Chain lube. Wax or oil? [Archive]

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Armitage Shanks

7th July 2009, 18:17

My Dirtbike with an O ring chain has'nt been used for a loong time, gonna fire it up soon and do the business. I've got a can of Maxima Chain Wax I use on my roadbike's chain, also a can of same brand chain oil that I've been using on the dirtbike . Someone told me I should switch the dirtbike to the wax but then someone told me to stick with the oil ....I'm confused ...:cold:

cheese

7th July 2009, 19:43

Where are you riding?

Sand = CRC
Everything else = grease/oil

Wax I found no good. It gums into a horrible mess.

flyingcr250

7th July 2009, 19:49

Where are you riding?

Sand = CRC
Everything else = grease/oil

Wax I found no good. It gums into a horrible mess.

i use this stuff from motorex its not an oil, more of a rust inhibitor

YellowDog

7th July 2009, 19:50

IMO - I'd start with oil on the dirt bike as it hasn't been used for a while. Once it is fully lubed and hot, clean it off and wax.

But yes it does depent upon the surface you'll be riding on.

camchain

7th July 2009, 20:54

I've experimented with a few different types/brands. As cheese says, wax is no good for off road, turns into a gummy mess which collects dirt.

Castrol off-road stuff is by far the best I've used. Has a foaming action which you can see working it's way into pins/bushes. Unlike some aerosols, seems you can easily control how much your putting on as well, so less mess and lasts longer.

barty5

7th July 2009, 21:10

CRC 2 tac from repco works well

Crisis management

7th July 2009, 21:20

WD40....whats the chain used for anyway, just chewing up dirt, rocks, logs and crap.

barty5

7th July 2009, 21:34

WD40....whats the chain used for anyway, just chewing up dirt, rocks, logs and crap.

Yup if your ridin a 2T chainsaw.

4stroke

7th July 2009, 21:50

morey's chain lube, for use on oring chains and all, works well.

Reckless

7th July 2009, 23:08

Danger swears by CRC or WD40 if your riding sand and I agree! The only proviso is spray it on after you clean your bike and let it soak!

I actually use gearbox oil and Motul spray on!
But I have a specific system. I ALWAYS clean my bike when I get home or first thing the next morning. I always give the chain a good Dynamo wash and blast with the hose revolving the wheel. Then I revolve the wheel oiling the inside and outside of the chain links. I have a special fine nozzle bottle for this with the cleaning stuff. Then its put away to for the oil to soak for a week till I ride again. As part of my normal bike prep the night before I go out I'll give it a quick squirt with The motul. If I forget who cares its been soaking in oil for a week! If I go to the sandpit I won't use the motul which just attracts the sand.
The trick with the above is I'm NOT doing it just before a ride! Wet chain lube just attracts all the shit and grinds your chain to shit. Make it part of your cleaning routine and its no hassle and your chains/sprockets last for freakin ages and you don't go through tons of expensive spray on lube. Simple aye!!
Just my 2c!

barty5

7th July 2009, 23:29

The trick with the above is I'm NOT doing it just before a ride! Wet chain lube just attracts all the shit and grinds your chain to shit. Make it part of your cleaning routine and its no hassle and your chains/sprockets last for freakin ages and you don't go through tons of expensive spray on lube. Simple aye!!
Just my 2c!

simple is spend bit xtra buy a xring chain they dont wear half as bad as any other chain. Trust me my 450 eats standard genuine chain was addjusted twice in one day before i went to oring this was almost as bad still had to addjust ever ride. Got sick of that went to xring now i hardly have to touch it they only strech to a certain point then stop designed that way and the wear from mud and crap is barely noticeable its now done over 50 plus hours and still mint although joiner link outer clip thing got to thin as its wider which ive had to rplace this.

And yes they cost a bit more but i would be on my 3-4 oring by now aposed to 1 of these and still going.

Reckless

8th July 2009, 00:30

simple is spend bit xtra buy a xring chain they dont wear half as bad as any other chain. Trust me my 450 eats standard genuine chain was addjusted twice in one day before i went to oring this was almost as bad still had to addjust ever ride. Got sick of that went to xring now i hardly have to touch it they only strech to a certain point then stop designed that way and the wear from mud and crap is barely noticeable its now done over 50 plus hours and still mint although joiner link outer clip thing got to thin as its wider which ive had to rplace this.

And yes they cost a bit more but i would be on my 3-4 oring by now aposed to 1 of these and still going.

I hear you barty but I'd still maintain an X ring or an O ring in the same way as in my post!!

barty5

8th July 2009, 06:48

I hear you barty but I'd still maintain an X ring or an O ring in the same way as in my post!!

It still gets maintained in rather the same way as yiu said its just that they take a hell of a lot of punishment and require a lot less maintence overall.

Armitage Shanks

9th July 2009, 18:41

simple is spend bit xtra buy a xring chain they dont wear half as bad as any other chain. Trust me my 450 eats standard genuine chain was addjusted twice in one day before i went to oring this was almost as bad still had to addjust ever ride. Got sick of that went to xring now i hardly have to touch it they only strech to a certain point then stop designed that way and the wear from mud and crap is barely noticeable its now done over 50 plus hours and still mint although joiner link outer clip thing got to thin as its wider which ive had to rplace this.

And yes they cost a bit more but i would be on my 3-4 oring by now aposed to 1 of these and still going.

Thanks B-5, Gonna dribble the O'ring with a bit of oil and see what happens though...it's already done 41 hrs which ain't bad for a KX500 with the same hours I guess . I run an X ring on my Hayabusa and it's walking through the hoops wax induced and I'm a happy man. ;)

B0000M

9th July 2009, 19:16

does anyone else think 4 strokes destroy chains faster than 2 strokes?

the pulsing of the 4 stroke seems to really hammer them

cheese

9th July 2009, 19:55

Yeah I've heard the same thing, the slower pulse with higher torque.

humai

9th July 2009, 21:13

does anyone else think 4 strokes destroy chains faster than 2 strokes?

the pulsing of the 4 stroke seems to really hammer them

Sounds feasible.

I'm a CRC kinda guy when it comes to chain lube. I do a bit of sand riding so I don't want anything sticky or gooey on the chain. The CRC mainly serves to prevent corrosion when the bike's sitting in the shed.

On non-sand rides I sometimes lube up the chain with a bit of used gearbox oil. Any lube seems to disappear completely anyway after a few kays of riding.

socialites

10th July 2009, 09:03