hello all,
i cleaned my chains for the first time since i had gotten my gs500 a little over a month ago and am wondering how can i tell if i have applied enough chain lube on? i cleaned the chains with honda's brake cleaner, and applied the chain lube, and have rode around 100 miles since with no problems. now if i put my finger on the chain it would feel a little sticky, but not too sticky, almost feels as if there's not enough lube on, but since no problems with the ride i'm assuming it's okay???
also, as a side note, i noticed that whenever i ride my 2001 (w/5000+ miles) in the 5000+ rpm range, the engine makes a consistent whirling sound. i think it's normal, but not sure... anyone else hear this?
I'm not sure what you mean by a "whirling sound", but I remember noticing an interesting sound while on one of my first long rides. It had a kind of rythmic "rise and fall" about 1 1/2 seconds long. I wondered if something was wrong with the engine - it worried me because I was miles from the nearest (small) town in either direction.
Eventually I realized that it must be some sort of "interference" pattern created by normal vibrations in the bike. It was like two vibrations had slightly differing frequencies, and they would converge and diverge over and over.
Is this anything like what you've been hearing? Or is it a more "sinister" noise...?
As for the lube, as long as it's coated the whole chain you should be fine.
check your chain tension.. on the side stand.. i had that whirring noise too.. i still got it but since i chain lubed it its gone down considerably. I used to use WD40 earlier.
You probably shouldn't clean the chain with brake cleaner. It could dry and ruin the O-rings in the chain. Use WD-40 or Simple Green. Lots of people here use these with good results.
Quote from: glenn9171You probably shouldn't clean the chain with brake cleaner. It could dry and ruin the O-rings in the chain. Use WD-40 or Simple Green. Lots of people here use these with good results.
Ive heard WD can ruin o rings too. From what ive gathered O ring chains dont need basically any maintenance... in fact in Dirt Rider magazine, they say cleaning an O-ring is strictly for cosmetic purposes.. And dirt bike chains go through much more stress and grime than street chains.
The o rings keep the lube in and the other lubes out.. so i dont think lubing it is really necessary.
thank you all for the info. the brake cleaner that i used was designed to clean the chains as well (the chain lube was honda hp and it even said to use the brake cleaner on the chain before applying the lube), safe for o-rings and all.
i did check the tension and it was okay.
i would swear the whirling noise is from the engine, and it didn't come on until i accidentally dropped it a few weeks ago (while straddling it out of my driveway!), but i think it's a case of me being oversensitive after i dropped it... the bike works and runs fine.
Check the oil level.
Quote from: RashadQuote from: glenn9171You probably shouldn't clean the chain with brake cleaner. It could dry and ruin the O-rings in the chain. Use WD-40 or Simple Green. Lots of people here use these with good results.
Ive heard WD can ruin o rings too. From what ive gathered O ring chains dont need basically any maintenance... in fact in Dirt Rider magazine, they say cleaning an O-ring is strictly for cosmetic purposes.. And dirt bike chains go through much more stress and grime than street chains.
The o rings keep the lube in and the other lubes out.. so i dont think lubing it is really necessary.
Dirtbike chains do go through more than streetbike chains, true. But they are not expected to last 10-15,000 miles like ours regularly do.
O-rings keep the lube on the inside of the rollers. The outside still needs to be kept clean because dirt is abrasive and accelerates wear on sprockets and worn sprockets are chain killers. Plus a clean, well lubed chain does not rust and create binding links. This means less chain stretch and longer wear.
All around, a clean, lubed chain is a long lasting chain. Especially on a bike like the GS that doesn't produce the torque that other bigger bikes do that stretche the chain a lot faster.