I'm worried

......about my chain.

I''m worried that I'll let it dry out, it'll snap when I'm on the motorway and I'll die .

I've trawled through some previous posts and am now aware of this scottoiler thingy. I think I might get it, but then I've read some posts that say its messy etc etc etc.

At the moment, I've been lubing my chain manually. Push the bike forward, spray on inside of chain, push forward, spray.........
BUT that doesn't adjust the tension. So I'm worried about that too. It'll get so loose, and then one day as I go round a roundabout, it'll fall off and I'll die . Yes, I have an owners manual (thanks Luckypants ), but I can't tell a spanner from a screwdriver . well, I can really, but you know what I mean.

So what's a girl to do??

Get the scottoiler thingy and hopefully forget about lubing chain??
Get an idiots guide to adjusting tension?
Prepare to die


I am knowledgeable about some things..honest

[fizzwheel]

Learn how to adjust your chain, its a 5 minute job at most and you only need a few basic tools, although a torque wrench makes life alot easier.

Ask somebody local to you to show you how to do it.

As for the lube, spraying it manually is fine, a paddock stand makes this job alot easier to.

As for the Scotoiler, yes they are brilliant and if you do alot of miles then they really do save on chain wear, they are only messy if they are not adjust properly and the flow rates to high, you get a bit of fling with a scotoiler on your back wheel, but you can get this with chain lube to.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Learn how to adjust your chain, its a 5 minute job at most and you only need a few basic tools, although a torque wrench makes life alot easier.

Ask somebody local to you to show you how to do it.

Dizzy, " 'im indoors" or Chris should be able to show you how to do it yourself (and you'll get it done free whilst they're teaching you ).

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Learn how to adjust your chain, its a 5 minute job at most and you only need a few basic tools, although a torque wrench makes life alot easier.

Ask somebody local to you to show you how to do it.

Right then fizz, you are local to me.. Come over to my place and show me how to do it so i can stop paying £3.00 every month to get it checked.

See its not just you melody... us boys are crap as well

[TSM]

the probability of a chain falling off or snapping is a fairly low. Few chains fail due to manuf defects and you realy have to mess up the loobing of the chain for it to fail that way. If you look at peeps like spiderman who had half of the rear sprocket teeth disapear and his bike sill was working fine and couriers that are some of the worst maintainers of bikes but they keep going, the tolerences in things are so much nowerdays in things like chains.

But a scottoiler is a good investment and easy, less mucky than manual job.

Looksi here for more info, mabey too much though.
http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0010_handson/

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Viper

Right then fizz, you are local to me.. Come over to my place and show me how to do it so i can stop paying £3.00 every month to get it checked.

See its not just you melody... us boys are crap as well

Aye will do, see you on the 5th.. I'll go through it with you then.

I've got a mate. 6'2" ex doorman. He gets his local dealer to adjust the chain on his bike and he's been riding for quite a few years now.

To start off with Melody, find a nice honest local garage and ask them to adjust the chain while you watch. Get it done a few times and you'll soon get the idea.

Scottoilers are great but they are not fit and forget. Unless you do lots of miles regularly, I would stick with the lube. Try and do it at the end of a ride. That way the excess lube will mostly have dropped harmlessly to the floor, by the time you next use the bike.

As TSM said, chains snapping is pretty rare. You can tell when a chain is getting near the end of its life as it will start to get big ‘tight spots’.

To find if yours has 'tightspots' - With the bike on its sidestand, wobble the chain up and down, holding it between thumb and forefinger in the middle of the bottom bit/run you can see (use a bit of tissue ). There should be say 25mm (someone look up in the book what it should actually be) you then push the bike forward a foot and try again, repeat this process 3-4 times. Basically you are looking for the difference between the wobble amounts. If in one spot it is mega wobbly and another it is really tight, then its time for a new chain, if they range about <10mm between max and min, then I’d say that is pretty normal, I’d want to replace at say 30mm difference (but have happily ridden 50mm!! ).

For piece of mind from a lubrication point of view, get a scottoiler, you will still need to top up the reservoir, but it is a no-brain solution and constant flow of fresh oil is the best for the chain and its longevity. You WILL still need to check the chain tension, but once a month should be fine (depending on mileage).

p.s. you worry too much!!

[northwind]

Still, it's not a bad idea to prepare for death, in general

I love my scottoiler, if I got another bike I'd fit one immediately. It can be a wee bit flingy but not bad at all, and it's easy to wipe off. Makes things so much easier, less adjustment, longer chain life...

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by Baph

Dizzy, " 'im indoors" or Chris should be able to show you how to do it yourself (and you'll get it done free whilst they're teaching you ).

even I can't do that!!!! i do know how to judge tha tension though.....but yeah im indoors would show you, or chris. We've got 4 bikes in the back garden last...lets try for 5 . I'm sure your chain needed doing on the AR...so it'll be a defo now