Chain Rust

Craig321

Craig321

Craig321

Soldato
Joined
2 May 2004
Posts
19,950
I gave my chain a good clean a few months ago (I hadn't had it too long, but it needed it).

I applied Wurth Dry Lube which rates really highly and was recommended by a few people.

A couple of months later I'm seeing signs of rust, even after further applications of the Wurth lube & cleaning. It wipes off fairly easily at the moment, but I'm worried about it getting inside and destroying the chain & other parts.

The bike does stay outside under a cover every night.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Clean and lube every 300-400 miles if its outside (or sooner if it needs it)

I have a scottoiler and my chain still needs cleaning every now and again, the outside looks mint but the inside (closest to the swing arm) is rusty, have it a good scrub and lube today and looks good as new again. Its just something that really needs to be kept on top of.
 
I cleaned & lubed again about 3 weeks ago (120 miles or so) and it's already showing signs of rust again, so will need to do it again this weekend!

That's a bit quick for it to be starting to rust, surely?
 
wazza300 said:
spray it with some wd40 first,then apply the chain lube,
Click to expand...

I thought WD40 was a big 'no no' for O-ring (maybe X-ring) chains? I heard you can wipe it on the outside of the chain, but isn't it supposed to destroy seals elsewhere... :confused:

As for your rust OP, I've had it on every single bike I've had, there's not really anything you can do to prevent it (I feel), I presume that the material OEM chain use are susceptible to corrosion. At a guess, you might be able to buff it off with a small wire pad.
 
Jury is out on WD40, some folk say it will destroy seals and others say its a load of nonsense. I have a Scottoiler on the Mille which has been an absolute boon and has resulted in me doing 12000 miles on the same chain and sprockets and they still look like new with no appreciable stretch. However like metbandit1 said, the inboard sideplates of the chain tend to get a bit rusty sometimes, especially if the bike is left to sit unused for any period of time.

My solution seems to work fine and that is to take some fine wire wool and chainsaw oil ( or any light oil - 3 in 1 will do ) and apply it to the wire wool then rub the chain till its sparkly clean. Doesn't take much elbow grease and doesn't damage the "O" or "X" rings in any way. My chain is a Gold "X" ring Tsubaki chain and it doesn't seem to suffer from rust as much as OEM ones do. Dry off the excess with a clean cloth and you are good to go again, either lube with the spray on gunk of your choice or let the Scottoiler take care of the lubrication.
 
Last edited:
I use WD40, have done for years to give it a decent clean, not had a single issue with both O and X ring...

WD40, toothbrush, tons of blue tissue, elbow grease and a cup of tea. Job done.
 
agnes said:
I use WD40, have done for years to give it a decent clean, not had a single issue with both O and X ring...

WD40, toothbrush, tons of blue tissue, elbow grease and a cup of tea. Job done.
Click to expand...

Don't use tea, it's known to dissolve the O rings and melt the chain links :D
 
never had problems with wd40 on chains,its the rust protection you want from the wd40 and the chain lubrication with the chain lube after

a tiny wire brush will remove any surface rust,i had to do mine the other day what with all the road salt n stuff
 
Thanks for all the comment/suggestions. I've cleaned it again with some wire wool & chain cleaner. Nice & shiny again now, but not sure for how long!

I did put a bit of WD on the more badly affected areas, so hopefully that will help.
 
My experience from working in a workshop is that as long as WD is NOT the SOLE lubricant used, and you stick on som grease or lube afterwards then it will not kill chains.
Some people coming in used WD 40 as their lube and it killed the chain... Big nono.
 
Tried every single chain oil there is from scotoilers to dry lube. All I use these days is WD40 on a rag first then apply to chain every couple of hundred miles or so. Chain looks like new after plenty of abuse.
 
Wire wool seems to have worked nicely, after almost 3 weeks now it's still looking good.

One thing I have noticed though is 2-3 of the links are seized/stuck. As per recommendation I cleaned those areas again, oiled, etc. but they're nicely stuck at the moment!

Is this something that I should be able to fix with a load of WD40/cleaner/oil or is this a case for a new chain?

Thanks again for all the comments etc :)
 
Is there any appreciable stretch in it?. If so, might be worth biting the bullet and getting a new chain and sprocket kit. Don't just get a new chain, the old sprockets will need doing at the same time.

However, one way that stiff links can be sorted out is stick the bike up on a stand, slide the rear wheel off so the chain can be dropped to ground level and then leave the part which has the stiff links at it to soak overnight in a plastic container of oil. Every so often go to the chain and work it back and forth a bit to help free it off. Can sometimes take more than an overnight gig.
 
Nope, not really, it still has life in it so would really like to avoid replacing it yet, especially as I'd need to do the sprockets at the same time.

I've not really got experience in replacing parts on the bike, is it fairly straight forward to do myself? Obviously for cheapness, but also for the experience.

What oil would you recommend? It's an o-ring chain.

I'm wondering if a few hours of WD40 work would help this problem / be safe for the chain? Not doubting the guys above that suggested WD40 for cleaning, but I'm just a bit wary of soaking the chain in it for hours / overnight? Saying that, this post does make me a bit happier about using WD on it: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345397

Apologies for the newbie questions, I'm new to biking (and loving it! :D) and want to learn about the bike for future rather than letting the shop sort it out all the time! :)

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Any oil will do really, anything clean that you have lying around that is ( not vegetable oil....lol!! ). Whatever oil it is just make sure it is deep enough in whatever container you use to lie the chain in so that it covers the part of the chain that has the stiff links completely.

As far as fitting a new chain and sprocket kit, it's one of those maintenance jobs I never bother doing myself. Too much hassle. I'll happily swap sprockets out as they aren't an issue but with chains you need a good splitter to get the thing off and then you need to be able to rivet the new one properly back on. You get 2-in-1 tools to do this but you will save hassle just bunging a mechanic a few quid labour to fit it. Never, ever use a split link on a bike of a decent engine size / power output. You want an endless chain on there. Split link chains are old hat and a blast from the past, I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw 'em. Had a mate once who was quite proud of fitting a new chain to his GSXR 750. He had bought it mail order and it said online it was to suit the Gixxer 750. It was about the width and pitch of a mountain bike chain and had a split link on it. On a GSXR!!!. Madness.
 
So we've ruled out vegetable oil & tea :p

Hmm, doesn't sound like a job that I should be doing then really, especially with such little experience at bike repair.

What would be a good price for a sprocket/chain replacement + labour? The bike shop said about £75 last time I asked about just the chain, I reckon that'd double at least with sprockets as well. I'm not sure if that's expensive or not really as there aren't any other shops to compare to around here.

Will the cheap grocery store oil be alright on an o-ring chain?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom