Chain maintenance

[motoneta123]

Question: every how many miles should i clean/lube my chain i been riding 150/200 miles a week in So Cal, it never rains here... my last bike was a kawa vn750 (shaft drive) so i have no idea about chain care could anyone please tell me? thanks

[dart1963]

Originally Posted by motoneta123

Question: every how many miles should i clean/lube my chain i been riding 150/200 miles a week in So Cal, it never rains here... my last bike was a kawa vn750 (shaft drive) so i have no idea about chain care could anyone please tell me? thanks

You should follow the OM, periodic maintenance (not just the chain) starts on page 7-3....

600 miles, or after washing the bike, or after riding in the rain.

[motoneta123]

yes the OM, thanks i'll better read it

[Fenixgoon]

so here's a dumb question:

in my excitement to clean my chain for the first time, i forgot to go for a ride! i still gave it a thorough cleaning (kerosene + toothbrush) and lubed afterwards. how big of a deal is it? i'm guessing the next cleaning will be after only a short period instead of ~600 miles?

[dart1963]

Originally Posted by Fenixgoon

so here's a dumb question:

in my excitement to clean my chain for the first time, i forgot to go for a ride! i still gave it a thorough cleaning (kerosene + toothbrush) and lubed afterwards. how big of a deal is it? i'm guessing the next cleaning will be after only a short period instead of ~600 miles?

it's an o-ring chain... it's not going to hurt it toooooo bad

I'll take cleaning and lubing it without a warm-up ride over letting it sit any day.

[Rao]

Yeah, I'm Posting in this thread... alot of good information in here, but I've run into an interesting situation that has me stumped:

I cleaned my chain for the first time today, as the rear sprocket was making alot of noise. After cleaning and lubing the chain, I take the bike for a spin, and immediately notice the rear sprocket is super quiet. (yay)

However, after about 10-15 minutes, I notice the front sprocket is making alot of noise. The tinny high-pitched chain noise only comes up when I'm using throttle. When I'm coasting, engine breaking, or using the clutch, I don't hear a thing.

Any Ideas? I'm certain I used ample amounts of lubricant wax....

[roadrat]

I'm pretty lazy so after I clean my chain I'm not always up for bringing it down off the stand, gearing up and riding it to warm the chain up for lubing... so I use my wife's hair dryer. Ha! Works great. And... no pressure to lube fast before the chain cools... I just warm up a section at a time. Gotta get a dryer just for my own use though - she hasn't noticed yet but eventually she will.

[linkgt]

Wait, after you clean the chain you're supposed to warm it up before lubing? Never heard that before till now...

[Bloke]

Yup. A short 15 minute bimble is enough.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Chucker]

Originally Posted by Rao

Yeah, I'm Posting in this thread... alot of good information in here, but I've run into an interesting situation that has me stumped:

I cleaned my chain for the first time today, as the rear sprocket was making alot of noise. After cleaning and lubing the chain, I take the bike for a spin, and immediately notice the rear sprocket is super quiet. (yay)

However, after about 10-15 minutes, I notice the front sprocket is making alot of noise. The tinny high-pitched chain noise only comes up when I'm using throttle. When I'm coasting, engine breaking, or using the clutch, I don't hear a thing.

Any Ideas? I'm certain I used ample amounts of lubricant wax....

I get this on mine as well. I've checked and rechecked to make sure everything is lined up as it should be. I think it's the chain hitting the plastic guide in front of the front sprocket. I've never been able to see any adverse affects on my chain or sprocket, so I think it's OK.