Triumphrat

JMart121 · 03-20-2007

Hi everbody,

Bought a used Bonnie Black and it had been sitting covered outside for a while. The bike is in great shape, but there is some rust on the chain. It's buggin' me. The bike looks brand new except for rusty chain. Any tips on cleaning rust off of the chain?

Thanks,
JMart

Geoff · 03-20-2007

this is an o-ring chain, so to go at it with rust remover may ruin it. You could go old school, soak it in kerosene, and scrub with a brush, soak it in oil, wipe it down, and it'll probably be fine. or if it sounds like a bother ( and removing the chain takes a little work) you could soak the chain in oil,while its still on the bike, wipe it off and ride, that'll probably work too. or buy a new chain. there are probably other options that'll work also, stay tuned.. :razz:
G

sweatmachine · 03-20-2007

you can't remove the stock chain without either cutting it off, or removing the swingarm. I'd get some kerosene like Geoff mentioned and a rag, a stool, and a 6 pack and have at it.

Normandy · 03-20-2007

If the rust is on the outside plates you could remove it with a rotary wire brush in a drill, then lube it.

JMart121 · 03-20-2007

So far I like sweatmachine's advice the best. But I am going to op for the four pak of Samual Smith. British bike; British beer. Thanks for the advice.

OldTimeBiker · 03-21-2007

You can play games and weaken your chains tensile strength by running a wire brush on it at drill speed and use chemicals that can damage the o rings OR... you could do the smart thing and replace the chain with a new one. A chain with rust on it is a sure sign of neglect! It's easy enough for you to do, get a chain breaker, or grind a pin off and pop the pin out, remove the old chain and replace the chain with a new one that has a master link. Adjust to spec, check the adjustment in about 2 weeks because of stretching, maintain the new chain properly, and you will never have rust on your chain again!

Normandy · 03-21-2007

Weaken the chain by using a wire wheel in a drill ?
You GOTTA be kidding, right ?

xardoz · 03-21-2007

Depends on how hot you let the links get. Steel does not need to reach melting temperature to radically alter its molecular structure and tensile properties. This is a gross generalization, but heating and slowly cooling steel makes it soft (tempering) - cooling quickly makes it brittle (heat treating or hardening).

Conspiracy theories aside, that's why the steel supports of the WTC softened to the point where the buildings could collapse.

Now, you'd have to work ***** hard to heat your chain to that point, and you're more likely to damage the o-rings in the process, but it could be done.

[ This message was edited by: xardoz on 2007-03-21 14:08 ]

Normandy · 03-21-2007

I thought we were talking about removing rust off the plates with a wire brush in a drill not nuking the chain :???:

sweatmachine · 03-21-2007

I think I'm going to take my chances and do it with my propane torch, after I soak the chain in kerosene.