[akshayhonda]

It took quite a while but the solution is here. Finally I got my hands on this wonderful product by Maxima Racing Oils - India which is imported by the folks at Powersports MotoUsher


The Chain Wax is as simple as applying the usual chain lube. Leave it for 15-20mins post application on a clean chain (preferably a warm/hot one just after a quite spin) the lube sets itself up as a film on the chain and post that if you commute to office like me (~50kms/day) or on weekends (Sunday ride in Goa and you ride nuts (200-300kms) this lube stays put. And the most important part is that it does not fling at all. Such a saviour for me that my Duke's rear rim now stays clean and shiny!


I thoroughly recommend this to all my biker buddies. It seems a bit expensive but trust me from my experience this thing will last 500-600kms atleast (on my Duke) and it doesn't spill so a light coat post the first application on the inner side of the chain (contact area) is all it takes to cover you up for the next set of kms.


P.S. This is NOT a paid promotion of any sorts!


https://shop.motousher.com/collectio...d-with-on-road

[pcpranav]

Hi,

I have used several chain lubricants, namely:
Maxima Chain Wax - above posted one (yellowish), Putoline Tech Chain Ceramic (white), STP (bluish), Rolon (white) and Rolon green bottle (transparent), Vista (transparent), Motul (transparent), OKS (transparent), TVS (transparent), 3M (transparent), Gear Oil (pick any good brand) (transparent) - EP90 and even EP90+EP140 and once even poured a pouch of 2T oil.

Rolon white, Gear Oil has been my favorites till now :-)

There are few others I have heard good about from colleagues, would try to evaluate in future.

The ones that I didn't like - Motul, Vista, TVS, Rolon green bottle. Rest were quite good.

For chain washing, I always use Diesel / Diesel + Gear Oil / WD40, no other specialty cleaners for me pls. Kerosene is good too, but availability is an issue.

Allow me to share two good videos by FortNine :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnPYdcbcAe0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrEpAUi_QKA

wishing all happy and safe riding :-)

regards,
Pranav

[kozhissery]

Originally Posted by pcpranav

Hi,

For chain washing, I always use Diesel / Diesel + Gear Oil / WD40, no other specialty cleaners for me pls. Kerosene is good too, but availability is an issue.

As per the user manual of my bike, use of neutral detergent or water is more than enough for cleaning and gear oil seems to be the best for lubrication.
Kerosene is strictly NO NO.


On side note, I do remember my service adviser saying that they use pressure water to clean off the muck (even that is not advisable as per the manual) and use motul to lubricate (which I've seen)

[Red Liner]

1. Kerosene not advisable because its a carcinogen and is banned in many garages around the world. It is also inflammable, and therefore will never be suggested on paper. I used kerosene for a while and then just dumped it.

2. Wd40 is easy to use to clean. Just spritz and leave for muck to drop off. Cheap, easy and a no brainer. Great after a bike wash as it displaces water as well and prevents rust.

3. Never ever pressure wash the chain as the o rings will go bust.

4. People have had mixed results with gear oil too. A friend has been using muc off endurance pro or something which is like earth quake proof and lasts 1000 kms. He has been happy so far. If I don't have a center stand i would get something like this so i don't have to be sitting around at every chai stop worrying about the damn chain.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by kozhissery

As per the user manual of my bike...

Now this is the commonsense we need at this point of evolution.

We are hopefully past the days when people used to get their fingers chopped while maintaining their chains, now all that is left is for people to stick to reliable sources of information and I'm pretty sure we'd cut down on unscientific clutter that has frankly started to become brain numbing.

Regards,
A.P.

[hothatchaway]

After spending a bunch on motul chain lube spray in the initial years, I have been slathering EP 90 grade gear oil with a paint brush. Works like a charm. I am still on stock chain and sprockets at 24k

[Added_flavor]

Well, my experience with Maxima wax hasn't been good and I don't think I'll be using it again.

I had always used Motul chain lube on my CBR 650's chain and was very happy with it. When my Bhutan ride started, I switched to Maxima just before the ride (which is very unlike me as I never change anything before a big ride).

During the ride, both CBR650s had their chains cleaned and lubricated at the same intervals, mine with Maxima and the other with Motul. On one of the marathon 1000km riding days during the return, my chain ran DRY and stretched. It was making extremely bad noises and was hitting the swing arm as well. All this while the other CBR on Motul was running perfectly fine. This episode ensured it robbed off at least 3-4k km of the chain life.

Conclusion: Maxima might work for Sunday morning 100km breakfast runs. For bigger rides and more challenging conditions, I'll continue to swear by Motul. Prefer dirty rims over ruined chains!

[SS80]

Although not entirely off topic, I have a question about chain. My Electra's chain is sort of loose despite being tightened by the mechanic. How to find if it's the chain lock or the entire chain + sprocket that needs changing?

[Arfaat_46]

Originally Posted by pcpranav

Hi,

I have used several chain lubricants, namely:
Maxima Chain Wax - above posted one (yellowish), Putoline Tech Chain Ceramic (white), STP (bluish), Rolon (white) and Rolon green bottle (transparent), Vista (transparent), Motul (transparent), OKS (transparent), TVS (transparent), 3M (transparent), Gear Oil (pick any good brand) (transparent) - EP90 and even EP90+EP140 and once even poured a pouch of 2T oil.

Rolon white, Gear Oil has been my favorites till now :-)

I had been using 90 Gear Oil since last 4 years on my different bikes for lubrication and WD40 for cleaning. Chain life for each of my Bike mentioned below

1. 2015 Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise - 30K KM (sold)
2. 2016 TVS Vicotr - 42K KM (sold)
3. 2016 Yamaha R15s - 16K~ KM (with more than 5-6K of life left)

Used Yamalube chain spray provided by ASS during free services for initial 10K kms for my R15s and totally regret that decision now . Chain would beg for lubricant within 350-400 kms. The chain sprocket on my TVS Victor was in better condition than R15s even after tremendous abuse of 42K+ kms at the time of sale.

[Red Liner]

One more thing to note is people having great chain life on lower capacity bikes is quite normal. A chains life is also dictated largely by how you twist that throttle, how aggressively you downshift, and the average speeds your bike does.

Comparing chain life of a commuter with a honda 650 is kinda moot.

[pcpranav]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

1. Kerosene not advisable because its a carcinogen

Agree on all your points. For me, Diesel or WD40 to clean :-)

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

We are hopefully past the days when people used to get their fingers chopped while maintaining their chains, now all that is left is for people to stick to reliable sources of information and I'm pretty sure we'd cut down on unscientific clutter that has frankly started to become brain numbing.

Regards,
A.P.

Sir, even in today's times, I have seen personally people losing their fingers - chopped in the sprocket! The most latest incident - a colleague had almost finished the chain work (bike on stand, running in gear). Just in the end, somehow the cloth got stuck pulling his finger. He lost about 10-15 top part of the finger, later plastic surgery and now almost recovered!
The definition of accident - it can happen to anyone, anytime! Just be careful.

Originally Posted by Red Liner

One more thing to note is people having great chain life on lower capacity bikes is quite normal. A chains life is also dictated largely by how you twist that throttle, how aggressively you downshift, and the average speeds your bike does.

Comparing chain life of a commuter with a honda 650 is kinda moot.

Agree again, cannot compare chains on different bikes, and also usage pattern matters a lot.


In any case, the Chain Maintenance has been the most talked about topics in most rider groups, hahaha :-)

[Mortis]

What about using white lithium grease for chain lubrication. It's long lasting and over time goes from 'wet' to 'dry' type lubricant. You could probably mix it in with a regular chain lube to get the best of both worlds.