SOHC.co.uk Forums > CB750

Chain lube, food for thought.

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matthewmosse:
I just oil the chain with old engine oil, same on the chainsaw quite often. Not oiling an O ring chain bad move they get horribly stiff and can spit half their O rings out. Only downsides to old engine oil are the first few spins of the chain spray oil over the chain guard and floor - I like to spring the wheel under power whilst still on the stand to try to keep it off the tyres. On the plus side it's free in vast quantities. On the chainsaw I reserve proper chain oil for milling as the chains are mega bucks. I used to be all precious and use proper lube for my motorbike chains and the chainsaw but tried the engine oil option and found I was not tightening chains any more often, or indeed replacing them. Scottoil was about the cheapest proper lube, I think a scottoiler may be fitted when the 500/4 gets fixed up, but it will be getting old engine oil in it. I am pretty sure oil would creep past O or X rings on a chain. I used to commute a fair bit on the bike, especially in winter you'd notice if you neglected the chain. Sapped power and made gearchanges graunchy. I did sometimes drop links to get a bit more lifr from a chain, once the sprockets were out the whole lot was replaced. I wonder why the front sprocket despite seeing more revolutions per tooth never wore as badly as the rears, I normally got those close to no teeth and once when m&p sat on my money and didn't send the chain for ages I got the rear sprocket nearly smooth, no teeth at all, chain was by this stage needing tensioning every 100 miles - I geuss it went through the case hardening. Was glad to bin that set of chain and sprockets.

Mr_Sheene:
That happened to me with a 550 K4 that I used as a ride to work hack. It was like Gunga Din. Despite all the abuse it never let me down and when M&P took three weeks to supply a chain and sprocket set, the rear sprocket was so worn I was in serious danger of stripping the needle like teeth. It was a valuable lesson in maintenance and the fact that if you ride a 550 K4 sensibly, it will deliver 81 mpg. I was more considerate after that. In my defence, I would like to dd that the bike was fitted with a Scottoiler.

K2-K6:
Here's an illuminating view of X-ring chain cross section

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The protected by seal area has nothing to do with the outer roller area in respect of common lubrication,  the two are discreet.  If typical,  it shows why external lubrication is needed to function correctly.

It's the same for non sealed chains too.

That outer roller is only supplied by supplementary application of lubricant, and the most vulnerable to lack of maintenance.

florence:
I have a Scottoiler and I love it.  Never have to worry much about the chain, needs adjusting less often and lasts longer.  Unit lives under the seat in the space where that bulky old air filter used to be.  Win win.

MrDavo:
I have filled the house with smoke using Linklife - not for the first time, oily engine parts in the oven to change guides and liners will also work just as well. How the wife laughed when she came home....  :-[ These days I use a chain spray, the current one is Muc Off brand, it works OK. The 750 has a built in 'fling' chain oiler from the gearbox sprocket, but like most people I set it to 'off' when I rebuilt the engine, and you'd need to get the cover off to readjust it.

My Heffalump-Dumpaloon 1200 has a belt drive. The upside is it never seems to need adjusting, and doesn't fling crud everywhere. The downside was one day when I had no drive, looked down and saw the broken belt on the floor.  >:( >:( >:( Then you find out how they are just a couple of teeth different in length to ordinary common industrial belts (which are relatively cheap), located on the other side of the Atlantic when you need one urgently, and cost over £220 plus VAT and carriage.  :o

On the other hand it had the decency to break on my driveway, it could have done it anywhere, including Malin Head or John o'Groats...

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