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Chain Maintenance on the road

Jbella

Jbella

Member
Joined
May 31, 2015
Location
Atascadero, CA
Moto(s)
Triumph Bonneville T120
Name
Rob
I'm the happy owner of a new Triumph Bonneville. It's my first chain-driven bike since... well, never mind about that. ;) Let's' just say that since then I've discovered the word "maintenance". ;)

I'm planning an easy trip from my new home here in Atascadero up 101 back to the Bay Area to visit all my old stopping grounds. I expect this will total some 600-odd miles and am wondering if I need to do any chain maintenance during this trip.

I try to clean and oil the chain about every 500 miles so I know I could skip the maintenance and give it hell when I get home but I wanted to hear the responses from the group. Storage space is at a premium so I'm not planning on bringing my whole at-home rig. Maybe I could skip the cleaning and just do the oiling since this trip is going to be on pavement the whole way? If you were to skip a step would it be the cleaning or the oiling?

I use Maxima chain wax as a "lube" and if I can find a small pocket-sized sprayer of that I would be good to go. If not, is it OK to mix and match chain wax products if I can't clean the chain in between applications?

Thanks.
 
Lubricate it before you start and just ride. Don't give it a second thought.

Going 600 miles is just fine with no additional lubrication.


The serious long distance riders use a Scott Oiler. Once you get one of those dialed in you don't have to think about your chain again as long as your oil source doesn't run out.

Me, I lubricate my chain ever 300 to 1000 miles depending on how forgetful and/or busy I get. :)
 
a small can of WD-40 and a rag to clean and a small can of chain lube or wax. the PITA is if you don't have a centerstand you either have to roll the bike around to get to the whole chain or figure out a device to hold the bike's rear tire off the ground while it's on the side stand.
 
tuxumino said:
...or figure out a device to hold the bike's rear tire off the ground while it's on the side stand.
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This has worked for me on more than one bike.

Equate-Offset-Aluminum-Cane-With-Straps-Bronze_3f68e7fa-1f33-40e2-a55d-bcbad7617110.6073f1906fa54e113b6f8ed8b3221990.jpeg


Here I am using it to swap wheels while fixing a flat tire:
2ysm8UD.jpg
 
Hi Rob, this is Hank.
I clean every 500 with diluted Simple Green. I lube every 1k by brushing old 80w90 gear oil removed from my BMW transmission. Congrats on your new Bonny. Great bike.
 
clean your chain with a light weight aerosol lubricant (aka chain lube) for good oil penetration into all nooks & crannies of chain... stay away from anything that might damage o-rings. wipe off excess.

then apply a wax lubricant over the top. wipe off excess. allow to dry... and go ride

usually need to repeat every few hundred miles or so, or if you ride in water or get water on chain that washes off lubricants.

higher quality chains will definitely be more durable... the best quality chains (o-ring type) can sometimes run with very little re-lubricating.
 
ScottRNelson said:
Can you even buy a non-O-ring chain anymore?
Click to expand...

Yes you can. Either real cheap chains, or some premium ones for racing. The ones for racing have a lot less resistance than an O ring chain, but they are changed after a couple of races. Used in drag racing, and road racing. Expensive, but worth it to some.


AS for a 600 mile trip, lube it and go. No need to carry any lube.
 
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Thanks for the replies everybody.

The new Bonnevilles don't come with center stands so my first chain session was not much fun. I've since added one. Of course there's no place to grab the bike (grab rails are back-ordered, or they were) but that's a different problem.

It turns out that you CAN get a small 5.5 ounce can of the chain wax so that will fit nicely in the tail pack but I'll probably just live in denial and give it heck when I get home as Scott suggests.

Hank, I miss you bro. I'm sending you a PM.
 
Depending on how much room you have, you could try seeing if you can squeeze a Tirox Snapjack into your bags. It makes chain maintenance on the go so much easier.

Edit: Oh and they make a 360 chain brush that packs down really small.
 
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I found this little gismo back in the '80s ??
It is called a "Wheel Spin" by "LazrTrack"
Think 1 inch ball points like an ink pen, load bearing, 4 parts snap together with adjustment holes, about 6" dia.
Place it on the ground and roll your back tire on it, twist the wheel as needed.

Top & bottom view
 

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I just carry my lube of choice (currently gear oil at the DiD folks recommend). On a long ride I'll wipe the chain and then apply lube after a few days or 800ish miles (give or take) just to keep it happy. When I get home I spray it down with kerosene, wipe it clean and let it dry before oiling it up again. Under normal use I'll clean and lube it when it is looking dry and dirty, before a big ride, or whenever I clean the bike. Generally that means it's getting some love every 400 - 800 miles as well.
 
Some cool gizmos shown here.

But I can't imagine doing any of that on a 600 miles or so trip. What measurable gain would you expect from it?
 
1/2 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe, notched the tip with Dremmel sanding band to hook onto spool
attachment.php


Can even use it to lift front wheel
attachment.php


I use it on overnight trips to clean chain (WD-40 spray and shop towel). Never lubed, because it's an O-ring chain .
 

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Before you go, clean, lube and most importantly adjust tension. 600 miles is ok for the chain to go without maintenance, specially on asphalt.

I like to clean, lube and adjust every 500 miles because is easy to see the odometer on 500 and 000 digits and remember. Kerosene to clean and some lub paste (I think is motul) for the rollers and the sides of the links. Just enough to minimize rust and to avoid collecting too much dust.
 
musiclucho said:
Before you go, clean, lube and most importantly adjust tension. 600 miles is ok for the chain to go without maintenance, specially on asphalt.
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I have ceased to bother checking tension on my bikes except when I do tire changes, because it never changes. The latest quality chains just don't "stretch" like back in the olden days. And besides, being a tiny bit loose is better than being even the tiniest bit too tight.
 
Yeah...I can't say I've worried about a chain in many, many, many years. By the time it's no longer serviceable it's due for replacement anyway (I think around 15k-20k miles usually on my last bikes).

I don't ride my bikes all that hard though so YMMV.
 
I give the chain a tension check when lubing, I can eyeball my bikes. I like to check because when the chain is done it'll start stretching faster which is a good sign it is time to order parts.
 
NorCalAthlete said:
Yeah...I can't say I've worried about a chain in many, many, many years. By the time it's no longer serviceable it's due for replacement anyway (I think around 15k-20k miles usually on my last bikes).

I don't ride my bikes all that hard though so YMMV.
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Same, I barely even lube the things these days and they still last for ages. Reminds me I should probably go squirt something on the KTM's chain.
 
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