Best chain cleaner ?

[Mick_J]

Im fussy these days, clean n lube. Not sure i was same back in old days. Can remember the system where you put chain in a tray and heated it. Can also remember old bikes, Z1, GT750, Honda 4 etc, just rode the hell out of them, new chain n sprockets needed very often. Probably due to lack of maintenance. Everything used to wear out quick then, tyres especially. We did ride hard but did spend lots of nights in the shed fixing stuff. Were great times.

Ahh, the good old days, remember them well.  I used to get through 4 rear tyres, two front tyres and a chain and sprocket set a year when I had my GSX1100.  This was down to me using all the bike had to offer and crap maintenance, I regularly get over 30k out of a chain now and tyres are a shit load better than the bias types of old and I look after my bikes properly these days.

[steve porter]

Im fussy these days, clean n lube. Not sure i was same back in old days. Can remember the system where you put chain in a tray and heated it. Can also remember old bikes, Z1, GT750, Honda 4 etc, just rode the hell out of them, new chain n sprockets needed very often. Probably due to lack of maintenance. Everything used to wear out quick then, tyres especially. We did ride hard but did spend lots of nights in the shed fixing stuff. Were great times.

Duckhams

[grog]

Thanks Steve, couldnt rem name, it sure did kill the mozzies.

[steve porter]

Came across mine and threw it out not that long ago, thank Christ for o rings

[VladTepes]

FWIW - I have tried many things and then tried @grog 's kerosene followed by VMX gear oil method.
Works just as well as anything else I've tried, does NOT fling on the tyre, and is a damn sight cheaper than anything else available.

I'd advise never to put a pressure washer anywhere near a bike!!

I disagree - all the brake dust etc wasn't going to come off my wheels without one. But yes certainly don't attack much else with one.

[Batkwaka]

I may have mentioned before but WD40 is my chain lube of choice.
Readily available at a reasonable price, cleans contaminants from the chain and mess is easily cleaned away with a paper towel.
Before riding I would start the bike on the centre stand, warm the engine in neutral spin the back wheel and apply a light spray inside and out. Chains were good for 70k/km-80k/km.
It is not as good a lubricant as a dedicated chain lube but unless you clean your chain fastidiously before every application, it turns into grinding paste.

[Hooli]

I'd advise never to put a pressure washer anywhere near a bike!!

I disagree - all the brake dust etc wasn't going to come off my wheels without one. But yes certainly don't attack much else with one.

As with a lot of things it depends where you aim it, they are good for getting half a field out from under the mudguards etc too.

[SA14]

Bring me up to speed please; I'm old.

This o-ring business and internally lubricated chains that only need "lube" to keep the orings supple and not for actually lubricating the chain so it can drive the wheel; this is a new development? The chain on my old 1983 GSX250 and Kwaka 9s and GSX1100s from the olden days (lol), these had a different style of chain that actually needed lubrication to do it's job properly? Or have they always been like this? Slightly confused.

[steve porter]

I'm thinking late 80's early 90' for O Ring chains, but could be out a bit

[grog]

Steve, i googled, o rings since 1971. Not in my life back then.

[steve porter]

Steve, i googled, o rings since 1971. Not in my life back then.

Shit eh,  the first one I had was on my 89 851

[KiwiCol]

I think the O ring chains may have been around in 70's but they would have been high end & high cost, most would have been running the standard chain for the time - no O ring.   Nowadays I doubt you can get a chain without some sort of O ring.

[Hooli]

125s still tend to come with O ring free chains

[Irish in Oz]

I bought one at a motorcycle show in Belfast it was 1980 and I remember it well because it was the launch of the Yamaha LC.

[steve porter]

Us Motorcyclists are like superstitious natives, it probably took a while for us to trust the new fangled technology