Chain Oilers ... Are they really useful?

[melensdad]

I've never bothered with an automatic chain oiler.

Then again, I've never left the house on a motorcycle and returned a few weeks later. Planning to change that and take a long ride this year.

Considering adding a chain oiler and a lot of them seem to be overly complicated for what they are supposed to do.

Stumbled upon a design that looks to be pretty much idiot proof. It's not an automatic system. You have to twist a knob. The knob pressurized an oil chamber and squeezes a little bit of oil out onto the chain while you ride. Seems like its mechanically a sound concept.

Roughly $60 including shipping from Amazon => https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KK4VRDM/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A1VJGIUEZVGDWB&psc=1

I saw another brand that looks identical but costs more.

I'm familiar with LOOBMAN => LoobMan Motorcycle Chain Oiler Loobman chain-oiler - Home page I also like the simplicity of this system. Generally I'm a KISS follower. Keep It Simple Stupid! Both the LOOBMAN and the unit from Amazon seem to follow the KISS method of mechanical engineering.

For those of you who have taken your NC700x/750x far afield and a long way from home, do you use a chain oiler and if so what do you recommend?

 

[1wiseguy2]

Yes, cameleon plus chain oiler

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[Old Can Ride]

Once you have used a chain oiler, you will put one on every bike after that. A whole lot less chain maintenance.

 

[rippin209]

OCR said it perfectly, per his and a few others that seem to know what their talking about recommended a chain oiler when I posted about my complaints and woes because of chain maintenance and problems.
I looked at around a dozen different oilers and figured out (in my opinion at least) the Tutoro oiler is the best, it isn't cheap but once you've got it installed and set properly you add oil once in awhile, that's it
(I'm rarely riding even a dirt road) but I don't clean or do anything else for chain maintenance (I wash my motorcycle less then once a year also)
my chains are lasting over 30,000 miles. My current chain is doing the best, it's just past 30,000 miles looks and feels brand new and hasn't moved sense the original stretch adjustment

Twice a year I adjust the screw a 1/4 to 3/4 a turn because of the change in average temperature where I live it goes as low as the upper 20's f° and over 110 f°

I used the Tutoro oil when I had it, once I ran out I just started using my old motor oil from my NC, it's worked perfectly

Besides the convenience of little to no maintenance work the increase in life of my chains (even when I oiled my chain after every single ride I didn't get this many miles out of them)

I commute to work year round to work 4 days a week, it's 120 miles round trip and I go over a small mounting pass,I stopped leaving my house on the motorcycle when it's raining but I'll ride when it's a possibility, which means I did ride in the rain lol.
Like OCR said once you've had one it's hard to imagine not
Unrelated but I feel the same way about heated grips

 

[Deleted member 1183]

I agree with Rippin that Tutoro is the best (imho). There is no take off required either electronically or vacuum. I have had both it and the Scottoiler and favour the Tutoro because of its more precise feed with less mess.

Nowadays however on my bikes that have a centrestand and no oiler I use Wurth HHS 2000. An excellent product imho.

 

[showkey]

More is not always better.
Sealed oring chain needs very little oil. Just enough to keep the rust away in wet conditions.
The concept of the oring chain is sealing the chain joint. Keeping the factory grease in and the water and dirt out.
Excessive oil attracts dirt and grit..............that makes a perfect grinding paste.

The chain thing is like the oil change thread.
From day one ( 2012) this forum had a few members that got on the is early and often chain and sprocket replacement routine. It spread like wild fire. The NC might have attracted new riders that had also over maintained the chain with excessive cleaning ( failed oring) and running the chain way too tight. Any decent quality NC chain should be able to achieve at least 30k with normal chain maintenance and oiling. The back of the NC does not need to look like a super fund oil spill.

 

[melensdad]

More is not always better.
Sealed oring chain needs very little oil. Just enough to keep the rust away in wet conditions.
The concept of the oring chain is sealing the chain joint...
...
... The back of the NC does not need to look like a super fund oil spill.

