Yep another one of these lol....want to get y'alls feedback on chain maintainence

On my streetbikes that never see dirt or rain, I clean and lube the chains every 800-1000 miles or so, the chains stay nice and quiet with lube on them during that time. On my dualsport, after one short dry dirt ride the lube is gone...if I want to keep it greasy to the touch, I'd need to lube it continously....which honestly with 4 bikes and a busy schedule I don't really have time for.

So how long do you guys get out of a chain with constant lubing vs less often? If the difference isn't too much I might just lube less and replace chains and sprockets more often as needed

i been searching for the right chain lube for years then finally found that repsol was the one i liked since it would stay oily and wet rather than dry out like chain waxes and just about all the other ones, then the shops stopped carrying repsol. dang! so searching again i found one,its made by maxima and its thier synthetic chain lube in the grey black can. it goes on wet and stays wet and keeps my chain kink free. try it out if you can.

i use motorex degreaser and dirt lube on my chain. if im just riding street i will degrease and lube maybe once a month...for dirt riding i just degrease and lube after the ride is done and my bike is washed (edit: sometimes this means a couple dirt rides and a week or two before degreasing and lube, i get lazy with washing the dirt off and the degreaser and lube dont get used unless ive hosed her down)

I don't do it often enough, but with that being said my 09 klx 250 has over 5K miles on the stock chain and has only been adjusted once in it's life. I'll probably get nearly 10K miles from a stock o ring chain with very little maintance.

This is something I have struggled with for a long time. Until now I used to lube it after pulling into the garage while the chain was still warm. The next morning before I took off I'd wipe any excess lube off the chain. Fling would still get all over the bike, but not as much as before I wiped it. I finally broke down and bought the Scott's oiler for my V-Strom 650. This thing is well worth the money. Since it only puts a drop on every minute or so, there is a lot less fling to clean off when I wash the bike. Before as soon as I'd start off, globs of excess lube would just fling off all at once. Now when it does, its very little comparatively speaking. It also puts the lube right where it needs it, and does it while its warm which lets it soak right in. In about 300 miles I'll replace my stock chain and sprockets. The sprockets look pretty decent, but I'm a bit worried about the chain. I'm about to take off on a 3000+ mile trip for 8 days and don't want to have to worry about it. The stock chain now has 23,550 miles on it.

another reason i like the oily chain lubes is because i get a black film build up on my chain and sprockets so it doesnt have much metal to metal contact. my sprockets seem to not wear at all or very little and i can reuse them with a new chain.

I clean with WD and and electric toothbrush after every dirt ride and use a chain wax. If no dirt I clean weekly or 2-300 miles, whichever comes first.

I picked #2 as it was the closest, but it isn't totally accurate.

Every couple weeks, or after riding in wet conditions, I:

• scrub the chain with varsol or kerosene and an old dish brush
• dry it well with a rag
• wait a few minutes, and spray the side-plates lightly with chain lube

I typically do this after a ride, when the chain is hot and dry.

Takes 5 minutes on the bike with a center stand, 10 on the one without. I use an old scrap of cardboard to keep the junk off the tire and wheel.

If it is raining when I arrive home, I just use a little varsol on a rag to wipe off excess water, and clean/lube it before the next ride.

Easy to do, don't mind it at all.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I picked #2 as well, it looks like I'm in the majority. I tend to wait till I can hear my chain making a little noise, or I look at it and feel quilty That seems to end being about every 500 miles or so. I'd love to keep it better lubed, but lubing after every ride or during rides isn't going to happen for me. I am going to look into the Belray synthetic lube suggestion, and check out the Scott-Oiler as well tho.

I'm also thinking it might be quicker and easier to just spray the chain lube into a rag, and wipe it on the chain good...would save the big hassle of overspray all over everything (a pain to clean off the bike/floor etc), and would be much quicker and easier than putting the bike up on the stand, or rolling and spraying. I might actually lube after every ride that way

I shoot some sort of oil or wd40 on it to keep it from rusting too bad

interesting none of you run non oring chains...jejeje

I know Im the minority dont ask me how I maintain it as it will start a can o worms

I like to think I have less rolling resistance! ajajajajaajajajajajjaaja

I rarely clean my X-ring and o-ring chains. For how much trouble it is, I'll just get a new one every 5K or whatever.

I lube the chain while it is still warm, about every 3-4 hours of ride time, using Bel Ray super clean. I spray it only on the sprocket side of the chain, and turn the rear wheel about 30 revolutions to work it in.

I've had the best luck cleaning with kerosene and using a dry lube. I always try to avoid high pressure water on an o-ring chain. I reapply the dry lube every 1 to 4 rides depending on the conditions and clean with kerosene when things look built up. If I'm pressed for time and everything is wet, I'll spray it down with wd40 to prevent rust and do a more complete maintenance before the next ride. I've heard of guys using nothing but wd40 and getting good life out of a chain but I haven't tried that yet.

I don't know how much good quality lube matters in the mud/wet season because after 100 yards of riding, everything is pretty well covered in mud and grit anyway.

Clean the chain thoroughly with compressed air. If needed, rub it down with a rag dipped in kerosene or diesel being careful around the o-rings. When riding or parked, don't let the chain get wet, period, and it if does, dry it out ASAP otherwise it will rust (if you aren't using any wax or lube like me). I don't ride when it's wet out because I hate cleaning mud off anything so avoiding water is easy for me. Even with the occasional creek crossing, I think the chain's heat dries itself out during the ride so as to avoid rusting.

This faux regimen has made my RK EXW chains last at least 15k miles and I don't have to deal with any messy cleaner, wax or lube. I use to do cleaning and lubing, found it to be more messy than anything with negligible positive results, the best being quietness which never really mattered to me. I'd rather just spend $100 for new sprockets and chain every 15k (1-3 years) and never have to deal with the driveline otherwise (except slack adjustments). In my experience, kinks in a chain are better fixed with slight outwards pressure on two small screwdrivers placed inside the kinked link.

I prefer to direct my best cleaning efforts towards the air filter.

I live in the high desert so moisture is not a huge issue for me. I like to keep my chain fairly dry so as to not collect sand and dust. I prefer to just clean my chain when it looks like it needs it using WD-40. After its clean I wipe it with a clean rag with WD-40 on it.I think that prevents rust. I have tried lubes in the past but I find they collect to much dirt and make to much mess for me to handle. I have not so far experianced short chain life useing this method in these conditions. When I lived on the other (wet) side of the mountains I did run lube but it was miserable.

I've tried it both ways and the chain/sprockets seem to last longer with regular cleaning and lubrication. Not saying I am faithful.

i try to keep my chain clean and oiled so the chain is smooth. if you look at your chain going down the road it can look like it tearing stuff up! chattering and slapping around. i dont think it cant be that good on the countershaft sprocket bearing. plus gives me something to do to the bike when i cant ride.

Okay Christian, you got us curious now, whats your secret?

I agree with both you guys about chain maintainence being a nasty, time consuming affair. I tried for the first time last night just spraying chain lube on a rag and rubbing the chain down.....it was super quick and easy, mess free, and seemed to lube the chain as well as spraying the lube on and coating everything nearby, like the bike and floor, in messy, hard to clean up lube.

It seemed like I used more chain lube with the rag method, but I'm just going to buy the cheap Liquid Wrench Motorcycle chain lube from Wal-Mart, and try and do the rubdown method after every ride or when I have time between rides.
Its better than no lube I would guess, although I've known guys who just clean with WD-40 and get pretty good chain/sprocket life