Chain cleaning

[ShaunMac]

Hi all,

Am going to take the chain off for a good cleaning. What do you recommend for a thorough cleaning?
I've read in the manual, petrol?

Cheers,
Shaun

[muskrat]

G'day Shaun.
Petrol works well, but hang it to dry thoroughly.
If you can get your hands on the chain grease that you heat (melt) and soak the chain in, is best.
http://www.gt-rider.com/thailand-motorcycle-forum/showthread.php/37115-Chain-grease-in-a-tin
Cheers

[Beezageezauk]

Hi Shaun,

A couple of points about chain cleaning.

Firstly:- Do you have an old chain at hand.  If so, connect it to the one you are removing and as you pull the original one off, the spare will be in position for you to repeat the procedure when you are ready to install the reconditioned chain.  This obviously saves you the problem of trying to thread your chain around the gearbox sprocket.

Ok, petrol is as good as anything to clean your chain but it is liable to degrease inside the rollers.  Like Muskrat, if you are going down this route I would suggest that you bought some Chain Wax Boiling Lube.   

The idea is to clean your chain and melt the Chain Wax in a container (on a stove) and place the chain into it so that the melted "Lube" penetrates between the rollers and give full lubrication.  It isn't particularly cheap initially but it pays for itself if you use it annually.

I've still got some original "LinkLife" (the original make) from about 15 years ago and still using it on 3 bikes on an annual basis.  Not much left now but it's served me well.  So this Putoline will be my next purchase.

Beezageezauk.

[Brian]

I've always "boiled" my chains and still believe it is the best way to lubricate a chain.

Like Beezageezauk I started with Linklife in about 1970 and used it up until about 15 years ago when I bought my current tin of Putoline.

[ShaunMac]

I gave it a good clean in petrol. Gosh there was some gunk came off it.
I think a new chain is on the list of things to get but in the mean-time I used a spray chain wax.
When I get a new chain will definitely go with the boiling method.

[BSA_54A10]

Chains are a lot easier and cheaper to replace than  sprockets.
So buy 3 new chains.
Put one on the bike, when it needs tensioning replace it & put the old one in a sealed container of solvent.
When this one needs tensioning, replace it. put the now clean chain into the pot & boil it. Put the other chain into the solvent.
This way you will always have a clean & lubricated chain ready to fit.
you will have plenty of time to clean the dirty chain fully and even more important you can allow the cleaned chain to dry properly before you grease it.

[Butch (cb)]

Life’s too short. Just spray it every time you think of it and adjust it when it needs it. It’s only going to need swapping out every 20k miles anyway. At my rate of usage I’ll probably only have to renew it the once more now anyway.

[Topdad]

a good point, depends totally on personal mileage and circumstances ,I'd certainly consider boiling the chain when fitting a new one but after I use the spray grease for conveinance ,BobH

[BSA_54A10]

I suppose that depends upon the size of the fish tank
500 to 1000 m rides are not that uncommon down here.
A lot of blokes who ride to the All British or BSA Nationals will do better than 1000 miles over the week end so 20,000 pops up really realy quickly.

[Topdad]

yep, certainly does Trevor,though I'm sure there'd be less traffic to contend with than on this crowded island .( bet there is still the same number of dense car drivers about though ) I'm contemplating riding down to Cornwall from Liverpool ,to sort out my late mum and dads family plot , about 320 miles .My Son considers me mad to be even  thinking about it on the bike but I'll probably  disregard his lack of faith ! Bob

[chicago]

Boiling chains in wax, very good idea, new to me never heard of it before, I used to clean chains in petrol then soak in oil overnight, then leave them to drip all the excess oil off, but then when I put them back on the oil would still flick all over my bike and freshly polished exhausts  .
Boiling the wax reminds me of the time I was waxoyl-ing a mk1 triumph gt6 I used to own, I had left doing it till a bit to late in the year, the weather was turning cold, I went in the garage to do it and found that the waxoyl had gone hard due to being cold, I had an old parrafin camping stove in the garage so thought heating the tin up on the stove would be the obvious solution. So that was the plan and I put it into action, but the thing was I  Think I heated it a tad to much though as I could see a little smoke coming from the top of the container, nothing to excessive though just a tiny bit of smoke. So I thought, I'd better take it off now, but as soon as I went to remove the container the soding smoke caught the flame and it went off like a rocket. Luckily I wasn't burt to bad (just my fingers/arms mainly but no lasting scars) And as a added bonus I managed to put out all the numerous little fires around the garage before it did any damage.

[BSA_54A10]

From personal experience I can assure you that chain grease will do exactly the same thing.
Only it stinks so much you would have to in big trouble sinus wise to allow it to get that far.
Chainboiling is a job done outside on the said same parrafin stove or BBQ hot plate.

And just to make things clear, the chain does not boil.
I leave mine on the wax while it is melting asn as soon as the chain hits the bottom of the tin, out it comes to drain the excess back into the tin for next time.
Takes a bit of parctice to ge it just right.
Too early and globs will stick to the chain & eventually all over your bike
Too late and almost all will drain back leaving the void under the rollers almost dry.

[jachenbach]

I use a grunge brush, WD 40 and a rag to clean, then spray with PJ1 chain lube. Removing, cleaning, boiling, etc is just WAY too much work. I'd rather replace the chain and sprockets more frequently than spend my time doing that. Come to think of it, I'm not much for  cleaning and polishing either. Used to do that, but now I live up a mile of dirt road. Doesn't seem there's much point.