Clean and re-lubing old drivechain.

[JBDR]

As a first motorcycle I'm doing up my dads old bike, its a 1972 Ossa trials bike and is need of a lot of elbow grease. Speaking of grease, I'm trying to tackle the drive chain, its got surface rust and caked up dirt mixed up with ancient grease. I've heard scrubbing it up and spraying a bit of WD-40 is a big no no and my dad recalls using something like boiled grease to really soak the contacting surfaces. I just wanted to check whats the best way to both clean up the rust but also get the thing real lubed up.

cheers

[Akzle]

replace the cunt.

well, check it for elongation and shit. but probably replace the cunt.

soak the cunt in diesel for a week.

warm it (not boil) in 15w

[AllanB]

Decades ago (many) you'd soak your chain in kero to clean it, dry it off, then soak it in heated chain oil (Duckhams springs to mind). Now days the chains have rubber o-rings so boiling in shit is not good.

WD40 is absolutely fine to clean it with.

If it is a old style, non-o-ring type of chain price up a new one before you spend hours pissing around - they may be fairly cheap without the new tech.

[awayatc]

replace the cunt.

well, check it for elongation and shit. but probably replace the cunt.

soak the cunt in diesel for a week.

warm it (not boil) in 15w

plus at least 1......

replace it

[george formby]

Decades ago (many) you'd soak your chain in kero to clean it, dry it off, then soak it in heated chain oil (Duckhams springs to mind). Now days the chains have rubber o-rings so boiling in shit is not good.

WD40 is absolutely fine to clean it with.

If it is a old style, non-o-ring type of chain price up a new one before you spend hours pissing around - they may be fairly cheap without the new tech.


WD 40 and CRC are mainly kero any hoo. I still have a tin of Duckhams chain grease....

I would suggest taking the chain off and cleaning it with kero or LP1 from repco. If it's an o ring it's likely the wrong chain anyhoo. Give it a good scrub and free it up properly, should not take long.
Lay the chain out straight links exposed, not on the side plates, and see how much flex their is in it. The closer you can get the ends, the more rooted it is. To check this on the bike, clean the chain the same way, more time consuming and messier, and see how far it pulls off the rear sprocket. The more you can lift the chain off the teeth the more rooted it is....... A tooth brush is a friend indeed for this kinda work.

At this point you decide to spring for a new one or lube up the current chain. New chain generally means new sprockets and bearing in mind it's an old Ossa, I would keep fingers crossed the chain still has some life in it, and probably has. If the bike has a spring loaded tensioner you can run the chain and sprockets until the teeth have just about gone but changing gear could be interesting...

If you decide to lube up the existing chain, AllanB is spot on, an old fashioned tin of chain grease on the BBQ. Don't boil it! That's a miff. It has to be hot enough and liquid enough to get into the roller pins, no more. DO NOT DO THIS WITH AN O RING CHAIN. The o rings are there to seal the grease in.

Make sure that you can hang the chain up to drip back into the tin if you go the Ye Olde School route. Don't ask how I know this.:facepalm:

[T.W.R]

If you decide to lube up the existing chain, AllanB is spot on, an old fashioned tin of chain grease on the BBQ. Don't boil it! That's a miff. It has to be hot enough and liquid enough to get into the roller pins, no more.

The likes of a old Breville electric fry pan is better as you can dial the temp in & use it as the catch tray for the excess run-off too; And keep it as is stashed somewhere in the garage when the grease solidifies again :msn-wink:
Though the days of heating the tray in the oven were better even if the apron wearer wasn't happy about it :spanking:

[AllanB]

The likes of a old Breville electric fry pan is better as you can dial the temp in & use it as the catch tray for the excess run-off too; And keep it as is stashed somewhere in the garage when the grease solidifies again :msn-wink:
Though the days of heating the tray in the oven were better even if the apron wearer wasn't happy about it :spanking:

A old electric fry pan is a brilliant idea. I remember the first one I did as a teenager heating it up on the stove top .... the mother was not happy with the smell!

[T.W.R]

A old electric fry pan is a brilliant idea. I remember the first one I did as a teenager heating it up on the stove top .... the mother was not happy with the smell!

It works well as you can coil the the chain up and immerse it completely in the grease, also really good for doing fresh tapered roller bearings too :msn-wink:

[spanner spinner]

A old electric fry pan is a brilliant idea. I remember the first one I did as a teenager heating it up on the stove top .... the mother was not happy with the smell!


this reminds me of helping a friend of mine to replace the main bearings in his XR500A, in to the flat oven to heat up the cases to help ease the bearings out. Flatmate (female type) was meant to be out for the night but came home early to discover engine parts in the oven and the smell of the last bits of degreaser evaporating off the cases (funny how there is always some left over no matter how well you clean everything down) massive tantrum was thrown. Much groveling was needed to prevent a full melt down and my friend had to clean the oven to a as new condition to keep the peace.