And this is one of the reasons why I am NOT attracted to most of the oiling systems on the market. Most start oiling as soon as the bike is moving and stop when the bike stops moving, applying a constant stream (albeit a very tiny stream) of oil all the time the bike is moving.

Loobman and the disk style I linked from Amazon are manual system. Push a button or turn a knob and oil is dispensed for a set duration. Then stops as the supply is cut off. I see no reason to run vacuum connections or electronics or other systems to run oil 100% of the time to the chain when the bike is moving.

 

[ld_rider]

The NC was my first motorcycle with a chain after a couple of decades on shaft driven bikes. I oiled the chain. I cleaned the chain. Would oil it some more. Cleaned it constantly.

Once a month I would have to scrape the oil off the rear fender, wheel and swingarm with a plastic putty knife it was so thick..."This chain is gonna last forever!" I thought. Yeah, right :-(

Found out (the hard way) that I was way, WAY over oiling and cleaning it. Oh, and the toothbrush I used was grinding sand into all the O-rings, destroying them.

Put on an automatic oiler filled with about 4 ounces of used motor oil 20,000 miles and two years ago (it is still half full) and haven't had to touch the chain since. First year I had the bike I would slobber on 4 ounces of oil in a month.

My oiler has a built in GPS so it knows exactly what speed/distance I'm traveling and oils the chain accordingly using software metered for the NC700. The brains are mounted under the rear seat, and the GPS module is mounted on top of my aux fuel tank. I have an electronic controller mounted within reach that allows me to manually drop a couple of more drops on the chain, useful when running in heavy rain, which I sometimes have to do. In essence, it is very similar to the manual oiler mentioned above, but automated.

I had <no> idea how little oil you actually need to maintain a modern O-ring chain and that cleaning it using my old method was actually doing more harm.

 

[1wiseguy2]

And this is one of the reasons why I am NOT attracted to most of the oiling systems on the market. Most start oiling as soon as the bike is moving and stop when the bike stops moving, applying a constant stream (albeit a very tiny stream) of oil all the time the bike is moving.

Loobman and the disk style I linked from Amazon are manual system. Push a button or turn a knob and oil is dispensed for a set duration. Then stops as the supply is cut off. I see no reason to run vacuum connections or electronics or other systems to run oil 100% of the time to the chain when the bike is moving.

That's why I use the cameleon. It's a smart oiler and it doesn't have the normal cylinder you have to find a place for it to go.

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[rippin209]

With it mounted here it doesn't get hit by road debris, doesn't get kicked by accident when my wife is riding on the back and it's still easy to get to in order to fill it, I just have to take my side case off

 

[MZ5]

The Motobriiz oiler is by far the best trade-off of cost, complexity, and the appropriate quantity of oil delivered to the chain. If you want an auto-oiler, it’s worth serious consideration.

Some think that chain lube is only needed as a rust preventative when or if the chain gets wet. If that has worked for any particular rider and climate, I say keep with it! The notion falls flat on its face in my climate (environment?), and has done so many, many times.

There is no one procedure that is somehow magic for everyone everywhere. The factory-recommended procedure for chain maintenance works at least as well as everything else across a broad range of environments.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Some think that chain lube is only needed as a rust preventative when or if the chain gets wet. If that has worked for any particular rider and climate, I say keep with it! The notion falls flat on its face in my climate (environment?), and has done so many, many times.

That notion also falls flat on its face in my climate as does the notion that oring chains need very little lube. Folks tend to forget that there is no lube sealed inside the rollers of the chain. Sure the pins have lube sealed inside the sleeves in which they operate, but the rollers are totally reliant on external lubrication. Leave them unlubed and they wear prematurely, further causing friction especially as the chain rolls over the driving sprocket.

