RK says: "DO NOT USE KEROSENE OR WD-40 on a sealed chain!!"

I just use spit.

Don't use MOM spit it will take the chrome off your chain.

What sort of mileage do you see from your chains?

Some food for thought from a chain expert:

Chain wear occurs from Pin Elongation. This is when your Pin gains additional clearance within the Sidebars. Take a worn chain and measure a 120 link new chain vs worn chain.

Now, considering the vast amounts of chain types we have (X-ring, O-ring, standard) they all have different wear rates. This is of course due to the different protections in place to prevent Pin to Sidebar wear. Also, we have numerous types of Sidebar material that affects wear since this is the portion of the chain that actually wears.

So, different chain types will have different wear rates.

A O-ring, X-ring chain needs nothing more than for you to keep the X or O-ring cleaned and protected from cracking. Additional lubricant will only cling dirt and grit to the bar and promote wear into the X or O-ring. Cracking or wear to the X or O-ring will allow dirt and grit into the protected area and promote wear.

Clear as mud eh?
Btw: I have a driveshaft...

Dustin, im not one to take note of mileage but i get plenty. My personal opinion is the lube can get out as easily as it can get in. The high ridges that wear into the guides and slippers are what creates the most wear.

Any rough idea? 25,000 km? 50,000? 100,000?

Just curious

I'm also in the never clean and lube my chain camp. I usually get over 20k miles per chain, but (disclaimer) I don't ride my bike off road.

After washing the bike, I will spray the chain with silicone spray to dispel water and hopefully keep the rubber o-rings soft. Maybe this is considered cleaning and lubing, but it's 2 or 3 times per year. I used to do the cleaning and obsession lubrication, seemed I only made a mess and got zero extra life out of the chain, if it was any extra it was so insubstantial that it wasn't worth it. My cousin cleans his chain constantly (it's for the look he is a super neat freak) and gets no more miles out of his chains than I do.

For those that spend a lot of time cleaning and lubricating their chains, I wonder how much extra chain life it takes to make the time and cost worth it? I mean, let's say I average 20k but with extreme maintenance I got 30k, and I ride 15k miles per year. So then I would be changing the chain every 2 years instead of every 1.3 years. So, let's say a chain costs $180. Without cleaning the chain, I would spend ~$11.50 month on chains; with cleaning I would spend ~$7.50 on chains. So, if I spend one hour per month cleaning and lubing my chain (not counting material costs), then I am valuing my time at ~$4/hour.

Not worth it to me, but then some people (like my cousin) actually like to clean chains...so different strokes.

That has a lot to do with it. I often have so much clay caked into my chain guide and axle adjusting blocks that you can't even see they exist

Dualsport/ dirt rider here....
You could still change the chain at 20k and have better reliability. How much is that worth?:) My chain get rustspots within the next day if i pack the bike away wet and not lubed.
Also, cleaning a chain takes a couple minutes, not an hour. It also lets you inspect the whole driveline. I cant see why you would clean your chain many times a month (or even monthly) if youre averaging 1250 miles a month. For me, a few minutes spent at home doing maintenance is worth it tenfold on a trip far from home. I've helped 3 people with broken chains on different trips, and had one break myself on a recently (at the time) purchased used bike.

I've seen good chains and sprockets destroyed in a few thousand miles from neglect. A friend is kinda an expert on that matter. (riding dualsport and dirt) Heck, some MX guys replace the chain/sprockets at around 20 hours even with o-ring chains, where others go over 100 hours.

Theres no right or wrong, it depends on so many things that its almost impossible to take them all in to account. So all we can do is share our experinces, and people can choose for themselves.

Good to know. You surely know more about chains than RK.

You really came in here to quote a post from half a year ago, and deleting the links he provided to back up his claims in the quote? You know the ones showing wd40 wouldnt harm the rings.?
Is that really your contribution to this thread?

Rk recommends using their own brand of cleaners and lubricants, big surprise.... Just like Yamaha recommends yamalube. Doesnt mean its the only way.
They dont mention not to use wd40 specificly anywhere in their maintenance section. They do however say that you can use the equivalent product of their own stuff, but fail to mention any. So if one feels wd40 is just as good as the RK stuff, you kinda have their own word for that its okay. Wd40 themselves say you can use it as a degreaser aswell, and we know from the links you deleted in your quote, that they wont hurt the seals.

RK also says to wait a day after spraying cleaner on a very dirty chain, and they dont even mention wiping the chain of after spraying on the cleaner. Have you ever seen anyone do it this way...? Do you really do it this way?


As I said earlier:

You just kinda forgot to share yours...
Have a nice day.

Yes, they do - in red.

I see an excess of tension in your post, I suggest a good bourbon.

Thats an american distributors website, not their official site....

Im as sloppy as my wd40 cleaned chain... no wait...

While you guys were discussing this I just went for a nice 8 day ride instead.
Could someone give me a synopsis please?

I’ll go for another ride instead of reading it all.
Thanks so much.