Dialing up the Pro Oiler

[roadthing]

C'mon, roadthing, you have *completely* missed the point here. Did you think I was advocating for folks to never inspect/lube their chain? Please..... ???

Let me re-phrase it for you: when one has an automatic chain oiler installed properly configured, it is no longer necessary to have to waste time while on the road dinking around with chain cleaning/lubing/adjusting. The chain stays relatively clean, properly lubed, and rarely requires adjustment in between tire changes.

But if you DON'T have a chain oiler, when then obviously you have to attend to it on a periodic basis...

For Long Distance/Iron Butt riders who engage in multi-day Endurance Riding competition, the only way they can use a chain-drive bike it to have a proper chain oiler. What you missed is that my comments are directed at those individuals.... with a chain oiler fitted and properly functioning, my original statement stands: you no longer have to stop and waste time attending to the chain.

No need to rephrase anything. My reading comprehension is rather good. I understood what you were saying, and vehemently disagree with you. It wasn't a personal attack on you, as I suspect you interpreted it as; but rather an emphatic statement of an opposing opinion.

Take it FWIW, brother.

 

[semperfi]

Not for me either, but I don't put that many miles on the Busa either. If I did the iron butt thing it would be on a BMW or Goldwing. They are built for that kind of riding - with drive shafts. The right tool for the job.

 

[Warchild]

It wasn't a personal attack on you

Oh, of course not... itwasn't taken that way at all.

Take it FWIW, brother.

It's cool, man, you don't have to agree, and that's fine. The fact is, I have the actual real-world experience that demonstrates I am correct; you only have an opinion on the matter.

I have been doing this LD thing on chain-drive bikes for over ten years now, likely a good bit more than yourself or most members here, and I only speak from close, personal observation and direct, on-road experience. The fact is, it hasn't let me down in the past 300,000 miles. A differing opinion can't change these facts.

No worries, it's all good, man.... :agree:

 

[roadthing]

Oh, of course not... itwasn't taken that way at all.



It's cool, man, you don't have to agree, and that's fine. The fact is, I have the actual real-world experience that demonstrates I am correct; you only have an opinion on the matter.

I have been doing this LD thing on chain-drive bikes for over ten years now, likely a good bit more than yourself or most members here, and I only speak from close, personal observation and direct, on-road experience. The fact is, it hasn't let me down in the past 300,000 miles. A differing opinion can't change these facts.

No worries, it's all good, man.... :agree:

26 years as a motorcycle Tech.

Spent two months in 2000 in Heidelberg, Germany as part of a beta team on a French chain chain greasing system in association with Kluber Lubricants Aktiengesellschaft.

As long as its all good, I'm easy.

 

[Tufbusa]

I'm surprised at how many fellows haven't figured out their chain has sealed in lubricant. Chain Oilers have not been used on anything since the old harley days when it was a great idea to manually oil a dry chain.

I've known guys who had 20K+ miles on a chain that had never been cleaned or lubed. Sealed and lubricated chains are designed to last a very long time with or without maintenance.

Is the idea of the aftermarket chain oiler to keep the chain from rusting? Other than that it has absolutely no effect on the function of your chain. Actually, all that fresh oil attracts dirt and grim that may do more damage than good?

As far as chain adjustment, please tell me how external oil will make any difference in internal wear on the pins and bushings?

Bewildered!

 

[roadthing]

On older solid pin/bushing chains they were a fantastic idea. There have been bikes with automatic oilers, other than H-Ds. Some are older, like Zundapp, and some are still existing manufacturers that used oilers right up into the 80's.

H-D's first system was actually a byproduct of the "total loss" oiling system. As the primaries were not sealed, but vented to atmosphere There was originally no return to the pump from the primary. H-D decided instead of oiling the road, they would oil the chain. Early clutches could not be subjected to being in an oil bath, but this was to change.

Designs progressed, and before you knew it, H-D and Indian had a nice little port with an adjusting screw at the oil pump for metering oil to the chain, as well as a return line from the primary to the pump (primary scavenging). In reality, Indian was first to do this.

On newer O-ring, or X-ring chains, an automatic chain oiler will help keep the chain clean, as well as keep the O/X-rings from rotting out. The lube film will displace road grime, and actually is not as sticky, or tacky as you would expect.

You are 100% right about the sealed in lube, and that is an excellent point. What the sealed in lubricant does is lubricate the pins and bushings internally. However, one very important thing to remember about lubricating a chain is that you will be lubricating the contact surface of the sprockets and rollers. As a chain wears, the rollers can rub on the side-plates, and keeping those points lubed is important. Major advantages. Makes your chain last longer, and your sprockets as well.

My point of contention with Warchild isn't about chain oilers being useless. Sorry if the thread-jacking caused confusion.

