Life of a chain

[jfinstrom]

I am a commuter and ride about 240 miles a week for work and 5-50 on the weekends. my ritual is to do chain maintenance every other Saturday.  I am the bikes second owner and it is sitting about 22K miles. The previous owner replaced the chain not sure what mileage that happened but today I was at the end of my adjustment so I just put another chain on it. That said every other weekend I have to spin the tensioner 2-5 times the chain gains about 2-3 inches. The sprockets don't look overly worn not that I would know but the plan is to swap them out next month. The guy at the bike shop said he has 40K miles on his chain. So my question is does that sound right. Did the previous owner use maybe a junk chain or are the adjustments I am doing normal? Is Being on the  3rd chain in 22K normal.... I went with something called an X ring chain which is suppose to be better than a standard O-ring chain but may be just marketing BS...

[burnymcstalls]

if I read that right, you ride 240 miles a week, and have to adjust your chain every two weeks? I bought my bike last season with some jank chain on it, and only had to adjust it twice over 1500 miles. Its dirty as all get out, and needed to be lubed badly, but if I'm reading correctly it shouldn't be stretching that much. Do you ride it like you stole it? I would just adjust it according to the factory service manual, it is supposed to have a certain amount of freeplay up and down. I'm sure you are aware that having a chain that is too tight is detrimental to the transmission

[black and silver twin]

you milage between adjustments sounds correct, close to mine. just make sure you dont make it too tight, that will make adjustments nessesary more often.

X-ring chains are better than O-ring because they keep dirt out of the bearings better and have less friction for more power at the rear wheel. They will have little-to-no-effect on stretch, the quality of the chain and how you ride determines that.

[jfinstrom]

some days i ride it like a scooter and others I get on it but never like I stole it... I average 50 mph and in town i manage my speed with the gears more than brakes my normal commute is 0-70 in I would say 15-20 seconds getting on to the freeway and I ride it 75 for 15 miles usually in the car pool lane so no speed changes then 10 miles or so worth of surface streets. When I adjust I leave 1 inch of play in the chain.

[mister]

18,000km on this chain. *I* lube it every tank up with WD40. So roughly every 300km or so it gets a small dose of WD40.

Chain is good. Sprockets are good. Adjust chain - slightly - each 6,000km service.

Michael

[Eklipse]

I use chain wax. My chain had almost 11,000 miles on it when my piston rod bearing went out. I use chain wax because I feel it lasts longer and doesn't get flung off and I don't want to have to oil it all the time.

After I get it fixed, I'll let you know if it's still good.

[jeremy_nash]

I run a cheap oring chain from the dealer,  lube it with chain wax every fill up, and dont have any issues.  been running the chain for 2 years and over 10k miles. 
I ride VERY aggresively!  with runs down the dragstrip thrown in for fun

[ohgood]

18,000km on this chain. *I* lube it every tank up with WD40. So roughly every 300km or so it gets a small dose of WD40.

Chain is good. Sprockets are good. Adjust chain - slightly - each 6,000km service.

Michael

Wd40 is not a lubricant, iirc my last chain specifically said to not use wd40 on it in the packaging. Just an fyi.


Xring chains are great, you'll get good service from it. I've tried the same cheap 10w40 that goes in the case at every other fillup, non oring chains, and spray wax. The non oring chains are a wasste, barely got 4000 miles out of one.

Spray wax from home depot for $20 / 6 pack is the easiest, cheapest, and least prone to grabbing dirt. Ride (to warm the chain), spray off gunk, wipe, spray on more, ride.

As lonmg as you don't use solvents or oil stripping concentrates like wd40, you'll be fine.

500 miles between small adjustments is about right AT FIRST with a new chain and cogs. Then it tapers off to around 750/1000 miles between adjustments.

You're likely seeing more adjustments frequemcy because of not changing you freont cog with the new chain.

Be careful on your commutes. Ride safe !

[O.C.D.]

