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How to remove chain lube from a tire?

Techrat

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Got my bike out of storage. I had cleaned and lubed the chain a week before. As soon as I turned out of the driveway on to a clear dry street, the back tire had no grip and I low sided. I always wear a jacket, gloves, boots and helmet so i wasn't hurt. After collecting my wits and my pride. I checked the bike. Nothing seriously damaged (a bit of road rash on my knee) but I did notice that the chain side of the rear tire seemed a bit slick. I got back on and took it VERY slow. After a few turns I came to the conclusion that I got some Honda chain wax on one side of my rear wheel.

I stopped at Home Depot and bought some "Simple Green Motorsports Cleaner and Degreaser" and a scrub brush. Used a liberal amount and a lot of water and elbow grease. The tire seems better but as it started raining, I didn't have time let the tire dry and take the bike out again. Looks like the weather won't let up for the rest of the week so in the meantime - What should I have done different? Should I have used a different product to clean the tire? Will this be enough to ride on that tire safely? If so, should I continue to be extra careful on left turns? Any thoughts?

BTW - The wife saw the crash and my road rash and demanded I go get riding jeans with built in knee protection. *whoo-hooo* Um...any suggestions for a 6'0" with 32" inseam?

Techrat
 
When I spray chain lube on the chain, I have a large sheet of cardboard under the length of the chain to keep the floor clean, but I also have a smaller cardboard sheet propped up from the floor to just under the rear sprocket carrier. If you angle it right you can spin the rear wheel (by hand, of course) without it catching on the tire. This keeps chain lube overspray off the wheel and tire. It’s hard to describe but really simple to set up. Perhaps today I’ll get a chance to snap a photo of the setup.

Your choice of cleaner seems appropriate. Sorry you crashed, though. I agree, you should add riding pants to your gear list, as your wife wisely suggested.
 
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I am always surprised people manage to spray the tire. Don't spray lube sideways, it has no actual benefit, spray angled on the length of the chain and in small quantity (hell I even spray at the rear of the rear sprocket, on hot chain, and it works well).

And always carfull with the throttle on cold tires until you get feeling for the grip.

Sorry for your fall, though.
 
Use kerosene to clean.
Use chain lube sparingly and never on anything but the chain.
Rotate wheel but do not spin it while lubing.


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I wear heavy textile pants from Olympia most of the time.
I have a pair of Klim riding jeans for when appearance matters.
They are quite expensive, but do come with Kevlar and armor and hip and knees, plus a tailbone pad.
Klim makes two versions, one is slimmer fit.
I look for the amount of Kevlar, some are just the knee area. Also the hip pad is important to me, and not many jeans have it.
You can wear armored underwear under your jeans, which gives you impact protection but not slide. I have no experience with that.

When I lube the chain I spray forward from the rear tire. I have never had a problem, but I do ride cautiously afterwards.
 
Self wash car wash (with the wands) to clean the tire. Be careful and don't spray close to any bearings/hubs. When spraying chain, spray from rear toward sprocket teeth or at an angle onto bottom chain travel-in front of the tire, angled away from the tire.
I have a 200' gravel driveway so I don't worry about scrubbing new tires in or after cleaning chain... gravel driveway does the trick...
 
I have gotten a little WD-40 on the tire while cleaning it the first time before lubing it up. Started using a piece of scrap whatever (cardboard, wood, newspaper) behind wherever I was spraying to keep it off the tire. Laying down old shop rags on the floor to keep from rolling in it when I move it. Heck, I've even used dawn dishwashing liquid to scrub it off the tire after some got on it. Seemed to work just fine. Made sure everything was off and the tire was totally dry before rolling it out of the shop onto the dirt.
 
Sorry for your slide as well. IMO, most people over lube. Not throwing stones at you techrat, just a general observation. I put a piece of cardboard on the floor, then spray down on the top of the bottom links (toward the floor), very sparingly. I even turn the wheel one chain length while holding a rag around it when done spraying. Never had a problem. As for cleaning the tire; a little Dawn detergent in water cuts grease etc quite well.
 
