How do you clean chain?

[Hooli]

In case you missed it, that close call WAS with the engine off, manually turning the wheel.

I guess I did miss it.

 

[EvilCrayon]

Whatever chain cleaner I have around every 700-800 miles or depending on how dirty my chain looks(not colour but looking for foreign material that might have gotten stuck on it). Usually I'll try to coordinate the cleaning after I ride on the highway for an hour. I'll spray, let it sit for a minute, scrub with brush, wipe, spray a light coat of chain cleaner/degreaser, use a shop rag to clean between each and every link. Then I use whatever chain lube I have and inside loop of the chain while spinning the wheel with my hand.

I'll lube my chain every other tank of gas since I ride quite a bit which amounts to once a week. Every other month I'll really go down on my chain and clean it. Otherwise just lube and go, my chain hasn't stretched any noticeable amount in the past 8 months since I installed new chain and sprockets so I'm hoping I got it right.

 

[StreetDesire]

RE: how do you clean the chain?

with the bike off.

 

[StreetDesire]

1) get yourself a rear stand.
2) ride around the block twice (at least 2mins) to get some heat in the chain
3) put the bike up on the rear stand with the motor shut off and in neutral
4) using a spray can of WD-40, spray the outside then the inside of the chain, aiming for where the links contact (O-rings)
5) use a brush to clean the chain real good and wipe off with a towel
6) once its real clean, use PJ1 Blue label. Instructions are on the bottle

[youtube]J8SvEg-bAsU[/youtube]


As I mentioned, I prefer WD-40 and PJ1 Blue but just about everyone here has a different opinion.
Just be sure to clean your chain with the bike switched off if you value your fingers.

 

[StreetDesire]

He is only suggesting the bike be in gear for a dribbling of a tbsp of kerosene, not a hand on action

That's a great idea, what could possible go wrong? [sarcasm]

I personally clean my chain with wd40 and then lube it with a chain wax (usually maxima).

I've used that stuff for the last 7yrs. It leaves a brown residue which is hard to get off. I recently switched to PJ1 Blue label.
Some of the other lubes leave the chain white or blue which I think looks terrible but is great for noobs (so they now they've applied it all over).

 

[TrueFader]

That's a great idea, what could possible go wrong? [sarcasm]
Kerosene whips back off the chain and hits you in the eyeball maybe? Other than that I don't know



I've used that stuff for the last 7yrs. It leaves a brown residue which is hard to get off. I recently switched to PJ1 Blue label.
Some of the other lubes leave the chain white or blue which I think looks terrible but is great for noobs (so they now they've applied it all over).

Maxima is just more convenient for me to purchase

 

[Chim Chim]

Chain cleaning sucks, use lube that allows you to clean as little as possible.

I started using this stuff a few years ago.

I've used nearly everything on the market and this stuff is awesome. I commute 300+ miles a week. Chain cleaning used to be a weekly event. Now I generally only clean my chain a couple of times a year. I'm at 30.000 on my current chain and it and the sprockets show only minimal wear.

 

[Smilygo]

Where did you get it? Does Cycle Gear carry it?

 

[EastBayDave]

the below is meant as humor...for the sick mind...

...don't try this at home kids....:

I just put the bike in 4th or 5th gear, set the idle speed to about 3-5K rpms, so it's spinning the chain pretty fast & warming things up. Then I remove my shirt & shorts, & wap wap wap a bit. I then grab my massive member & place it on top of fast moving chain.

After a few minutes, when it starts getting hot enough to throw sparks (illustration below), the grit starts burning off the chain. After the chain turns a red glowing color from heat, remove member, and wait for it to spin a minute or two for the red heat color to return to the darker black color as it cools off.

Once it's dark apply your favorite brand of chain lube, & you should be ok. You must be sure not to get it too hot, or it may melt the o-rings. Be sure to be totally naked so you don't catch your clothes on fire, or in the sprocket. Also, leave nothing flammable behind the back of bike, or underneath the bike as sparks could start a fire.

