How many miles did You get with the original motorcycle chain

[wozza]

Found the link again for the Readers Digest version of the WD40 motorcycle chain article:

Chain Lube

Thank you for that info much appreciated...

 

[VE258]

Hi! what is the maximum allowed slack? i know it says on bike -35mm, but is it a maximum allowed or what? on my bike it's now 40mm. should i adjust ? how ofter i have to do this? how often members of this forum adjust their chains?

Thank you!

 

[Josh H]

I just CHAINged (get it???) my original D.I.D at 13,000 miles. After taking it off and getting a really close look at it, I can't believe I didn't change it sooner. There was so much rust around some of the links it was scary. I cleaned and lubed that chain once a week with normal, 50 miles a day commuting and every weekend I went for a long ride. I will say, though, I live very near the ocean so that might have something to do with it. I replaced it with the Gold/Black D.I.D so maybe this will deter some of the rust. I guess we'll see.

 

[SergeantChuck]

This thread will have me maintaining my chain better that I ever have and changing it out when needed. I have to admit, in the past, I barely paid attention to my chain. Lubed it occasionally but I had no routine. I guess I was lucky because I have never broke a chain and I have always been very rough on my bikes. I'm either lucky as hell or sold the bike before it broke. I won't be so careless with my NCX.

 

[StratTuner]

This thread will have me maintaining my chain better that I ever have and changing it out when needed. I have to admit, in the past, I barely paid attention to my chain. Lubed it occasionally but I had no routine. I guess I was lucky because I have never broke a chain and I have always been very rough on my bikes. I'm either lucky as hell or sold the bike before it broke. I won't be so careless with my NCX.

I won't be making this study soon, but it would be interesting to see how long a chain would last if we just did nothing to it at all. I'm guessing it would last almost as long as it does with good care... owing to modern manufacture and design.

 

[bamamate]

Hi! what is the maximum allowed slack? i know it says on bike -35mm, but is it a maximum allowed or what? on my bike it's now 40mm. should i adjust ? how ofter i have to do this? how often members of this forum adjust their chains?

Thank you!

This is off the top of my head but I’m fairly sure the book says 30-40mm with a max of 60mm. I personally adjust mine to ~35mm and then adjust again when it hits ~45mm.
The how often depends. Here again I believe the book says to check every 500miles and adjust when needed. Generally chains finish their initial stretch by 1-1.5k miles. After that it is wear stretch which isn’t necessarily consistent from one rider to another.

 

[Chestnut]

I won't be making this study soon, but it would be interesting to see how long a chain would last if we just did nothing to it at all. I'm guessing it would last almost as long as it does with good care... owing to modern manufacture and design.

about 12,000mi.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Mine has a little over 15,000 on it now. I will change it when the new chain and sprockets arrive. I'll probably check the valves while I'm at it.

 

[cdnuser]

One of my buddies races bikes, one day I showed him my chain because i noticed some surface corrosion. He said i was over waxing it. The excess chain wax was trapping in moisture. It was also trapping dirt and wearing the chain faster. He made me clean it completely and give it a light oiling.
So make sure you clean the chain if your going to apply chain wax. Most guys on race bikes swear by kerosene for cleaning and using a chain brush.


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[Mr_Krabs]

One of my buddies races bikes, one day I showed him my chain because i noticed some surface corrosion. He said i was over waxing it. The excess chain wax was trapping in moisture. It was also trapping dirt and wearing the chain faster. He made me clean it completely and give it a light oiling.
So make sure you clean the chain if your going to apply chain wax. Most guys on race bikes swear by kerosene for cleaning and using a chain brush.


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Most race bikes use plain roller chains to maximize power to the ground, they also replace the chains every race. Kerosene will penetrate the o-rings and wash the OEM grease away. You might think you're doing yourself a favor by using a harsh degreaser like kerosene but unless you can take each link apart and put back in the grease that was washed away you're doing nothing to help an o-ring chain.

 

[wrksux]

I had the chain replaced at just under 10K. I stayed with the original sprockets hoping the set will run at least another 5+K. I was very disappointed. I've had a number of chain drive bikes and all have gone well over 20K. Hope that this wasn't a poor attempt by Honda to save money.

 

[treybrad]

Kerosene will penetrate the o-rings and wash the OEM grease away. You might think you're doing yourself a favor by using a harsh degreaser like kerosene but unless you can take each link apart and put back in the grease that was washed away you're doing nothing to help an o-ring chain.

Nope, not true, but a common misconception. All I clean my chain with is Kerosene (or Lamp Oil), and usually get very good longevity from my chains. My Bandit made it just shy of 50k miles on the OEM chain, and at 14k, the NC's chain seems to be doing just fine, though it does seem a little cheap.

Cleaning a Motorcycle Chain - webBikeWorld

Motorcycle Chain Maintenance | Canyon Chasers Motorcycle Sport Touring

trey

 

[yticolev]

One of my buddies races bikes, one day I showed him my chain because i noticed some surface corrosion. He said i was over waxing it. The excess chain wax was trapping in moisture. It was also trapping dirt and wearing the chain faster. He made me clean it completely and give it a light oiling.

