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Want to oil your motorcycle chain and don’t know how to do it and how often you should oil your motorcycle chain? If that’s why you’re here, you’ve landed at the right place. This article will walk you on how and when to clean and lube your motorcycle chain.
Since there are many motorcycle brands and models, most of their manuals suggest lube and clean your motorcycle after every 500 – 1000 miles. But that’s not the only consideration. More factors are also involved in oiling your motorcycle chain.
You will find here a step-by-step guide for cleaning and lubing your motorcycle chain. Plus when you should oil it. What products you should use for lubing the chain. Some top oil brands and more will be discussed here too.
So, let’s get started.
How Often Should You Oil Your Motorcycle Chain?
What type of Motorcycle Do You Have?
Oiling your motorcycle chain depends on the type of bike as well. Some require more often oiling and lubing while others do not need that quick.
Dirt Bikes
As the name sounds, dirt bikes get dirty quicker than other street bikes, you need to oil their chain more often. It won’t be bad if you lube their chain after every two rides if not one. You can just inspect the chain and see if it needs cleaning.
Street Bikes
Street bikes on the other hand stay cleaner than dirt bikes. If you don’t lube it for around 500 miles as well, it will still work well. But it’s recommended to oil your street bike after around 500 – 1000 miles.
Consult the Manual
Your motorcycle manual has all the details you need for making any repair or maintenance in it. So always have a look at that. Though cleaning a chain depends on its cleanliness, you can read about it in the manual as well.
How Do You Ride?
If you’re an aggressive rider and you go more off-road than on-road, you need to oil your motorcycle chain more often than those who drive non-aggressively and are on the streets.
The Weather in which You Ride the Most
Weather affects your motorcycle chain too. If it’s raining more in an area where you live, you will need more chain oiling. Because the water and rain take away all the oil from the chain. And they stay dry for a longer time.
How To Clean And Lube Your Motorcycle Chain
As you know how often you should oil your motorcycle chain, let’s lube it so that you experience smooth riding. In order to clean and lube your motorcycle chain, follow the simple steps given below. And knock all the grime and gunk off the chain.
1. Park your Motorcycle
The first step is to turn off the engine and let it cool. Then park the motorcycle on a hard surface, ideally your garage. For cleaning the chain, all you need is to lift the rear wheel a few inches so that you can freely rotate the wheel.
You can do so by either putting the motorcycle on the center or paddock stand or by using a lift. The lift you want to use should jack the motorcycle at its center so that the wheels get raised. That’s because some jacks raise motorcycles by being in contact with the tires. So here you won’t be able to rotate the rear tire freely.
Since you want to lube the chains only, you can remove the chain completely as well. And clean it up and once you’re done then put it back into the sprocket. Do what’s easier and available for you.
2. Inspect the Chain and the Sprocket
Before you get started with your cleaning job, also check out the chain and the sprocket. See if they’re in good shape or not. They become worn out with time and especially the jaws and teeth of the sprockets.
If the chain has got longer and that’s not in its good health. Though your motorcycle manual will show the exact length of the chain, you can do a quick inspection as well. Tug the chain from the rearmost sprocket and see if it gets away from the sprocket or not. If the chain does not hug the sprocket tightly and gets away a few mm, the chain has also worn out.
4. Spray the Chain
Now that you’re done with the first two steps, let’s get to the real job – spraying the chain. You can use Maxima chain cleaner or a Kerosene oil spray for removing all the dirty grimes off the chain. Just check out which product is available for you and use that.
5. Brush the Chain
After spraying the chain, brush it to completely remove the grimes and specks of dirt. The best brush you can get is the three-face brush. This thing is made for cleaning chains. It cleans and rubs three faces of the chain at once. If that’s not available for you, you can use a regular small brush as well. Just make sure that you clean each side of the chain.
6. Spray the Chain again
Double spray the chain so that no grime remains there. Removing all the dirt is essential before lubricating the chain. It kills your chain and removes them as much as possible.
7. Dry it Out
For effective lubrication, the chain should be dry so that it gets wet with the lube you want to apply. Clean and dry the chain. Dry out the surroundings as well, it would probably be affected by the spray.