After turning the bike off, use a clean rag to wipe the excess lube off both the top/bottom, & inside of the chain using caution to not get your fingers caught up in the sprocket. That's the quickest way I know...j/k...

-ebd

 

[motobecane10]

carefully

 

[Busy Little Shop]

To really clean your chain soak it in gas to remove all the grit...
petroleum products have no lasting effect on the X W or O rings
because instead of rubber chain manufactures today actually use a
highly fluorinated fluoroelastomer known commercially as Viton or
Kalrez... very tough stuff... It has a excellent resistance to most
chemicals including sulfur... sulfur chloride... sulfur dioxide...
sulfur hexaflouride to name a few... most important it doesn't need
protection from drying out... they will far out last a chain's life...

 

[louemc]

Interesting thread, Leaves the door wide open to doing in the worst way possible, or the best way,
And they would both sound the same...

One person's "clean" is another person's OMG Ya washing that grit into and under the outer roller
To give it a home there?

 

[nickb]

Engine off, kerosene rags, and a tooth brush every 500 - 600 miles, just like the manual says.

I coat with WD-40 to chase the water when I ride in the rain. Otherwise whatever commercial chain lube I have lying around. I've tried most. Bel-Ray Molyphos was my favorite. It made a horrible mess but seemed to provide a good cushion layer between rollers and sprocket. They don't make it anymore, I think no one liked it because it flung everywhere. PJ-1 Black or Silkolene Maintenance are pretty good. 90W gear oil made an even worse mess than Bel-Ray Molyphos, also didn't last long and left spots under my bike when it was parked.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

One person's "clean" is another person's OMG Ya washing that grit into and under the outer roller
To give it a home there?

Cleaning your chain in gas is like cleaning your bearings in gas... you don't stop
flushing the grit until its gone from under the rollers...

 

[mwc]

Another vote for cleaning with the bike off. There's a guy I ride with once in a while that was cleaning his chain just last night with the bike on in gear, and he lost half his thumb.

 

[louemc]

Cleaning your chain in gas is like cleaning your bearings in gas... you don't stop
flushing the grit until its gone from under the rollers...

Actually, I was thiking of all the previous posts, when writing mine..Didn't see yours till mine went up.

I've never done it your way, mostly cause I'm happy enough, not breaking the masterlink. And..once in an effort to escape from under a rain dumping storm in Canada..I totaled out a perfectly good O ring chain,..That much water, washed the inner grease out (and that can't be replaced) so all my chain cleaning has been short of the full soak, method.

Can't/won't contest your wash in a tub of gas...just have a nagging fear of it, and haven't seen a need to try it, yet.

I do see the get surgically clean before lubing part though. And then I clean off all lube from the outside, that isn't lubing anything...just holding dirt there.

 

[sckego]

I apply both the kerosene cleaner and gear oil lube with the engine running in 1st gear. My hands don't get anywhere near the chain. Wiping down with the rag is done in neutral, engine off. I've had exactly one close call out of all the times I've cleaned my chain, and that was while wiping it down, because I was rotating the wheel forwards and the rag got caught in the chain, pulling my hand back towards the sprocket. A much more useful safey tip is: while wiping down the chain, always rotate *away* from the rear sprocket.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Guess I'll bump this for any spring noobs who are trying to figure out how to clean their chain. ALWAYS REMEMBER: if your hand is on the chain, rotate it BACKWARDS, such that the chain is moving AWAY from the rear sprocket. Was just about finished up wiping it down earlier, ready to lube up, oh wait, there's one spot of grease right there that I missed, pull it back to clean up, ohshitragcaughtCRUNCH goes my thumb into the rear sprocket. OW.

IF YOUR HAND IS ON THE CHAIN, PULL IT ONLY AWAY FROM THE REAR SPROCKET.

This message brought to you buy dudes who are going to have their thumbnails fall off shortly