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Cleaning your Chain With chain Cleaner

For O-ring chains I use old white socks and WD-40 and elbow grease to clean. I like Bel-Ray chain wax to seal the clean chain. Leaves it looking like a out of the box new chain.
 
Option 1, except why would you throw it away? I keep my cardboard and re-use it for a quite a while before I worry about tossing it.
 
movadosan said:
Don't recycle the grimy box, it'll ruin the batch of recyclables. Just toss it out.

https://earth911.com/food/the-pizza-box-mystery/
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Late to comment on this ... but here's the simpleton's two cents: Recycling facilities sort their 'input'. (A young man did a nifty documentary a few years ago, perhaps on PBS. Astonishingly, very few materials were recyclable then.) If the recycling folk deem a cardboard not recyclable, they'll put it with the rubbish and not mix with the 'good stuff'. Me, I have no means to know where today's recycling content will be taken to, and what's the recycling 'technology' at that facility. Admittedly, I'm a simpleton. So 90% of my stuff goes in the recycling bin. The 'pros' will sort it out.
 
Ya gotta love it when someone says they've been doing something for 30 years and it works for them and then someone else tells them it doesn't work that way.:laughing

Just funny is all.
 
TheRobSJ said:
Not that I really care about chain maintenance anymore since I have a belt, but allow me to go off on a tangent for a bit here. This is what kills me about being a professional mechanic.

So this list...




I know the majority of people servicing their chain at home probably do one on this list. If I do any one of those and get caught, my shop is looking at a massive fine. Not parking ticket kinda fine either. Well into five figures. Plus we may be charged for cleanup/containment costs if the city drains are involved.

You wash your car at home? Or even worse, degrease the engine? That shit can go right to the storm drain in most situations. If it's done in any kind of professional situation, all kinds of traps and reclamation systems need to be in place. And if we get caught without it, massive fines that could shutter the business.

I could go on and on about how the little guy gets away with murder (don't get me started on A/C), but I'm sure most of you couldn't give a shit about the costs of doing business and would rather just whine about how much shops charge. Just know that everything on that list is not ok for me at a shop for a reason. It shouldn't be ok for you all at home either, no matter how insignificant you think your impact to the environment is. If the government thought they had even the slightest chance of being able to enforce and collect massive fines from individuals as well as high waste producing businesses, they absolutely would.

[/rant]
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At work it's a nightmare if someone dumps a chemical into an unmarked container. If an environmental inspector sees that we have to pay for it to be taken off site to a lab and identified so it can be disposed of properly plus the possibility of a fine for no label or mislabeling.
Spill that shit on the ground and that dirt has to be excavated and sent for proper disposal.
It's about time people get onboard with protecting the environment they live in.
 
Schnellbandit said:
Ya gotta love it when someone says they've been doing something for 30 years and it works for them and then someone else tells them it doesn't work that way.:laughing
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I've met old sea dogs that had heard of many times, yet didn't know, didn't understand, couldn't apply intentional countersteering. Yes, they've had millions of successful turns under their belts, but mostly with struggle. Go figure. (It took perhaps 10 years to wrap my own noggin around it.)

Moral of the story: There's always room to learn.
 
stangmx13 said:
I used to wonder how much rubber I was breathing in commuting on a moto. theres no cabin filter in my helmet.
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Look at how quickly and how dirty the cheek pads get in your helmet. The parts exposed to the direct flow of air.
 
I’d be careful about using WD-40 on sealed O-ring and X-ring chains. WD-40 is a low-weight oil formulated to penetrate well, so it might get past the O-rings and wash out the factory lube that the O-rings are meant to seal in.

Personally, I use 80w gear oil to clean and lube my chains. Sure, it flings off and makes the rear wheel a bit dirty, but it’s WAY easier to clean than the sticky, goopy chain lubes. Which also get grit stuck to your chain.
 
ilikefood said:
I’d be careful about using WD-40 on sealed O-ring and X-ring chains. WD-40 is a low-weight oil formulated to penetrate well, so it might get past the O-rings and wash out the factory lube that the O-rings are meant to seal in.
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That's my understanding with WD40. I never use it on an o-ring chain.
 
