Chain Lubing

[bluestoesonnose]

Been flicking through You-Tube, as you do and noticed that there are loads of vids of peeps maintaining their chains.

They all seem to spray the lube on and then wipe it off, is this correct?

[Pomp1]

I don't, it needs time to penetrate and work its way. Is just that your rear wheel would be cleaner as a result..

[gary tompkins]

Many spray lubes need to be applied and left to soak in overnight, but will still fling off making a sticky mess

Or even better just fit a scottoiler

[utopia]

I guess that in theory, an o-ring chain doesn't need much time for the oil to penetrate, because it can't get past the seals anyway.
But personally, I'd still leave it a while. ...if I didn't have a scottoiler, that is.
I still need to wipe off the excess though .....from the cans,tail,wheel etc.

Incidentally, I find that the older, non electronic scottoilers are perfectly adequate, and I much prefer them to the more complicated systems, which seem like overkill to me.
I get about 1000 miles per fill of oil ..... and my chain has only required adjustment by one flat of the adjuster bolts in about 10,000miles.
With an extended chainguard to catch the fling (work in progress) its the ideal system in my opinion, as the chain is ALWAYS perfectly lubed.

[bluestoesonnose]

Scott oiler does seem the way, the S4R is the first bike in ages that doesn't have one.

Strange thing is the manual says to use gear oil!!!

[turbohobbit]

Is a Scottoiler really worth it?

[Dirty]

Is a Scottoiler really worth it?

Depends how much riding you do and where you keep your bike. Use it a lot, ride in the rain and keep it outside, probably yes. Garage it, ride it only on dry high days and holidays then no.
Before I bought my bike I spoke to a mate who has had virtually every Ducati they have made at some point plus a load of other bikes. All toys rather than work horses and he never oils a chain unless he gets caught out in the rain.

[utopia]

Is a Scottoiler really worth it?

Like Dirty says, it somewhat depends on how you use the bike.
My 750 is my only bike, other than a trailie for winter and donkeywork, so it gets regular usage.
Also the bike is a keeper, so the miles will rack up significantly during my ownership. ...and its me that will be paying for replacement chain and sprockets. I reckon the scottoiler will mean that one set of chain and sprockets will last as long as three sets without, so the scottoiler pays for itself anyway ...as long as you keep the bike long enough.
For a bike that you won't do so many miles on, its easier just to spray on the chain lube than go to the trouble of fitting a scottoiler.
But then again, if you do longer runs, its nice to know that your chain is just as well lubed at the end of a 250 mile round trip as it was at the start.
Also, having seen the devastation that a snapped chain can do, its reassuring to know that there's a constant drip feed of lube to the chain ...and also that chain adjustment remains much more consistent.
I guess there may well be a certain cleaning effect of the less viscous scottoil as it flows over the chain and flings off, taking some road dirt with it, whereas a thicker lube that flings less may well accumulate dirt, until you next clean the chain (which I never do with the scottoiler).
I do have to regularly remove the sprocket cover to scrape out the accumulated gunge, but I imagine that's necessary with spray chain lube too.
Also, if you're the type that needs their bike to be squeaky clean all the time, then the oil spatter from the chain can be a pain, but I come from the days of boiling your chain in linklyfe, which then spattered all over the rear, so I'm used to it, and anyway, a bike should be a bit greasy in the appropriate areas, in my opinion. ....though I am in the process of making a chainguard extension to keep the back end a little cleaner.

[zhango]

Utopia, I also remember the days of Linklyfe - as a teenager waiting for mum to go out so you could heat up the can on her cooker and trying to get rid of the smell and the drips before she returned!

I now use WURTH (http://www.wurth.co.uk/product/highperformacedrychainlube) dry chain lube and it's amazing stuff. When used correctly it doesn't fling and road dirt doesn't stick to it. I use it about every 300 miles but you don't need to first clean the chain with paraffin like other lubes because there's no dirt stuck to the chain.

There's always a good deal on Ebay.

[spacemonkey]

I fitted a Motrax version of a Scottoiler and never needed to even adjust the chain in 20k miles. Then the drip tube got mangled so I stopped using it and as I wasn't doing anywhere near as many miles, I sprayed the chain on every return from a ride (usually 100 miles each ride). In that time the chain wore, needed a lot of adjusting and finally seized links.

So I'm convinced.

[Islander]

Scott oiler does seem the way, the S4R is the first bike in ages that doesn't have one.

Strange thing is the manual says to use gear oil!!!

EP90 is superb as a chain lube. Brush it on after a run while things are still warm , let it soak in for a few minutes and wipe of the excess with a rag. It's viscous enough that it doesn't fling and best of all it's cheap. :)

[jerry]

I give the bike a gentle spray once amonth with industrial chain spray , much cheaper than MC ones and every ride put 5 drops of 3in1 on chain before riding , much cleaner chain and little wear at all zero fling ,