Cleaning your chain. | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Cleaning your chain.

Those complaining about redundant threads by newcomers to GTAm were probably guilty of this themselves when they were new. How difficult is it to not to open a thread that holds no interest for you if you don't feel like helping with an answer? Pretty much everything has already been posted about somewhere, sometime, and can be found using google. Everyone was a newbee once; be kind.
 
CafeRay said:
WD40 is the worst thing you can put on a chain, it will penetrate the O rings and just washout the factory grease.

From the WD40 website:
What does WD-40 Multi-Use Product contain?

"While the ingredients in WD-40 Multi-Use Product are secret, we can tell you what it does NOT contain. WD-40 Multi-Use Product does not contain silicone, kerosene, water, graphite, or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)."

http://wd40.com/faqs/



It's hard to know where there is more misinformation on the interwebnet, cleaning a stupid chain, or motor oil choice.
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Lets see if my post gets deleted again...

This is false information.
 
Seriously, WD-40 will NOT hurt your chain. Know what WD stands for? Water Displacement.
My mx bike is beat on. 99% of the bikes on this forum aren't ridden as hard and in as horrible conditions as that bike. Yet, that bike gets more care and attention than most bikes on here, seeing as there are hours of prep between weekends.
One of the products I use the most is WD40. After I wash my bike (with simple green and a POWER WASHER which some on here think will magically blow up your bike) I use WD on the chain to remove the water. I then take that same can of WD and wipe down all my plastics, under the fenders, wheels, plastic/rubber engine parts etc. it leaves those parts looking like new. The gloss on my plastics is like I used plexus, I don't get mud build up like I did before I started to do this.
Considering it doesn't harm my graphics or eat at the adhesive, I fail to see how it will do something like eat your o-rings in your chain.

Of course, I use real chain lube to lube the chain... And for those saying you don't need to lube a chain, I can physically feel the resistance of the rear wheel spinning change as I lube it. That resistance with no lube is the cause of friction. Friction causes heat, heat damages rubber o-rings. The increased friction causes faster wear of chain and sprockets. It also reduces fuel efficiency, has an affect on bike performance etc... So why wouldn't you lube your chain??
 
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rmemedic said:
Seriously, WD-40 will NOT hurt your chain. Know what WD stands for? Water Displacement.
My mx bike is beat on. 99% of the bikes on this forum aren't ridden as hard and in as horrible conditions as that bike. Yet, that bike gets more care and attention than most bikes on here, seeing as there are hours of prep between weekends.
One of the products I use the most is WD40. After I wash my bike (with simple green and a POWER WASHER which some on here think will magically blow up your bike) I use WD on the chain to remove the water. I then take that same can of WD and wipe down all my plastics, under the fenders, wheels, plastic/rubber engine parts etc. it leaves those parts looking like new. The gloss on my plastics is like I used plexus, I don't get mud build up like I did before I started to do this.
Considering it doesn't harm my graphics or eat at the adhesive, I fail to see how it will do something like eat your o-rings in your chain.

Of course, I use real chain lube to lube the chain... And for those saying you don't need to lube a chain, I can physically feel the resistance of the rear wheel spinning change as I lube it. That resistance with no lube is the cause of friction. Friction causes heat, heat damages rubber o-rings. The increased friction causes faster wear of chain and sprockets. It also reduces fuel efficiency, has an affect on bike performance etc... So why wouldn't you lube your chain??
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Teach us more oh wise one...
 
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Paul1000RR said:
Teach us more oh wise one...
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Ive seen it mentioned on here multiple times on how devastating a pressure washer is to bikes.
Granted yes, if you use a concentrated nozzle, at a close distance you can harm seals, put water where it shouldn't be or harm electronics, but used properly it's a great tool. If it wasn't, every trailer at the track wouldn't have a pressure washer.
The same thing gets spewed about things like WD-40 destroying chains. Which, for a while I actually believed due to info I saw on here. And then I educated myself and learned from experienced people.

There are a lot of people here with great knowledge, and you're one of those people, but there is also a lot of bad info.
Sorry if I offended anyone, it wasn't directed at anyone in particular... But there are a few everywhere you go.
 
A pressure washer to your bike is not a good idea. Dirt bikes are made to get abused and dirty, they're also less prone to damage compared to an SS. A garden hose is more than enough.
 
