What have you tinkered with today?

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by daktulos

Which handbook? The Curvy one says the opposite:

The Suzuki handbook for my 2020 Gen3 SV650A.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by Bibio

yes and the workshop manual states that you should use brake fluid to install calliper seals which we all know is wrong.

the reason we are not to use paraffin and things to clean o'ring chains is that it can "wick" behind the o'rings and destroy the grease. grease removal is the number one cause of chain stretch and seized links. technically you should not use a scotoiler either as the oil does the same but in practise a scotoiler is better. btw chain plates dont stretch its the rollers that wear and the grease dissipates.

I can see the possibility of paraffin ' wicking' behind the O rings but wouldn't that apply to any degreasing liquid ?

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by svenrico

I can see the possibility of paraffin ' wicking' behind the O rings but wouldn't that apply to any degreasing liquid ?

Wouldn't any liquid even salt water from the roads? I replaced my AL7 chain at 30k miles - not because it was worn out - it wasn't, merely because I wasn't sure how long a chain is supposed to last. It had been regularly cleaned with undiluted paraffin and oiled in the winter (and WD40 brand chain greased in the summer).
I found 30W gear oil best at stopping side plate rusting. I've tried various chain greases and dry lubes but they do nothing for salt water rust prevention.

I thought the main argument against kerosene/paraffin was the possibility that it would cause the o-rings to swell but with updated o-ring materials that was no longer a problem.

If the chain gets too dirty then the o-rings will get damaged and the chain will lose its factory installed grease anyway. Paraffin feels oily to the touch so ingress past the seals would be better than water.

I simply spray the chain with paraffin, use a soft brush to rub it, wipe it down with a rag and then oil. It doesn't need over-thinking imho.

[Craig380]

Originally Posted by Seeker

I replaced my AL7 chain at 30k miles

Mine's on 35K and the factory chain is just over the specified wear limit in the manual, so it'll get changed at some point.

I always paint the lube onto the inside run with a soft 1" brush, which means it doesn't get over-oiled and fling crap everywhere. I rarely clean the chain, when I do (mostly in winter to get salty crap off) it's with an old towel soaked with WD40.

[admin]

I never clean my motorcycle chain as the scottoiler seems to keep it pristine. I'll use paraffin to keep the surrounding area clean such as the swingarm and side stand.
The paraffin experiment was more about my pushbike, the chain and sprockets were covered in oily dirt that white spirit would only partly remove. No O rings to worry about.

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[Bibio]

white spirit wont cut the mustard John. with the pushbike chain not having orings go at it with paraffin then a good oil afterwords.if you are really brave you can give it a grease bath.

i'm also in the camp of dont clean your chain but as John has found out the scotty does it mostly.

[garynortheast]

Yep, Scottoiler keeps mine fairly clean and suitably lubed. Only time I clean my chain is for cosmetic purposes, as it looks nice with the gold colouring of the chain and the gold colour of the very nice sprocket given to me by Stephen (Zunkus).

[admin]

Originally Posted by Bibio

white spirit wont cut the mustard John. with the pushbike chain not having orings go at it with paraffin then a good oil afterwords.if you are really brave you can give it a grease bath.

i'm also in the camp of dont clean your chain but as John has found out the scotty does it mostly.

Back in the 70's I used to buy those big tins of chain grease. You'd cook the grease on the stove until it melted and drop the chain in. Take the chain out and let it drip, cool and reinstall. This is all pre O rings and you'd have a split link too.

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[Craig380]

Oh yes, the smell of Linklyfe warming on my mum's cooker I don't think she was quite as enthusiastic about it, mind ....

It was great stuff, though, as it was so thick even when the chain was warm after a ride that it didn't fling, didn't get washed out in rain etc and didn't really attract muck.

On split links, it was interesting watching Allen Millyard's latest video about checking, MOT'ing and riding his V10 Viper-engined bike. I noticed the final drive chain had a split link - and that motor puts 450bhp and 490 lb-ft to the wheel, and has regularly done over 200mph in speed trials.

Several other people had noticed the same thing and commented on the video. Allen's reply was that the chain was specially-rated up to 1000bhp for drag racing. So evidently split links are more capable of handling big power than accepted wisdom would have us believe!

[redtrummy]

Got a tin in the shed somewhere - Useto use it on the Cub but now the AT fluid leaks out of the clutch seal and keeps the chain wet -great, more to life than cleaning if I can help it.

Cycle chains I have a few, I tend to use an anti fling on MTBs but a lightish oil on the road bikes - however I haven't noticed much difference in longevity.