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What chain lube did you use?

2695 Views 23 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  RaleighMP
What chain lube did you guys use?

I have some full synthetic yamalube I got for free when I bought the bike, but I hear bad things about how much dirt it collects and flings. I think the dealer probably used it during the 600 mile service, would it be safe to switch to maxima? What did you guys use?
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I use the Maxima. Dries clear and doesn't really fling.

Bring out the haters, I typically use WD-40. Cleans and protects. Spray it, wipe it, light spray it again.
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Nothing wrong with wd40. Hell, I have used it to clean chains in pinch as well, and it's cheaper.

No hating from me. (y)
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I clean the chain with kerosene and then spray it down with motul chain lube
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What chain lube did you guys use?

I have some full synthetic yamalube I got for free when I bought the bike, but I hear bad things about how much dirt it collects and flings. I think the dealer probably used it during the 600 mile service, would it be safe to switch to maxima? What did you guys use?
Go check out Fortnine on youtube, he did a whole thing on chain lube, pretty good video. 👍


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I may switch to cleaning with WD-40 then using gear oil. Less convenient but per that guy, better lubrication.
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Bring out the haters, I typically use WD-40. Cleans and protects. Spray it, wipe it, light spray it again.
Just like a regular bike :)
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I used Maxima chain cleaner and the gold can of their chain wax. I already had it in my garage for my YZ250.
WD 40 is not a lubricant. It does prevent rust. I use gear lube and wipe the excess off. O-ring chains are lubed when assembled and really don't need lubrication after that. They just need something to keep the rust off.
The pins have permanent grease sealed in from the factory but the rollers don't. Dry rollers are noisy.
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The pins have permanent grease sealed in from the factory but the rollers don't. Dry rollers are noisy.
Yeah, but no chain lube stays on the area where the rollers contact the teeth of the sprockets. The very high load just squishes the lube aside.
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I'm refering to the inside of the rollers. They can dry out, rust and seize. That's why you're supposed to apply lube mainly at the inner edges of the rollers.
So, you think chain lube is able to get past the outer and inner side plates, the edge of the roller, the bushing, and the "XW" ring in the graphic to the pin/bushing interface?
Periodic lube goes in between the inner side plate and roller to lube the UNSEALED OUTSIDE SURFACE OF BUSHING/INSIDE SURFACE OF ROLLER. The image shows an exaggerated gap at the roller end where lube can enter.

The SEALED pin area is factory lubed and a totally separate area because the BUSHING IS PRESSED INTO THE INNER SIDE PLATE. The pins "hinge" on the SEALED INSIDE SURFACE OF BUSHING/OUTSIDE SURFACE OF PIN with factory lube and the rollers "roll" on the UNSEALED OUTER SURFACE OF THE BUSHING/INSIDE SURFACE OF THE ROLLER so, replacement lube can get into the roller thru the edge of roller to lube the outside of the bushing but not to the sealed pin area.

The unsealed rollers can run dry for a fair amount of time because the load is distributed over a large area. The sealed pins get the factory lube and have far less wear area so keeping dirt out and lube in is critical. You can only add lube to the corners of the rollers to lube them but unsealed chains need both rollers and pins lubed because lube still can't flow between inner and outer bushing surfaces.
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As I said, I use gear lube. What’s the best chain lube? Much cheaper and better than nearly all dedicated chain lubes.
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