 

[Z-Faucon]

All right then. ROUND 2 for you guys . ... For me it's chapter 3 in this journey. The first 100 mi (not even reached VT yet) and the damn thing is spitting out oil on the rim again. :mad2: If I continued for another 900 mi the situation would look identical to my earlier pictures. So I stopped and changed the correction factor to 20 (keep in mind that I am now on table 18 S1. I then rode for another 200 mi. Still spitting out oil on the rim and the chain is wet. Not nearly at the rate I experienced before. BUT at these settings there should be about a pin drop of oil released for every 10,000 revolutions of the rear wheel. I am concluding that the system is defective. I'll be on the phone with Pro-Oiler this week.

 

[roadthing]

All right then. ROUND 2 for you guys . ... For me it's chapter 3 in this journey. The first 100 mi (not even reached VT yet) and the damn thing is spitting out oil on the rim again. :mad2: If I continued for another 900 mi the situation would look identical to my earlier pictures. So I stopped and changed the correction factor to 20 (keep in mind that I am now on table 18 S1. I then rode for another 200 mi. Still spitting out oil on the rim and the chain is wet. Not nearly at the rate I experienced before. BUT at these settings there should be about a pin drop of oil released for every 10,000 revolutions of the rear wheel. I am concluding that the system is defective. I'll be on the phone with Pro-Oiler this week.

Bottom line, I hope you get it resolved.

 

[Z-Faucon]

Chapter 4. Talked with Pro-Oiler. They suggested that I run a diagnostic counting the number of pulses or oil drops per mile and per tire rotation. Each pulse = about 3 drops of oil. Currently I run 30 Wt Penske oil which they said is just fine. I followed the instructions using the oP mode. Set the table back to normal at 16, S1 using correction factor 9.5. Off for a ride I went - after 200 miles the system said I had 33 pulses. This is about 1 pulse of oil for every 6 miles or 1 pulse for every 5,000 tire rotations. Well that means the system is working properly . I didn't get that much oil fling off this time but the chain looked a bit wet still. I called Pro-oiler to discuss the findings. Turns out that the mess you see in the pictures (I sent the pictures to them as welll) is the old chain lube and grease that is working itself off the chain. Although I did wipe down the chain with kerosine b/4 I installed the pro-oiler it still had the old chain gunk at the front sprocket and in between the rollers. It takes a while for this to work itself off. The harder you clean the chain the less time it takes for the system to work properly. The pro-oiler runs a very clean chain since it is a total loss oil system. So I will clean the chain again and move to table 17 or 18 to lean it out a bit more. I'm almost there and would expect at that point to have my results look like Warchilds chain. I must say that the customer service at Pro-Oiler is top notch. They listened to my issues and worked with me to get it right. The bottom line is THE SYSTEM WORKS. JUST NEED TO START WITH A VERY CLEAN CHAIN & PATIENTS TO DIAL IT IN.

 

[2Wheels2Live]

I'm glad you like it Faucon....but you've cemented my decision to never buy one. Looks like a major pain and mess to possibly get a couple more thousand miles out of your chain and sprockets. I'll stick to the traditional chain lube methods

 

[hayazuki]

Curious if Warchild is using a different viscosity oil??

 

[Warchild]

Curious if Warchild is using a different viscosity oil??

Not terribly different.... I'll use the cheapest 20-50w oil I can find from May-Sept, and 10-30w from Oct to April.

Glad the problem was fixed, Faucon. I knew it would be eventually... and you're right, Pro-Oiler customer support is beyond excellent.

 

[UncleSteve]

I enjoy cleaning and oiling the chain. Bonding time with the Busa

I considered a auto oiler, but Suzuki does not offer a drive shaft equipped Busa

I think this auto oiler would give me a headache. I do try to avoid more of them.

I just have to aim the can and spin the wheel, no big deal. After a couple lube sessions, it is time to clean the chain and start over.

 

[slime]

Get ready to learn then, because I have nothing but the highest praise for this product. And I've tried every chain oiler on the face of the planet: Pro-Oiler, ScottOiler, HawkeOiler, Loobman, etc, etc, etc.

NONE OF THEM even approach the capabilities and performance of the Pro-Olier. If there was a better automatic chain-oiler, I would be using it.

That said, it is true that it take a fair good amouint of effort to find that *exact* setting where there is just enough oil flow to do the job... but no more than that. It can take some fair amount trial-n-error to obtain the correct settings, but it is absolutely worth it.

There is only ONE reason I am still running the original OEM chain, at just shy of 30,000 miles on my K8 - the Pro-Oiler! I never have had to adjust the chain, aside from the adjustment it gets during rear tire changes.

Z-Faucon - IMO your settings are still way, waaaaay too high, which is why you are seeing the excess that you are (this is ASSuming that you have the Correction Factor set properly)

I run with Table 16, Setting 2 - which is a good bit leaner than your current Table 13, Setting #3.

Man, I got 26000 out of my original chain with just normal cleaning and lubing!

 

[HillbillyTom]

Not for me either.
I lube my chain when I think of it, sometimes not for 1000+ miles. Got 10,000 on the OEM now with no noticeable stretch and no sprocket wear. Had 19,000 miles on the ZRX OEM chain when I traded it, also with no stretch or wear.
No need for the uneccesary mess and PITA to me.