8. Lube the Chain
After the drying process, apply lubrication to the chain. Make sure that the oil you want to use should be of great lubricity. Don’t forget to put the oil on all sides of the chain and on the sprocket.
Best Motorcycle Chain Cleaner
Looking for the best motorcycle chain cleaner? If so, the two motorcycle chain cleaners below are the top products you can use to clean and lube your chain. Let’s unbox them.
Motul Chain care kit
- All-in-one package to clean and maintain your chain
- Includes chain clean, chain lube road, chain brush, motul gloves and decal
Pros:
- A complete cleaning kit
- Comes with a brush
- A pair of gloves.
- The Bestseller
Cons:
- Does not come with a cleaning towel.
Introducing the Motul Chain Car kit. It includes all the products required for cleaning, lubing your motorcycle chain. You will also get a pair of gloves so you can easily clean and lube the chain without worrying about dirtying your hands.
The chain cleaner in the kit helps you remove all the residue, dirt, and grime off the chain before you lube it. Speaking of it, the kit also comes with a bottle of lubrication. The cleaning product is 9.8 oz and the lubricants are 9.3 oz.
The best item you will get with this package is the chain brush. And this is not a regular brush. The Motul brush features three faces that allow you to clean the three sides of your motorcycle chain all at once. It makes the job easier and quicker.
Check out other cleaning products at The Best Cleaning Products for Harley Davidson.
Motorex Chain care kit
Pros:
- A full cleaning kit
- Includes a microfiber towel
- Separate products for cleaning and lubricating 56 ml refillable Chain Lube
Cons:
- Does not comes with a brush
The first product on the list is the Motorex Chain care kit. It comes with 500 ml of chain lube and a 500 ml chain cleaner. So this does both jobs – cleaning and lubricating. No need to purchase them separately when it comes in this one pack.
When you want to clean or oil your motorcycle chain, the cleanliness in the surroundings and on the chain is extremely important. And it gets dirty as you’re riding them. Therefore, having a towel is not a bad idea.
And when it comes with a kit, that’s a plus point. You will get a large green microfiber tower in this kit too. But the downside is that you won’t get any brush, which is more important. However, it’s a completely useful kit for cleaning the chain.
Top Brands
Below are the top brands of the chain cleaning products. You can find more about them in the following section.
Motul
Check this brand out – the Motul. It produces top-quality oil for motorcycles and other vehicles. Their products are engine oil, chain oil, and other cleaning products. So if you’re looking for chain care products, look for no other option other than the Motul products.
Motorex
The REX was rebranded as the Motorex in 1947. It’s a globally recognized oil producer that makes well-lubricated oils for motorcycles and other cars. It has won the ISO 14001 quality certification as well back in 2003.
FAQs
What Oil For Motorcycle Chain
The best oil for motorcycle chains is the Motul Chain Care Kit. This package, which has been reviewed in the article above, has a bottle of oil for cleaning chains and the other can is for lubricating the chain.
Plus you will get a three-face brush that helps with cleaning the chain. This unique brush is very handy in removing all the dirt, grimes off the chain. It’s a faster and easier way of cleaning the chain.
What Oil To Use On The Motorcycle Chain
You can use Kerosene oil as well on your motorcycle chain. But if you purchase a complete chain cleaning kit like the Motul Chain Car Kit, it’s better than just kerosene. It also comes with a cleaning and lubing bottle, and a cleaning brush.
How To Oil Motorcycle Chain Without A Center Stand
If your motorcycle has no center stand, you can use a lift or a scissor jack to raise it a few inches so that you can freely rotate the rear tire. Bear in mind that you only need a center stand for lifting your motorcycle. And you can do that with other jacks as well.
Also, if you cannot find any jack or motorcycle lift, you’ve got one option left and that’s removing the chain and oil it. This method will be a bit time-consuming but it’s a cleaner way of lubing the chain as there will be no mess around.
Conclusion
You’ve gone through a step-by-step process of cleaning and lubing your motorcycle chain. Some high-quality products also have been discussed in this article. So if you want to clean your chain, follow the steps mentioned above and use the Motul Chain care kit for maximum cleanliness and lubrication.
Last update on 2023-05-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
