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chain lube.

After trying many modern spray lubes I am of the opinion that a proper solvent wash to remove all the grit and a soak in old fashioned Low melting point graphite grease/wax is still the best for old style non O ring chain, which four bikes have.I still have a tin of Duckhams but will soon need a top up, any ideas??. Other than that a chain oiler X4 ouch!!.

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For the past couple of years I have been using WD40 chain oil and chain wax. Use the chain oil first and then the wax to keep the oil on the chain. The acid test is that I've never had to adjust a chain since using these two products.

More good news is that these are now available in half size tins, handy if you are on the road for a duration.

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Did the job with whats left in the old Duckhams tin. A clean washed chain feels so much better. 4 bricks a length of clothes hanger and the plumbers torch under it . Great. No 2 son just rang ,broke down,front sprocket jammed with wax build up and gravel , thats progress!.

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"4 bricks a length of clothes hanger and the plumbers torch under it." Can you just describe that a bit better Robert? I'm interest but a tad lost.George
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Why not treat yourself to a new deep fat fryer and relocate the old one to chain boiling duties in the garage. Got to be better than a tin of grease over a naked flame. your house insurance man would have a fit. I used to balance to whole lot over a camping gas stove but the 12' diameter tin on a 4" diameter burner was always going to tip over. And of course it did. Did I put a newspaper down for such an event? Not as such. Needless to say the old man was well impressed.

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Previously david_evans wrote:

Why not treat yourself to a new deep fat fryer and relocate the old one to chain boiling duties in the garage. Got to be better than a tin of grease over a naked flame. your house insurance man would have a fit. I used to balance to whole lot over a camping gas stove but the 12' diameter tin on a 4" diameter burner was always going to tip over. And of course it did. Did I put a newspaper down for such an event? Not as such. Needless to say the old man was well impressed.

What a good idea. I'm sure my wife will be impressed too - for a change!Wink

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Funny, I Was just about to throw out a deep fat fryer that I got from my mum about 8 years ago & have never used. I never thought of using it for chain wax!

I have to say I always get a bit edgy in the garage when the chain wax startssmoking on the camping gas rings! (Had aflat in Amsterdamon the 4th & 5th floor of17C warehouse & I woke up at 3am to a flat full of smoke, fortunately it was only a neighbour's tumble dryer, still gave me a bit of a turn)

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I do the job outside so flare ups or spillages are no big deal ,no not on the patio !, I did think about safety when the chain nearly slipped off the coat hanger and could have dropped back into the tin---hot splashes! 4 bricks are so much more stable than a camping burner. The job is so Da------ good i'm doing all 3. No deep fat in my house , not safe!.

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You need two chains...Pull the old one off to pull on the new or re-lubed one.

1) You need (ideally) two 6 pint plastic milk containers with their tops.

2) Put a pint of paraffin in one of the containers and a pint of petrol in the other.

3) Drop the entire dirty chain into the paraffin container....fit top and hold it and shake the bottle as hard as you can for several minutes crashing the chain about. When done, fish out the chain with a stiff wire (Clothes hanger type)

4) Drop the cleaned chain in the container with the petrol and repeat the shaking.

5) Whip out the chain, wipe it and it will dry quickly but you may wish to blow over with heat gun....you want it bone dry so the new grease sticks and holds.

6) Refit nice clean chain which is easy and clean to handle and fitting link is easy as chain has not been shortened by added grease.

7) Spin wheel and slowly squirt in modern anti fling chain lube (Silkolene?) getting it right inside the rollers.

8) Now do the 2 stage cleaning of the other chain if you need to. Keep wrapped up in plastic bag but not greased to make fitting simple and clean as before.

Les

http://www.silkolene.com/motorcycle/chain-lubes/

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I don't use this method as I prefer to leave the chain soaking in melted chain lube to get inside the rollers,I allow the surplus to drain back which helps in the refitting ,Modern spray waxes dont seem to provide much rust protection inside the rollers (they don't need to on O ring chain) and I notice that the boys Yamaha and Suzuki regularly develop stiff links and rust despite lots of spray in use. In between treatment if the chain looks a bit dry I brush on some EP90 which is recognised as being good for chain ,and I have 10 litres of it!!.I would not need to do any of this if my engine was behaving normally for a Norton (puking oil out of its breather) and onto the chain!, Instead its going like a rocket ,snarling like a Merlin thro the gate, and not breathing out oil. I have no idea why. And only worry it won't last.

 


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