Marcoose said:
I've met old sea dogs that had heard of many times, yet didn't know, didn't understand, couldn't apply intentional countersteering. Yes, they've had millions of successful turns under their belts, but mostly with struggle. Go figure. (It took perhaps 10 years to wrap my own noggin around it.)

Moral of the story: There's always room to learn.
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Of course, but that doesn't mean that person posting that (lubing a warm chain) was wrong or doing it wrong. Lube on a warm chain has advantages. Warm chain or cold, using tri-flow isn't really going to blast out the lube contained by the o-ring anyway or anymore than any other lube people are using.

In this case, that person was doing it properly all those 30 years.

Your point though, about always having room to learn is :thumbup


On the other note about oils and such being dumped by individuals, collectively, what goes into the environment from home use is probably as bad or sometimes worse than what some businesses do, like the people who dig a new hole for the next oil change. Sooner or later we end up eating, drinking or breathing it. Then we spend billions to find cures for the diseases we create.
 
Last edited:
jwb and blankpage. I lube to keep the oring wet and flexible. I doubt spraying lube from the exterior is going to penetrate past the orings. Yes I realize how a sealed oring chain works. I've sold a few of them after 40 years in the mc biz. As I stated my chains last many thousands of miles. I can also show you an aluminum sprocket with 16K miles on it and not worn out.
 
Schnellbandit said:
On the other note about oils and such being dumped by individuals, collectively, what goes into the environment from home use is probably as bad or sometimes worse than what some businesses do, like the people who dig a new hole for the next oil change. Sooner or later we end up eating, drinking or breathing it. Then we spend billions to find cures for the diseases we create.
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:wtf :wtf :wtf
Seriously? People do that? That should be a felony with a mandatory life sentence :(
 
Marcoose said:
Late to comment on this ... but here's the simpleton's two cents: Recycling facilities sort their 'input'. (A young man did a nifty documentary a few years ago, perhaps on PBS. Astonishingly, very few materials were recyclable then.) If the recycling folk deem a cardboard not recyclable, they'll put it with the rubbish and not mix with the 'good stuff'. Me, I have no means to know where today's recycling content will be taken to, and what's the recycling 'technology' at that facility. Admittedly, I'm a simpleton. So 90% of my stuff goes in the recycling bin. The 'pros' will sort it out.
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[YOUTUBE]2mClfU2NStY[/YOUTUBE]
 
ilikefood said:
I’d be careful about using WD-40 on sealed O-ring and X-ring chains. WD-40 is a low-weight oil formulated to penetrate well, so it might get past the O-rings and wash out the factory lube that the O-rings are meant to seal in.

Personally, I use 80w gear oil to clean and lube my chains. Sure, it flings off and makes the rear wheel a bit dirty, but it’s WAY easier to clean than the sticky, goopy chain lubes. Which also get grit stuck to your chain.
Click to expand...

Blankpage said:
That's my understanding with WD40. I never use it on an o-ring chain.
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The Myth of WD40 penetrating O rings and ruining chains was long ago de-bunked by actual Lab work. Even some of the magazines did this test, MCN for one.

Chains soaked in WD40 showed NO penetration into bearing area and NO dilution of internal lube. (typically Lithium grease)

Additionally, O rings soaked in WD40 for two weeks proved to be as flexible and as strong as new, unsoaked ones. NEXT! :teeth

I thought this myth was cleared up back in the 90's when both the BIg VFR and Triumph Tiger forums were dominated by the topic of WD40 for years.
Trust me, it's been looked into by real scientists.

While WD40 will not harm your chains O rings in any way ... IMO, it's not a great lubricant long term ... and is washed off instantly in rain. Your chain will run smoother and quieter with chain lube (I like 90 wt gear oil too). But now favor Dupont Chain Saver. Not quite a quiet or as smooth as 90 wt. but close enough.

But constant use of the 90 wt will leave not only a mess all over your bike but huge GRUNGE build up behind your counter shaft sprocket.

Then again, I've seen plenty of guys who never removed that cover in 10 years! :rofl
 
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