Squid4Life Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Sorry i have been without a chain driven bike for so long....my question is....i remember that a good rule of thumb was to clean and lubricate your motorcycle chain every 500 miles or so. Now im planning on a trip in April which will be a 3 days and roughly 800 miles. The last thing i wanna carry is cans of chain cleaners and lubricant.....so what you guys do to clean and lubricate your chain while doing long road trips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fddriver2 Posted February 16, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted February 16, 2019 3 days and 800 miles? Assuming that the chain is in good shape, I would clean it (if necessary) and lube it (and make sure it's adjusted properly) right before the trip. Then ignore it until I got home. From a previous post. "Not to long ago I was on AdvRider reading a ride report from a guy on a Triumph Tiger who rode from New Mexico (I think) to Prudhoe Bay and back. It was close to 10,000 miles when he was done. He never touched the chain. Never oiled it cleaned it or anything. He bought some tires about halfway through and the shop cleaned and oiled it for him. This was the only "chain maintenance" performed on the trip. On some of the worst roads in North America. Guess what? Nothing happened. I have no doubt that the chain was toast when he got home. So what. A chain is a "consumable" just like oil, tires, brake pads. Even if I took meticulous care of my chain on a trip like that over those roads I would change it out before my next "Epic" trip. Because that's the way I do things. I don't want to deal with it possibly failing on the road" As always YMMV "It doesn't matter who walks in, you know the joke is still the same" Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squid4Life Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 Bike have only 2,300 miles now. I am also planning on cleaning it and lube it before we go so yeah 800 miles shouldn't be a big deal anyways....(so much for overthinking it) Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member micah2074 Posted February 16, 2019 Premium Member Share Posted February 16, 2019 I've done quite a few cross country trips. 800 miles, that's a normal day... Other than wiping it down after a bunch of rain with some paper towels and spraying some lube on I don't touch it. Let’s go Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmev Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 On trips I carry a can of chain lube and spray it down at the end of a 300-500 mile day while the chain is still warm. If it's going to be a 700-800 mile day I will give it spray during a rest stop about halfway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member betoney Posted February 16, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted February 16, 2019 50 minutes ago, fddriver2 said: 3 days and 800 miles? Assuming that the chain is in good shape, I would clean it (if necessary) and lube it (and make sure it's adjusted properly) right before the trip. Then ignore it until I got home. ^^Agree with this^^ I take many overnight trips, (usually about 400-500 miles each way) and maintain it before I leave and then when I get home but if I am on a longer multi-day trip I carry cleaner and lube with me and maintain it at the end of the day. ***2015 Candy Red FJ-09*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member whistler Posted February 16, 2019 Supporting Member Share Posted February 16, 2019 2 hours ago, kmev said: On trips I carry a can of chain lube and spray it down at the end of a 300-500 mile day while the chain is still warm. If it's going to be a 700-800 mile day I will give it spray during a rest stop about halfway. Same here. On a trip, I take a spray can with me and lube the chain every 400 miles or so while the chain's warm. Easy peasy. 2019 Yamaha Tracer 900 GT (Annabelle) 2013 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 (Juliette) 2013 Yamaha FJR 1300 (Rachel) 2008 Suzuki Bandit 1250S (Fiona) 2006 Honda VFR800 (Jenny) 2005 Suzuki V-Strom DL650 (Hannah) 2003 Honda Shadow Sabre VT1100 (Veronica) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squid4Life Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 Yeah...pretty sure will take a small can of chain wax and take care of it. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2linby Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 There really is no stedfast rule here. Look, if you ride through crap all the time you need to clean and lube the chain more often. Period. The primary thing to avoid is the chain biding up at any link. Center stand the bike, place in neutral and rotate the rear tire slowly enough to examine each link. If they are not moving freely pivoting on each other you have an issue and replace the chain before it ruins your sprockets. I ride in the rain all year long and only lube my chain as needed. I do check it regularly and sometimes lube it weekly, sometimes longer than that and cleaning it whenever it is looking way too gunky up. (I know, it's subjective) If you are riding on gravel or very dirty roads with sand, salt etc on the road then check the chain more often, lube more often and clean more often. When you do replace it, buy a quality chain, check the sprockets for abnormal or uneven, too much wear and replace them if necessary as well. Simple. Everything is simple, Nothing is easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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