Got my bike out of storage. I had cleaned and lubed the chain a week before. As soon as I turned out of the driveway on to a clear dry street, the back tire had no grip and I low sided. I always wear a jacket, gloves, boots and helmet so i wasn't hurt. After collecting my wits and my pride. I checked the bike. Nothing seriously damaged (a bit of road rash on my knee) but I did notice that the chain side of the rear tire seemed a bit slick. I got back on and took it VERY slow. After a few turns I came to the conclusion that I got some Honda chain wax on one side of my rear wheel.

I stopped at Home Depot and bought some "Simple Green Motorsports Cleaner and Degreaser" and a scrub brush. Used a liberal amount and a lot of water and elbow grease. The tire seems better but as it started raining, I didn't have time let the tire dry and take the bike out again. Looks like the weather won't let up for the rest of the week so in the meantime - What should I have done different? Should I have used a different product to clean the tire? Will this be enough to ride on that tire safely? If so, should I continue to be extra careful on left turns? Any thoughts?

BTW - The wife saw the crash and my road rash and demanded I go get riding jeans with built in knee protection. *whoo-hooo* Um...any suggestions for a 6'0" with 32" inseam?

Techrat
+1 on the cardboard...I tend to use a piece a few times and then trash it. Amazon keeps me in cardboard.

As far as pants, maybe overpants? I'm wearing Scorpion Trey's vented and armored knees and hips. I wear them always...jeans, hiking pants, shorts underneath.

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Once a year or so some major department store has a killer deal on bathroom towels,
I get $100-$200 worth (whichever my wife wants) and I get the crappiest towels I had out of the house and they become shop towels, for washing the car then wiping up over spray (as discussed here) then for actual clean up such as spilt oil or trani fluid from changing fluids.
 
The cardboard sounds like a good idea and as it's been mentioned, most of us have plenty
 
Like 670cc. I always use a big piece of cardboard on the floor and a little one by the chain. In fifty two years of riding I don't think I've ever cleaned a tire.

A shiny tire would ruin my rep.
 
Dawn dish soap is great for cleanup: Wheels, Tires, Hands, etc. safe on all surfaces and rinses with water.
I also use it on spills on the concrete. Any oil or fluid gets a dose of dish soap straight from the bottle. Then work it in a bit and let it sit. After the next rain, the driveway is all clean.
 
I don't use spray chain lubes anymore. About every 500-600 miles I take two of those heavy duty blue shop paper towels folded into eighths and spray a good wet spot of WD40 on it then run the chain (by hand) across it a few turns by hand. The WD40 isn't a lubricant it only serves to clean the outer surfaces of the chain and there isn't enough WD40 used to wet the chain and possibly get inside the O-ring seals. O-ring chains have grease sealed inside the chain links. To keep the O-rings supple and conditioned I take a toothbrush and dip in ONCE in 80w90 gear oil and again turn the wheel by hand a few times to spread an even amount of the gear oil on the top of the lower run of the chain. I only do this every 1000-1200 miles depending on the weather I've been riding in. The chain stays clean and the rear wheel stays as clean as my shaft drive bike does.
 
When ever I get a medium size or bigger box delivered I cut off the 4 flaps of cardboard and put them in my bag of bike maintenance stuff. It's got my cleaners, lubricants, chain wax (been using wax only for about 5 years now), tools, gloves, etc. I started doing this because my previous bike had a catalytic converter underneath where it would catch overspray when waxing my chain.
I still use the cardboard to catch any overspray as I move the chain about 4-5 inches at a time. I would never spray on the chain at the back of the rear sprocket, like I've seen done on some videos. I don't understand that. It seems like not only a waste of wax (lube) but creates more mess to clean up.

I also tend to give the bike a cleaning before waxing the chain and so I've usually just wiped all the dust off my rear wheel. Last thing I want is to get chain wax on my clean wheel, much less the tire. I guess some aren't as picky?
 
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