Chain quality

[Peter]

Hi,

I clean my chain and front/rear sprockets in every year. I use wd-40 to remove the old grease. I use Castrol chain spray after the cleaning.
Yesterday I realized that some of the O-ring rubbers are damaged and the pieces are visible like a small hair (4-5 rings).
I think this means my chain should be replaced very soon.

Did I kill my chain with wd-40 or the quality of the chain is low? This is a 3 year old bike with 12k km.
I did the same cleaning with all my previous bikes without any problem.

What do you think?

 

[Yaminator]

I always change mine around the 12k mark and i think the chains on the mt was never the pre streched versions..

 

[Ralph]

Don't know about yours but my bike came with a DID chain and they are probably the best
chain maker out there, WD40 can by all acounts damage O ring chains, I just use a brush
to apply semi synth engine oil same as I use in the engine to the chain when it looks at
all dry, like new and only 3 adjustments in over 10,000 miles. Did the same on my last 2
bikes both over 20,000 miles with no signs of ware and used at time in pretty awful weather.

 

[sdrio]

I use Rockoil chain lube. WD40 is too thin, it'll fling / wash off in minutes.

Mine's at about 15,000 miles / about 24,000 km, and barely run in. Have adjusted it twice in that time. It'll do easy 25k miles / 40k km.

 

[DJP]

Don't know about yours but my bike came with a DID chain and they are probably the best
chain maker out there, WD40 can by all acounts damage O ring chains, I just use a brush
to apply semi synth engine oil same as I use in the engine to the chain when it looks at
all dry, like new and only 3 adjustments in over 10,000 miles. Did the same on my last 2
bikes both over 20,000 miles with no signs of ware and used at time in pretty awful weather.

That's pretty much what I do and my chain's in perfect nick at 12,000 miles.

I fully expect 20,000+ miles out of this chain

 

[Ralph]

I have not been able to get it lately but on other bikes
I have used ati fling oil for chain saw's
Works very well.

 

[Peter]

I use WD-40 just for cleaning the old, hard chain grease. After the cleaning I spray Castrol chain spray.
I suspect WD-40 dissolved the rubber.

Here is a photo after the cleaning and before the lube:

 

[bobh]

I'm not a fan of cleaning chains unless they are really scruffy.

I use Wurth Synthetic Dry Lube (Dr Bike do something similar) in the summer, and that doesn't pick up much dirt at all - just a quick wipe before re-lubing.

In the winter I use Renthal chain oil, which is "stringy" and sticks to the chain, as well as keeping salt-induced corrosion at bay. Also it comes in a squeezy bottle, not an aerosol, so it all goes on the chain - you don't lose half of it through overspray.

If a chain does get dirty, I apply liberal quantities of engine oil and take it for a run, then repeat as necessary. The oil flings off, taking the dirt with it. Obviously quite a lot of that oily dirt ends up inside the front sprocket cover, so that needs to be cleaned out - Jizer makes short work of that. If you must use another method, kerosene and a VERY soft paintbrush is OK - a stiffer brush forces dirt into the O-rings and they quickly become ineffective.

I also like to change the front sprocket at about 15000 miles, at the first signs of hooking, and before any wear starts to have a knock-on effect on the chain. It's the component in the drive train that wears quickest, and is also the cheapest. On that basis, a chain (and rear sprocket) should last 30000 miles or so - maybe more on a lower powered bike like a MT-07

The exception to that rule is with single-cylinder bikes, which seem to knock out chains and sprockets more rapidly, probably because of the way the power is delivered in pulses rather than smoothly.