GUESS WHO? said:
A pressure washer to your bike is not a good idea. Dirt bikes are made to get abused and dirty, they're also less prone to damage compared to an SS. A garden hose is more than enough.
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A dummy with a pressure washer isn't a good idea, someone with some common sense can use a pressure washer without doing any damage. A dummy with a garden hose and sprayer nozzle can still cause damage.

Death by WD-40, the gtam way.
 
Some of the things one reads on here are mind numbing at times. If you rode the short bus as a kid or can't count past ten then don't own a motorcycle. I've used a pressure washer on every bike I've ever had without issue. Is it seriously rocket science for some? :dontknow:
 
Sunspark said:
Wired ran WD-40 through a spectroscope to see what ingredients were there: https://web.archive.org/web/2014011...nce/discoveries/magazine/17-05/st_whatsinside

Wikipedia also lists the American and German disclosures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40#Formulation

Personally I am not a fan of WD-40 for anything. It's a toxic solvent. People even spray their chains with it thinking it is a lubricant. It is not!
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I'm guessing WD40 is made of a bunch of petroleum distillates. Meaning a bit of volatile & heavy distillates. I'm willing to bet volatile petroleum is not good for rubber or plastics for that matter.

I will take a look at that link when I get home
 
dricked said:
A dummy with a pressure washer isn't a good idea, someone with some common sense can use a pressure washer without doing any damage. A dummy with a garden hose and sprayer nozzle can still cause damage.

Death by WD-40, the gtam way.
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This is true.
 
RockerGuy said:
I'm guessing WD40 is made of a bunch of petroleum distillates. Meaning a bit of volatile & heavy distillates. I'm willing to bet volatile petroleum is not good for rubber or plastics for that matter.

I will take a look at that link when I get home
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There was a thread with a study to the tensile strength and swelling of rubber caused by WD40, the results were minimal swelling and a decrease in tensile strength. The o-rings in your chain don't hold it together so that's not an issue.
 
I've been around bikes for a long, long time.

The shortest life that I've ever had out of a chain, by far (10,000ish km), was when using Chain Wax.

The longest life that I've had out of chains, by far, has been when lubricating them periodically with ... used motor oil. And NOT cleaning them beyond just wiping off excess oil with an old rag. No solvents, no pressure washing, no nothing. Just applying used motor oil to the chain on the top of the inside run at the bottom and wiping off the excess.

YES, it's messy, YES, it flings off - but it takes a good portion of the dirt off with it in the process of flinging off.

I've never had to replace a chain that has been treated in this manner due to wear. I've replaced chains due to wanting different sprocket ratios that required the use of a longer chain, but not because the chain was worn out.
 
That makes sense. I started off using Belray anti fling, and noticed that while it was true to its word and did not fling off, it also kept the dirt on the chain and sprockets and acted similar to a valve grinding paste.

When riding off road, the chain wax I was using would disappear after an hour of use, and I was told to use a cheap light chain lube that flung off, as the dirt would fling off with it.

Brian, I'm using chain wax currently, and between that and my amazing ability to stretch chain, I'm quite practice at replacing riveted chain and sprockets. :p

Oh, and my experience with all that chain leads me to prefer a slack chain versus a tight one.
 
Like a trillion other motorcycle owner-operators, I've used wd40 to *clean* my chains for decades and hundreds of thousands of miles to no ill effects. 20+K on a chain/sprocket set is a given if kept clean/rust free, and properly tensioned and aligned. Chain lube/wax? Never. Just keep it very clean regularly.

Last few years I've switched from wd40 to "Deep Creep" from Sea Foam. I find it's amazing stuff on chains/sprockets, i.e. appears to get them cleaner as it goes on with a foaming action. Like wd40, I wipe all the fluid off after applying.

At some point, wd40 haters gotta stop the hate. It's a great tool for motorcyclists. Just accept it :p

(swells seals you say? sure, after 30 minutes of the seals being in a glass off it!!!)
 
Sunspark said:
Why clean it? O-ring chains are sealed. Dry waxing them is a good thing to do though.
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Because some of us have pretty colored chains!

On a side note, using a 6 year old stock chain now on my GSXR @ 28,000kms. I cleaned it twice a season, use DuPont's Chain Saver, and lube it every 500~ kms or after a heavy shower. I think there's one or two loose spots but meh. My old GS500F's chain was so stretched the old owner cut two teeth off and put the chain back on (DO NOT DO THIS!!!!!!!!!)
 
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