Trapping moisture? I don't think so. Surface corrosion yes (if that bothers you, it is just personal preference - it won't impact chain life) because wax flakes off the exterior easily. When it comes to applying wax based spray I don't think you can overdo it as it doesn't last long - you need short application intervals, especially with rain. The wax to carrier ratio is not good.

I've hot dipped bicycle chains for over 25 years, and they last forever (well, about 5-7 years of daily use). Hot dipping is the only way to get enough wax into the links. Typical commercial sprays and liquid wax applicators are lucky to go 50 miles before they start to make noise. I haven't tried them yet, but I have a number of the latest samples that include micro ceramic beads. The reps I talked to claim that allows them to go well over 100 miles (still talking bicycles here) without requiring a new application. Still less than hot dipping, but more practical on tour. Generally I can go a couple of months riding my bicycle daily on a hot wax unless there is rain. A couple hours in the rain washes the wax out of the chain.

Some say wax is not a lubricant and that might well be true. More important to chain longevity though is keeping dirt out. Dirt and grit is responsible for the majority of chain wear. And a well waxed chain is clean, and a poorly maintained oiled chain is very dirty and will wear quickly.

I'm not an expert on motorcycle chains, but it seems to me that if the rollers are sealed, what we do with the rest of the chain is unlikely to make much of a longevity difference. My own experience with bicycles (very low power admittedly) is that as long as the chain is not stretched, the sprockets last well even in the absence of proper lubrication. I'm expecting that the UK bikers with chain oilers will quickly set me straight of course. Chain lubricants are big business for motorcycles and bicycles.

 

[IronButt84]

My thought to lubing the chain is for chain to sprocket contact and nothing more. It would cut down on the surface rusting too. If the o'rings are intact, you're not getting anything in there anyway. I use a white lithium lube. It goes on thin, I can see where I'm putting it and then it tacks up. It also does not seem to collect as much dirt.

 

[cdnuser]

Most race bikes use plain roller chains to maximize power to the ground, they also replace the chains every race. Kerosene will penetrate the o-rings and wash the OEM grease away. You might think you're doing yourself a favor by using a harsh degreaser like kerosene but unless you can take each link apart and put back in the grease that was washed away you're doing nothing to help an o-ring chain.

He is running an o-ring chain and has been racing on it for a full season. He has a back up if needed. He is not in the pro circuit and they don't have the budget to replace chains every race. LOL his pit crew is his wife and 2 kids.

 

[V-FORE]

My original chain is at 13,245 right now & is ready to be replaced, I am hoping to get a little more life out of it. With this chain I have cleaned it once and lubed it a couple of times. In my experience it does not seem to matter if I clean it or not life is about the same, after you have to adjust it once chain is living on borrowed time. I read a thread about this on another forum I am on VFRD.com

My definition of a worn out chain is after the 3rd adjustment because that
is undeniable evidence that the factory installed grease is beginning to
fail to lube the critical pin roller junction hidden behind the X ring... the
length of the chain is growing because of this metal to metal wear... I can
not call a chain serviceable that is grinding metal... it's like saying that a
dry bearing that runs ruff is acceptable... the net result is another 2 to
3% drop in RWHP as more energy is lost grinding metal behind the X
ring...

After the 3rd adjustment happens at around the 8K mark the factory

grease thins out enough to begin metal to metal wear... you
may still claim the chain will last longer... but you may not claim there is
no the metal to metal wear going on... everytime you adjust the chain
you're in effect taking up slack caused by wear at the critical pin and
roller junction hidden behind the X ring... keep riding far enough and the
red oxides of harden metal exploded pass the X ring in the dreaded "Red
Dust"... but now you're guilty of chain abuse and possible breakage...

We don't have to guess about wear because Honda provided a handy
guide to monitor chain wear... stay with in the green and you'll be looking
for a new chain and sprockets at the 8 to 10K mile mark...


This is what we don't see behind the X rings... metal to metal wear
every time we adjust the chain that eats into our engine's available
HP... a new pin measures 206.5 and wears down to 205.5 at the 8K mile
mark... looks good to the naked eye but multiply that 1 thousand of an
inch times 108 links and you have 108 thousands of an inch wear or
about the range of the green marks provided by Honda's wear gauge...
202.8 show the very visible wear at the 12K mile mark... the pins are
turning red from extreme heat of grinding dry metal... a chain in this
condition may consume up to 6 to 8% of our RWHP... not to mention it
may snap into and cause case damage...

 

[Fuzzy]

What about wear between outside of roller and sprocket?

 

[CGFS]

Holy crap! This is what is bad about a typical forum thread. Too many differing opinions with "evidence" to back them up. People look at threads like these and come away more confused then when they start. Just making an observation not calling anyone or everyone out.

 

[Garnet]

I have 1600km/1000miles on my 700SA and I'm considering changing the chain to a high quality X ring chain now, before my sprockets are worn. I have already had to adjust it once, but have lubed it at least 5 times already.

Is that over reacting?

 

[SergeantChuck]

I have 1600km/1000miles on my 700SA and I'm considering changing the chain to a high quality X ring chain now, before my sprockets are worn. I have already had to adjust it once, but have lubed it at least 5 times already.

Is that over reacting?

Everybody has a different way to go about things. I do it every other fuel tank and spray the lubricant on when the chain is hot. I don't actually clean it every time. Only if there is a lot of crud.