Dealership + new Tire Plus Chain lube

thrasherfox

BUSA
Donating Member
Registered
Ok, I am still learning as far as maintenance goes on my Busa.

After purchasing it never gave any thought to when, how and what as in reference to chain lubrication.

Pick up my bike from a dealership last year, around October. Road it until last month with the stock tire. never a problem, never lubed the chain once however. I am going to have to look at the service manual to decipher that key.

Anyway, sticking to the subject at hand.

I drop off Busa, have tire put on, pick Busa up. Drive back home, load Busa on truck and take Busa to Nevada on my business trip.

I have now noticed that apparently the dealership used some kind of lubricant on my chain that has spewed forth large amount of grease, the affected parts are:

1) My nice what used to be clean and always clean back rim, now has this film of grease all over it covering the entire rim. Regular soap did not seem to want to clean it.

2) My really nice under tail that I like so much, not only has grease under it, it actually has grease splatter marks on the left side of the under tail where the chain is.

3) The nice clean metallic looking part that the sprocket connects to, that is like 2 inches wide, solid grease.

None of these parts had grease on them until after the tire change.

I took the bike down to the dealership today and showed them and asked them WTF, is this normal, and the guy tells me YES.

I said, well how come it didn’t do this from the dealership. His reply was, well they pack the chain in special grease. And it doesn’t splatter, and the after market grease splatters.

And I said, well why cant you use the grease that the chain is lubed with from the factory.

The answer was, welllll uhhhh it is in a big tub.

So I say, this is just something I have to live with? And he replies, well could grease it and let it set for a few days and see if it packs on to the chain better.

And then I said, well how do I get this grease off the rim and other parts, and the reply was, well you could use engine degrease, that should get it off. And I said, well wont that hurt the paint? And he said.. well uhhhh it shouldn’t.


Ok, can anyone help me out and set me straight on this? It just doesn’t feel right that I take a bike somewhere, have a new tire put on and they put grease on the chain that splatters everywhere and screws up the cosmetics of my bike.

Can someone tell me:

1) Is this right?

2) How often should I be lubricating my chain

3) What should I be using to lubricate it?

And any other advice.

Thanks all
 
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wow you never lube it .yes it gets messy i use wax it helps smewhat i do it every 300 miles or so.12 k stock chain and im good .last bike made it 25 k with stock chain this way.honda polish or pledge will clean that back rim up for ya.
 
Yep. Never lubed it. I checked it often. Gave a visual inspection, checked the tension, looked for over all appearance of chain. Nothing looked abnormal. The dealership never mentioned anything about not looking like it was not lubed since original purchase back on October of 2003. And I know the mechanics and other people that work there and I am sure if there was anything significantly messed up due to me not lubricating it, someone would have said something to me about it.

I guess I just need to find a good chain lube and do whatever the manual specifies and just deal with the mess....
 
I lube it every few hundred miles or after a night at the track. Ummm for stuff to clean the lube off your shiznit.

wd-40
kerosene works well

granted the above products leave a greasy film when used. I usually use rubbing alcohol to get the grease film off and then immediately apply a coat of wax.
 
oh yeah I use maxima chain wax now... I've tried 3 or 4 different lubes and all seems to splatter. this chain wax drys to a whiteish film and doesn't seem to sling/splatter for all I can tell..... also much easier to clean off.
 
Chain should be lubed every 300 miles or once a week.
If you ride in the rain, lube it after the last ride of the day.
Also don't lube the chain and then ride. Lube the chain as soon
as you are done riding that day. A warm/hot chain helps the
lube "set up" and reduces fling.
Ironicly you are complaing about your dearership doing its job, ie
lubing the chain during a rear tire change.



