dunno if anyone's tried this or not, but over on MCN Ninja's MSN community saw the following suggestion:
"instead of buying cans of spray chain lube,go to nearest autofactors and get a bottle of ep90 gear oil,its easy to apply(if you've got a paddock stand),lubricates the chain rollers and "o" rings superbly(+ no propellants to damage "o" rings) and the bit that flicks off, wipes off easily.Iv'e got through 2 bottles in the last ten years(probably about 50k miles).
try it,it works"

which was backed up by:
"This gear oil is good stuff (if its good enough for the gearbox, its good enough for the chain), An ex roadracer I work with recommended it mixed with powdered graphite. I used it for about 2 years, and only swopped because it ran out. Now using yoshimoto fkin good chain lube as its the most similar in consistency to it. IMHO EP90 is much better than chainwax."

I'll be giving this a go, sounds good.



[Edited by darkblueturbo - 10/7/2002 1:35:07 PM]

The tight spots are caused by having a chain which is over tight in the first place and bottoming the suspension out. 35-45 mm of total play is the norm for most road bikes.

If you look in your manual, it should give you a maximum distance between the links. another easy one is to lift the chain off the back sprocket with your fingers,if you can see daylight, then its on its way out.

[Edited by DRUNKNORGY - 10/7/2002 4:13:41 PM]

Having the rear wheel out of alignment does strange things to the handling as well as wearing the tyres and chainsets unevenly. It doesn't hurt to do this exercise as you can get a cheap vernier for about £5 (draper) which will be close enough. Another good indicator of misalignment is when you roll the bike back, the chain makes strange noises and hops around on the sprocket. People make the mistake of adjusting their chain on the centrestand. Best to use a paddock stand as this loads the suspension.
I killed the chain on my old Triumph 900 because i used chainwax and it was a bugger to sort. I have only found this out the hard way and has cost me alot of time, effort & ££££.

Ash

[Edited by DRUNKNORGY - 10/8/2002 10:41:51 AM]

I can't see how that would be any good - it would just fly off. In a gearbox, it doesn't matter if the EP90 flys off the cogs, cos it just drains back into the bottom of the case again, before being picked up by the gears again...etc

I run Belray superclean on my race bike - no mess, and there's even a little bit still left on the chain after the end of the race..;)

Scot oiler is still working fine at the minute and I have a can of wax I carry incase it runs out or stops working..

Have heard about this before but it is no better than chain lube, but cheaper.. still flicks off on a long journey at motorway speeds like I chain lube does though.. wax works okay and would do the job fine..
It is just easier for me to refill the scott oiler than wax the chain.. and there were no wax available 4years ago when I fitted the oiler to the Blade.

Might be good for normal use though..

JGM :)

I posted the addition to the thread on the MCNNinja site. Yes it does fling a bit but so does chainwax. I put it on after a ride when the chain is hot and leave it overnight to drain (same as any chainlube really). The problem with chainwax is because it sticks to the sideplates of the chain, It looks like the chain has sufficient lube on it, when in fact the pins are dry under the rollers, and are where the 'stretch' takes place. The graphite powder helps it to stick as well as offering extra lube properties as well.

If you overlube a chain, it just makes a mess (which Mr Sheen brings straight off anyway), If you underlube a chain, you will knacker it very quickly.

Ash

I did find with the wax that like you say it sticks to the edges..
but with the distance I do it was melting into the rollers..
So works quite well.. this was the other week when I ran out of scot oil...

I haven't tried diff/gear oil just assumed it will not hang onto the chain for the 400miles I was doing at the time I decided to fit the scott oiler.. currently only down 200miles at a time.

JGM :)

No one ever beleives me but:

I never lube my chain. My current chain is 5 years old, has no tight spots and has only been adjusted 3 times in it's life. There has been no significant stretch, the sprockets are in good condition and the chain is clean.

How many miles do you do Notorious?

I usually get about 20,000miles out of a chain.. :OMG:

Although I have been changing chain and sprockets when the front sprocket runs out.. as the front sprocket takes the chain out when it goes it would seem as the teeth get sharp.. going to keep an eye on the front sprocket and replace that when it starts to go and hope to get more miles from chain and rear sprocket than I have been... :)

JGM :)

I've done about 7000 miles on this chain in 5 years (high days and holidays only :D )

That's what I thought...

I think after 200miles at *cough* on the motorway it might be a bit on the hot side. :rolleyes:

:)

Lend me your bike and I'll prove it too you! :)

JGM :)

Rev,

That is astonishing!!!! Several years ago I was too lazy to lube the chain on a bike I was dispatching and dstroyed a chain and sproket set in about 10 days :eek::eek::eek: (about 2000 miles).

Since then I always force myself to lube the chain when I get back from a ride, even if it's raining/cold/dark!

Matt :)

On tight spots & stuff -- it's best to adjust the chain slack when someone's sitting on the bike ... trouble is finding another fat get like me to sit on it :D

After tightenning the chain too much a couple of times I only adjust it nowe when it get rather slack.. it is difficult not to go too tight.. I find anyway.

JGM :)

On the subject of Chain & Sprocket wear, Its good practice to replace them together as when the Chain 'stretches' and the pitch adjusts, the gaps in the teeth of the sprockets wear to match. This is why you get the saw tooth look on old sprockets. If you put a new chain on old sprockets, the pitch is different and accelerates the wear on the new chain dramatically. The same applies if you only change the sprockets. It is false economy to cut this corner as I found out in my mis-spent youth.

What I noticed is that the front sprocket because it is smaller turned more times and so wears out first.. as the front sprocket is the cheapest, as long as I change it before it shows too much wear the chain and rear sprocket should last longer..

As the front one wears first the chain will be stretching around this and squeezing into the rear sprocket that has less wear on it anyway.

I hear what you are saying though.. not exactly going to save myself much money when cheap sprocket and chain set is about 100 or about 150 for expensive set.. which so far seem to last no longer than the cheap ones ?!

JGM :)

If the bike is on its side stand, measure halfway between the sprockets you could put a small mark on the swingarm to id this point easily. Your owners handbook should give you the correct tolerance but its only about 10mm between minimum and maximum play in most cases. If you already have tight spots in the chain, you will have to rotate ait until at the midpoint, you have the minimum play in the chain before you make any adjustments. I use a vernier caliper to measure the play and to align the wheel, but you can use two straight edges (2 lengths of aluminium extrusion held or clamped to the rim back wheel and make a comparison to the sides of the front wheel).

I don't think mine has ever been done that accurately..

undo the main bolt... turn the chain side adjuster a couple of turns (counting turns) until the bottom longest run on the chain goes up about 2cm and down about 2cm when pulled/lifted. Turn the disc side adjuster same number of turns as the chain side and recheck tension of chain.. do up main bolt.. enjoy the fact that there is no longer a snatch when coming on and off the throttle :)

JGM :)