 

[Junkie]

The Motobriiz oiler is by far the best trade-off of cost, complexity, and the appropriate quantity of oil delivered to the chain. If you want an auto-oiler, it’s worth serious consideration.

Some think that chain lube is only needed as a rust preventative when or if the chain gets wet. If that has worked for any particular rider and climate, I say keep with it! The notion falls flat on its face in my climate (environment?), and has done so many, many times.

There is no one procedure that is somehow magic for everyone everywhere. The factory-recommended procedure for chain maintenance works at least as well as everything else across a broad range of environments.

I was tempted, but it looks like it has some rather quick wear items and uses a LOT of lube. Refill every 1000mi, new pad every 5000mi.

 

[melensdad]

I was tempted, but it looks like it has some rather quick wear items and uses a LOT of lube. Refill every 1000mi, new pad every 5000mi.

I'm not thinking it is a great design. Relies on intake wind pressure. But I don't see any sort of dirt filter on the intake port. Those of us who live in areas where we have a mixture of asphalt, gravel, and chip & seal roadways might find ourselves cleaning out that intake tube?

From the Keep It Simple Stupid standpoint, I am still drawn to the utter simplicity of the 2 that were included in my original post.

 

[TacomaJD]

More is not always better.
Sealed oring chain needs very little oil. Just enough to keep the rust away in wet conditions.
The concept of the oring chain is sealing the chain joint. Keeping the factory grease in and the water and dirt out.
Excessive oil attracts dirt and grit..............that makes a perfect grinding paste.

The chain thing is like the oil change thread.
From day one ( 2012) this forum had a few members that got on the is early and often chain and sprocket replacement routine. It spread like wild fire. The NC might have attracted new riders that had also over maintained the chain with excessive cleaning ( failed oring) and running the chain way too tight. Any decent quality NC chain should be able to achieve at least 30k with normal chain maintenance and oiling. The back of the NC does not need to look like a super fund oil spill.

This is my perspective as well. I have had good luck with lubing chain once every month or two and do it when I have been out riding and just get home. The chain and sprockets are warmer from riding, lube the chain and let it cool off and sit overnight, has seemed to greatly decrease sling-off.

I look at it this way. You can have an oiler and waste time cleaning the sling-off all the time, or you can lube the chain once every now and then, which 100% is not difficult and with a center stand takes all of 30 seconds or less, and not have to clean it near as often. Spend time lubing or spend time cleaning, I dang sure hate cleaning much more than I do lubing. Only other alternative is just letting it go and not cleaning, which is personally unacceptable for me to do, so that option is out. Lol.

 

[melensdad]

I look at it this way. You can have an oiler and waste time cleaning ...

What is this "cleaning" to which you refer?

 

[TacomaJD]

What is this "cleaning" to which you refer?

I've gotta find out and do some for myself soon, both my bikes need it.

 

[1wiseguy2]

TMW Product Review: Cameleon Plus Electronic Chain Oiler Review • Total Motorcycle

Cameleon Plus Chain Oiler Review - webBikeWorld

Yes, I use their oil. On 2 bikes and in two years haven't used half a quart. Once installed I forget about it and finally after 7,000 miles refilled one but it wasn't empty yet.

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[melensdad]

TMW Product Review: Cameleon Plus Electronic Chain Oiler Review • Total Motorcycle

Cameleon Plus Chain Oiler Review - webBikeWorld

Same reviewer also reviewed and very much likes the Cobrra manual system, which is a clone to one of the 2 I linked in my original post.

 

[1wiseguy2]

Same reviewer also reviewed and very much likes the Cobrra manual system, which is a clone to one of the 2 I linked in my original post.

Nice to have choices... toughest part is sometimes the choosing. I have 2 pluses and couldn't be happier. Put them on and then forget about them. Glance once in a while to see if the small area of tube that I can see is gotten a level. If so I fill it. Only had to do that once after a whole summer of riding. Including a 7000 mile trip.

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