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The lube will sling off and get on all the areas that you mentioned...Use chain wax and the kep to that is the chain should be cleaned and warm prior to applying the wax...Check, clean and lube your chain on the regular...I use kerosene for the initial clean of chain and areas that the lube has touched...Then I follow that with Armour All glass cleaner...
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i have used Honda spray on chain wax for about 5 years and it appears to be much thicker than all the rest anddoesnt pick up as much dirt as the rest. over spray is the devil especially if the lube is subpar. my local dealer only uses the honda stuff and i would think anyplace should give a better answer than that. if they make special grease then they should get it or id change dealers for service. i used another lube one and what a freackin mess! swingarm was sludged and it would just smear when wiping it off. i would try the Honda wax and then decide. good luck and wasnt that chain really loud? how many unlubed miles?every rode in the rain? lube that baby up and you might even get better gas mileage. peace
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No.. I am so much the fair weather rider. I never ever ride in the rain. Fortunately I live in California so most of the time rain is not an issue.

About 3,460 miles on the chain. I did take it in for the 600 mile service, it might have been lubed then. but I don't remember seeing that on the service list.

well at least I know. I never read the manual from front to back. No one ever mentioned it. never read any threads on it. Just didn't know.

so now I do, now I will try to find the best solution and keep it lubed. but I never noticed any sound, nothing abnormal to the functioning of the bike. chain looks in good condition and as I said, I know this dealership well and if there WAS anything wrong with the chain, they would be the first ones to recommend I replace it.
 
Lube after every ride. Don't use the crap in the spray cans. Dust rocks garbage all sticks to lube in a can. Biggest thing is clean after every ride then use aChain saw lube or similar. Clean clean clean. Lube oil does not stay on as long but tha is why you do it after every ride.
 
I use Bel Ray Super Clean chain lube and it works great for me. Clean with WD-40, dry, take a couple quick laps around the block to warm the chain up, apply and let set over night. Doesn't sling at all and dries to a non-tacky surface. Doesn't pick up any dust or road crap that I've noticed, but then again I clean and lube once a week so there isn't much time for junk to build up.
 
Maxima Chain Wax lightly once a week, cleen with kero or avtur once a month.
The bike is a daily rider.

Works for me
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this is what i do:
put bike on stand every 300-400 miles, dry weather miles other wise wax it before you ride the next time if you rode it in the rain the day before, get a heat gun, put bikr in neutral, sipn wheel with hand as i hold the heat gun on it. Once warn to the touch spray wd-40 on it (soak it) then wipe it off with rag till its very clean and there is not much wd-40 on it and NO road grim, tar, etc. Then heat it back up (should off got cold while whiping wd off of it) and spray the chain wax or lube what ever you use. Once done let sit over night and it should not spray as much at all.
To get the grease off i use orange citrus cleaner (wal mart 1.99 for a big bottle that last hell of long). Spray citrus on it all over the area (prior to cleaning the chain in matter of fact do it before washing the bike) and then rub gently with rag and warm water. Every thing should come off and it very paint safe also.

here are the steps
spray orange cleaner on bike and were ever road tar or grease is on it
wash bike with warm water and dish soap
rinse
let dry
put on stand heat chain
wd 40 all over chain
wipe it off with rag
heat it agian
spray wax

and bam should be like new
 
I used wd40 for the first time this weekend. It didn't work as I expected. I think kerosene works much better for an initial cleaning and wd can be used to get that extra that you couldn't get in the cracks. I wish they made kerosene in aerosol form. Well for that matter I wish I had an air compressor, then I could make my own aersol kerosene.
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For those of you that use Kerosene to clean your chain, where do you buy the it from? I thought it was illigal to sell it.... At least here in Illinois it is. I tried to buy some from AutoZone, and they said it's a No, No.

What gives??



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Monty.....yer a man after my own heart bro.
Bell Ray is the shi!.......
Clean with WD 40.........wipe extremely well, to avoid splatter when riding, then coat with Bell Ray......IMHO
 
For those of you that use Kerosene to clean your chain, where do you buy the it from?  I thought it was illigal to sell it....  At least here in Illinois it is.  I tried to buy some from AutoZone, and they said it's a No, No.

What gives??
I live in the north suburbs and I buy kerosene at any of the local hardware stores. It's usually in the paint sections.
 
I heard you ONLY wax the chain after a ride. when the chain is warm, then apply wax. I think Del somthing, then it dries overnight. then when you ride next time your good to go.
 
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