush to clean the chain thoroughly while rotating it around several times. keep lots of rags handy and wipe down the chain well after the final cleaning. from what i understand, kerosene is the only solvent that will not harm X or O rings. then i go at the chain with silkolene chain lube while spinning the back wheel. rotating the wheel backwards will keep the cardboard in place and no mess on the wheel, tire or swingarm. hth - jeff h

mdgore · 07-14-2007, 01:40 AM

I try to clean my chain every 500 miles. The last chain on my RS lasted 30K + miles. Kerosene is what I also use to clean the chain. Make sure you wipe all the excess off after you clean it. Spray lube (I use Motul) the chain, on the top and on the bottom. You only need to go around the entire chain once on each application. Let it set for about 10 or 15 minutes then wipe off the excess. You can use the kerosene to clean off any over spray that didn't catch in the rag that you should be using behind the chain when you initially spray on the lube. There will still be some fling off, but it shouldn't be a problem as far as rear tire traction. I guess the best advice when cleaning and lubing your chain is to be as tidy as possible.

rustbucket · 07-16-2007, 12:21 AM

Some chain lubes these days are wax based. They need time to 'set' after being sprayed on, where traditional lubes don't. The advantage to the new style is they stay put better.

According to the manual the chain should be lubed once every 200 miles. I notice that mine gets noisy after ~400 miles, and I've usually completely forgotten about it, so I lube it when I get home from that ride.