Just to add, I just purchased this chain last week for $55!  It is an X-Ring/Gold.  I cannot wait to run it.

https://www.powersportsuperstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TR57-1824

Just an FYI for anyone looking for a good X-ring

[mister]

18,000km on this chain. *I* lube it every tank up with WD40. So roughly every 300km or so it gets a small dose of WD40.

Chain is good. Sprockets are good. Adjust chain - slightly - each 6,000km service.

Michael

Wd40 is not a lubricant, iirc my last chain specifically said to not use wd40 on it in the packaging. Just an fyi.

...

As lonmg as you don't use solvents or oil stripping concentrates like wd40, you'll be fine.

This chain has done almost 19,000 now (18,797 after the long ride I did the other day). And the only time is has not had WD40 on it was when the service guys sprayed on their shop lube. Otherwise, it's only had WD40. Once, sometimes twice a week. Sprockets are good. Chain is good.

So far, the only Proof anyone has every offered to the detrimental effects of WD40 is to post a picture of an aircraft bearing claimed to have had WD40 sprayed in it. Of course, an aircraft bearing sprayed once in 6 months is not an Oring motorcycle chain.

WD40 does have some lubricating qualities. So when I spray it on after I come home from riding, after the evaporative effects have fumed up my garage what's left is a small film of lube. A tank full later I don't clean the chain first before hitting it with WD40, no, I simply visually check the chain for debris and seeing none I just hit it with WD40 again. Spraying a thin squirt under hardly any pressure as I go through about three revolutions of the chain.

If your chain said not to use it, then don't use it.

And my chain - and sprockets - are fine, after using it.

But if you (generic you - you the person reading this) feel more warm and fuzzy with using designated chain lube instead of WD40, then do so. I'm not trying to sway you to use WD40, just retelling you my experiences with it. Use old/new engine oil if that floats your boat (an owner's manual from Honda once said to use oil). Or chain wax. Or clean with kero and lube each time. The main thing is... lube the damn chain. Regularly. Only takes less than a minute.

Let me repeat that...

Regardless of what chain lube you use the main thing is... lube the damn chain. Regularly.

Michael

[sledge]

There is a lot of truth in the idea that WD40 can do degrade seals. The whole issue depends on what your O or X-ring seals in your chain are actually made from and how resistant they are to Stoddard solvent, the chemical that makes up 50% of WD40.

Chain manufacturers use seal materials compatable with the petroleum based greases used to lubricate the pins and rollers and some of these materials are not as compatable with stoddard solvent......its all in here.... http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/oring/oring_chemical.cfm?SM=none&SC=Stoddard%20Solvent

I dont like to use WD40 on chains... period.  But in theory if the the seals are made from Buna-nitrile or another material with a high compatability with SS and the seals are in good order there shouldnt be an issue.

I have always found it interesting how some chain makers state its ok to use WD40 and some choose to say nothing, maybe this is the reason why 

[Eklipse]

No one lubes with Lemon Pledge?

[johnny ro]

wd 40 destroys old electric motor bearings, the sintered brass ones. It washes out the oil and leaves nothing. I ruined a nice vintage Vornado fan that way.

[intergalactic]

I am a commuter and ride about 240 miles a week for work and 5-50 on the weekends. my ritual is to do chain maintenance every other Saturday.  I am the bikes second owner and it is sitting about 22K miles. The previous owner replaced the chain not sure what mileage that happened but today I was at the end of my adjustment so I just put another chain on it. That said every other weekend I have to spin the tensioner 2-5 times the chain gains about 2-3 inches. The sprockets don't look overly worn not that I would know but the plan is to swap them out next month. The guy at the bike shop said he has 40K miles on his chain. So my question is does that sound right. Did the previous owner use maybe a junk chain or are the adjustments I am doing normal? Is Being on the  3rd chain in 22K normal.... I went with something called an X ring chain which is suppose to be better than a standard O-ring chain but may be just marketing BS...

I think you run your chain too tight.