Readily available chain lube ?

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: bmwpowere36m3
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Originally Posted By: Ducked
Any chain that actually gets rusty is woefully under-lubricated.


You hardly ever see that even here, and Taiwanese are less-than-Germanic in their attitude to vehicle maintenance.

(Its probably not a cultural accident that BMW's are not chain drive. All that sand on all those moving parts? Germans probably just can't stand it.)



My 2015 BMW S1000RR is chain drive.


Traditionally they've been shaft-drive and still are for the most part.


I'm well aware of that.

He said that they are not chain drive, which is no longer true.

There are several chain drive BMW models.

 

[ChristianReske]

Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
20k kilometers is not all that impressive. Many people get that in miles with the wax types.


His use and application are harder on chains and sprockets, too. Lots of high-speed running on a high-powered bike, wears out the chain and sprockets, sooner. No matter which product you use, or how diligent you are about chain maintenance.


Exactly. I dont ride slower than 100 Km/H outside of town, usually a little faster.

The chain gets more stress du to constant accelerate - decellerate on curvy country roads, heats up more, wears faster because of higher RPM and so on.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Originally Posted By: 02SE


His use and application are harder on chains and sprockets, too. Lots of high-speed running on a high-powered bike, wears out the chain and sprockets, sooner. No matter which product you use, or how diligent you are about chain maintenance.


True because no amount of external oil (RED) will reach the critical pin and roller
junction behind the X ring to extend its service life... the 4 points of an X ring are as
effective as your fork seals in separating external and internal fluids...

A modern X ring chains sports 4 low drag contact points which are as
effective as your fork seals in separating external and internal
fluids... that means no amount of external oil (RED) can reach the
critical pin and roller junction behind the X ring to extend its
service life... consequently my definition of a worn out chain is
after the 3rd adjustment because that is undeniable evidence that the
factory installed grease is beginning to fail to lube the critical pin
roller junction hidden behind the X ring... the length of the chain is
growing because of this metal to metal wear... I can not call a chain
serviceable that is grinding metal... it's like saying that a dry
bearing that runs ruff is acceptable... the net result is another 2 to
3% drop in RWHP as more energy is lost grinding metal behind the X
ring...

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: BusyLittleShop
Originally Posted By: 02SE


His use and application are harder on chains and sprockets, too. Lots of high-speed running on a high-powered bike, wears out the chain and sprockets, sooner. No matter which product you use, or how diligent you are about chain maintenance.


True because no amount of external oil (RED) will reach the critical pin and roller
junction behind the X ring to extend its service life... the 4 points of an X ring are as
effective as your fork seals in separating external and internal fluids...


I'd hope they'd be a bit more effective than MY fork seals...

 

[LoneRanger]

Someone asked if the Blue Cans I got from Ace was the old formula or the new. It is the new, the old can't be had anymore AFAIK. It was the new formula that got the OEM chain and sprockets to 20,000 miles.

 

[Ducked]

http://www.dansmc.com/rearchain.htm

Dan says: "In the old days rear chains were totally enclosed and sometimes run in an oil bath. These chains lasted a long time. Sometimes as much as 40,000 miles or more. These days we gotta look trick so no more enclosed chain."

Anyone know what models ran an oil bath chain?

I recently bought an old Honda CB125 clone with an enclosed chain but the case has drain holes so it clearly isn't designed as an oil bath.

Still a lot better than nothing, though.

I might have a go at sealing it but I'd guess this is rather unlikely to be successful.

 

[Atesz792]

No oil bath, but CB750K's lubed their chain with engine oil:

 

[Ducked]

Yamaha XV920R, Bultaco Matador and some kind of Jawa according to these people

http://drriders.com/topic6715.html

though its not always clear whether they really mean oil bath (the Matador apparently wasn't).

I think I remember seeing CZ street bikes with cases like the Jawa, so maybe they were oil bath.

 

[sunruh]

dyno runs by gt racing have shown x-ring drag to be less than 0.5hp
and in some cases actualy improves the torque reading by smoothing out the pulses to the rear wheel.

 

[ChristianReske]

The East-German MZ Motorcycles all used to have completly enclosed rubber chain cases, filled with grease. Looks exactly like the Bultaco in the link of Ducked.

The chains they used where of course the old type without O- rings. It is said that the chains lasted incredible long and the need for re-adjusting of the tension was a rarity.

 

[02SE]

There were Harley's in the 80's, that had enclosed chain drive.

 

[Ducked]

Seems like you could achieve that accidentally with a leaky final drive seal.

 

[Atesz792]

Maybe that's where the idea came from.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: ChristianReske
The East-German MZ Motorcycles all used to have completly enclosed rubber chain cases, filled with grease. Looks exactly like the Bultaco in the link of Ducked.

The chains they used where of course the old type without O- rings. It is said that the chains lasted incredible long and the need for re-adjusting of the tension was a rarity.


Oh yes, I'd forgotten them. There were a few around Edinburgh in the 70's. Headlight faired into the tank, indicators on the bar end, some enduro event prize record stamped on the filler cap. I thought they were "differently cool".

Are you sure the case was grease-filled though? I'd have thought that'd add huge drag if it was full, and it would just get slung out of the way if it weren't. Oil bath seems more likely.