Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech OEM Chain toast at 7100 miles

Hello Gang,
I've posted before on oxidation sluffing off my chain. My brother-n-law looked at and said the chain is letting go and to get another one. He is a mechanic, though not a bike mechanic. I discounted his suggestion and though the oxidation and my recent chain adjustments were just considered normal from hard riding. A co-worker looked at the bike yesterday and without prompting him he said "your chain is toast, buy another one right away. The side pins are loose and it'll let go soon." So now with two confirmations I'll be replacing the chain.
Funny I cleaned and lubed it often for the dry weather conditions I ride it. I used Maxima Spray Chain Wax to lube and WD40 to clean it (not in that order).
Here is my lesson, from the school of hard knocks, to be shared with you all. If your chain gaurd comes loose at speed and chews up your rear tires and kicks the chain off the rear sprocket you have a problem. I measured the chain at only one point to see if it was within triumph specs, which it was (manual says to measure it along several points) it still may need to be replaced. If the side pins become loose and the chain becomes loose again then don't assume that everything is OK. Replace the chain.
Was told my hard core dirt rider/co-worker that good O-Ring or X-Ring chains don't need all the spray lube added to is. A silicone spray or WD40 is what is best for them as the O-rings / X-rings keep the grease inside the rollers. The silicone or WD40 only keeps the o-rings lubes and pliable. And keeps rust from forming on the chain.
Any other words of wisdom from the masses?

Steve,

No words of wisdom, but a question. WD40. Does WD40 eat rubber? If so that is your problem. Use kerosene for those times that you have to clean your chain. Since using Maxima Spray Chain Wax I have never had to clean my chain(s). The can says to apply sparingly, but douse it up and wipe off all you can. This will clean the chain. The Maxima Spray Chain Wax conditions the chain's o-rings and adds a bit of cush to the contact points of the final drive as well. WD40 I just don't know enough about. I do know that I would never and have never ever used WD40 to lube any chain. bicycle or motorsickle. 7100 miles is way too short of a life for a chain. I average 19 thousand miles on a chain kit (front sprocket, rear chain ring and chain).
Brent at newspeedmaster.com sells some nice gold plated chains and he sells the sprockets too. Or Triumph sells the kit for $219.

There is an in-depth thread on here on this very subject. I'm sure someone will link it here soon.
But, the bottom line is, WD-40 is a penetrating oil. It gets past the seals and displaces the lube inside the chain links. Once that happens, internal wear on the chain is accellerated.
Having it come off the sprockets at speed may have damaged the chain as well, but I would think that kind of damage would be felt as you continued to ride with that chain still installed...

Yea, as moe and the others have stated WD-40 is BAD for our chains. I see a lot of talk about people using it and I cannot figure out why they would do that. It will eat the rubber seals up quickly.
Course, not to brag, yea right, but my belt drive doesn't have those problems. If you don't mind throwing a lot of money at something that is.

My co-worker said silicone spray is best for protecting O-ring chains. I agree that WD40 is not good for rubber, but it will diplace water and prevent rust. As for flushing bearings, yes WD40 will remove grease/oil.

My dealer told me to clean the chain with WD40 but now that I know there are rubber o-rings I'm going to avoid using WD40. I've had problems in the past with WD40 deterating rubber seals and o-rings in camera equipment I repair.

My dealer told me to clean the chain with WD40 but now that I know there are rubber o-rings I'm going to avoid using WD40. I've had problems in the past with WD40 deterating rubber seals and o-rings in camera equipment I repair.

Check this out.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motorcycle-chain-cleaner/

I dont have a Triumph yet, but I had some experiance with chains that had "O" ring seals. High end mountain bikes. The O rings are there to keep the lube in and the dirt out. I was told to never use solvents or compressed air on an O Ring sealed chain. I cleaned the chain the old fashion way. An old toothbrush and a clean rag.

Actually Nobby, the link I was referring to was older than that and had the link that fishercat posted to WebBike World, or whatever it's called. That has some really good pix of the results of using WD40 on a chain.....

And to make a short story long....

I posted this awhile ago, maybe even on the old boards..

Chains 101:

What Sandmann posted above about the lube in the chain is absolutely correct. The longer it stays in there - uncontaminated and undiminished, the longer your chain will last. Once the internal lube starts to get past the seals, or dirt goes in past the seals, the internal wear between the pins and bushings will accellerate, and you will be adjusting your chain more often. That is the "sign" - time to replace the chain and the sprockets. One way to check for that is to move the chain sideways. If there is any play or looseness then the chain is on it's way out.

External wear is a whole 'nother ballgame. It's gonna happen no matter what you do. That's the wear between the bushings on the chain and the teeth on both sprockets. As they are exposed to dirt constantly, over time the sprocket teeth are going to wear. The drive sprocket will wear on the rear side of the "root" (the valley between 2 teeth) while the driven sprocket will wear on the forward side of the root. Chain lubes help lube the seals, but some of them also hold the dirt which causes this type of wear. A mis-adjusted chain will accellerate this type of wear also. The solution for longest chain life would be an enclosed chain case with a proper lube installed to a proper level.
But, since that would look ugly as sin, we just have to learn to check , clean, and lube our chains once in a while..