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Chain Mileage


lazyeye

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How much mileage have you gotten out of your original chain?

 

I'm at about 16,000 miles and the links are getting tight. Before you ask, I'm regular about lubing the chain with the 3m teflon stuff and its adjusted correctly.

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I think I got maybe 20,000 miles but it was getting rusty and developed a corroded link. Also by that time the bike was around 13 years old so it was time.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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The answer has a lot of "it depends on..." in it.  My chains usually last around 26 to 28K miles which is exceptional and I thrash my bikes in twistys pretty hard.  That's the only place I ride.  All I do is run them looser than Honda recommends by a little bit, I don't use any heavy waxy chain lube ever, I do often use what Honda recommends.....rear end lube, and I do use Honda branded chain lube now and then.  The thinner chain lubes don't last as long but they don't attract as much dirt and crap in my experience.  I've adjusted my chain once in close to 11K miles and it was only a slight adjustment.  I loosened the adjustment as it came from the dealer new and it was adjusted to Honda specs.  Tight, dirty chains wear out fast.  I always wipe the crud off my chains before lubing them and only clean them with any chain cleaner or brake cleaner once in a while.  Wiping a dirty chain of grit before lubing has a lot to do with my high mileage I think.  I really don't clean them very often.....  FWIW.    

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I had mine replaced at the 16k mile service. Ridden all year round, through all weathers, and generally I'm pretty good at keeping it clean and properly lubed, but not religious about it. Would have expected nearer 20k before replacement though. 

 

I once managed to get 23k miles out of a chain on a GSX650F. That's my personal record so far, I think. 

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Did 36,700k's before replacing the original, regular lube and tensioned checked and like Fink above only required minor adjustment a few times. Fitted an EK525ZVX3124 (124 link so had to cut 14 links off) nice gold colour to match the wheels!

Cheers.

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I get roughly 20K miles out of a chain. I change the sprockets every 3-4 chains, when the teeth look rounded or curved. I inspect/adjust tension and lube routinely. 

A few years ago, as an experiment, I installed a chain and ignored it, only adjusting it once or twice near the end of its life. I still got about 20K miles. 

Paul in SoCal

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30,000 miles on a 2008 factory chain, changed just because but it could have went another 8000-10,000 miles.

 

Started using RemOil to clean and lube with  absolutely the BEST clean and lube stuff ever invented.

 

Related image

 

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Mileage is a loose standard because wear depends on so many variables...

 

A more accurate standard of chain wear is after the 3rd adjustment because that
is undeniable evidence that the factory installed grease is beginning to
fail to lube the critical pin roller junction hidden behind the X ring... the
length of the chain is growing because of this metal to metal wear... I can
not call a chain serviceable that is grinding metal... it's like saying that a
dry bearing that runs ruff is acceptable... the net result is another 2 to
3% drop in RWHP as more energy is lost grinding metal behind the X
ring...

This is what we don't see behind the X rings... metal to metal wear
every time we adjust the chain that eats into our engine's available
HP... a new pin measures 206.5 and wears down to 205.5 at the 8K mile
mark... looks good to the naked eye but multiply that 1 thousand of an
inch times 108 links and you have 108 thousands of an inch wear or
about the range of the  green marks provided by Honda's wear gauge...
202.8 show the very visible wear at the 12K mile mark... the pins are
turning red from extreme heat of grinding dry metal... a chain in this
condition may consume up to 6 to 8% of our RWHP... not to mention it
may snap into and cause case damage...

gallery_3131_51_50064.jpg

 

Honda sticker provided a handy guide to monitor chain wear... stay with
in the green and you'll be looking for a new chain and sprockets at the 8 to
10K mile mark...

gallery_3131_51_39609.jpg

 

What we are lubing are external roller and between the roller and the
sprockets (red area in my drawing)... we are not lubing the X rings
nor behind the X rings so any oil applied in that effort is a waste
and will only fling off...

14746956046_fb75bdf189.jpg

 

 

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8 hours ago, fatshoutybloke said:

My 2014 is just coming up to its 24,000 mile service, original chain still fine with plenty of adjustment left and no tight spots.

 

Ditto at 21,700 miles (34,884 km). 

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13 hours ago, lazyeye said:

@BusyLittleShop

Excuse the simplistic question. So we should be applying chain lube at the "back" of the motorcycle , where the chain is in contact with the rear sprocket?

 

I prefer Motul chain paste allied to the inside of the chain...

 

 I believe it's the smartest product on the market and the right solution
everyone has been looking to *properly* lube their chain and sprockets
because it brushes a layer of white grease like from the factory that
clings with no flings... Motul Chain Paste... squeeze the white grease
from the tube and load the brush...

 

imageproxy.php?img=http%3A%2F%2Fi1036.ph

 

imageproxy.php?img=http%3A%2F%2Fi1036.ph

 

Clings and no Flings...

imageproxy.php?img=http%3A%2F%2Fi1036.ph

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just checked my bike and I do not have the 'Honda wear sticker' on my bike cannot see a residue of a sticker ever being there,did all bikes have one fitted??,I use Wurth chain spray and have only done 125 miles on the bike since I bought it,the chain is a DID ZVMX and had recently been fitted with new sprockets by the previous owner

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Scottbot ... Yes they all had a sticker, mines fallen off recently, I guess that comes with using an adhesive that soluble in most chain lube

 

BSL ... I used to use that until I discovered it was water soluble

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According to the Motul chain paste technical sheet, it is water resistant. But the line I like best is "Specially recommended for very fast bikes."

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4ec8cf71316ca864169bda605d574f87.jpg

Used this on my oem chain since I bought my bike with 1800 miles--- lasted 30,000 miles and was still good when replaced

New chain has 15,000 miles and still looks new with minimal stretching.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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10 minutes ago, auggius said:

According to the Motul chain paste technical sheet, it is water resistant. But the line I like best is "Specially recommended for very fast bikes."

 

The marketing folks had nothing to do with that line :cool:

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On 7/22/2017 at 3:04 PM, auggius said:

According to the Motul chain paste technical sheet, it is water resistant. But the line I like best is "Specially recommended for very fast bikes."

Darn!  I have a tube of the Motul that I was going to start using after my my stock of Maxima Chain Wax was depleted...

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4 hours ago, Egg on Leggs said:

I changed my chain at 58,900 miles.

Yeah, but what did you change it at the first time? LOL

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8 hours ago, FJ12Ryder said:

Yeah, but what did you change it at the first time? LOL

Seriously, that was the original chain as fitted by some Japanese chap in the Honda factory.

 

I did buy an original manufacturer chain and sprocket set at around 20,000 miles but that had sat in my spares cupboard for 12 years before I fitted it. The longevity is undoubtedly down to the Scottoiler and my slightly generous setting of it.

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On 7/20/2017 at 2:05 PM, BusyLittleShop said:

Mileage is a loose standard because wear depends on so many variables...

 

A more accurate standard of chain wear is after the 3rd adjustment because that
is undeniable evidence that the factory installed grease is beginning to
fail to lube the critical pin roller junction hidden behind the X ring... the
length of the chain is growing because of this metal to metal wear... I can
not call a chain serviceable that is grinding metal... it's like saying that a
dry bearing that runs ruff is acceptable... the net result is another 2 to
3% drop in RWHP as more energy is lost grinding metal behind the X
ring...

This is what we don't see behind the X rings... metal to metal wear
every time we adjust the chain that eats into our engine's available
HP... a new pin measures 206.5 and wears down to 205.5 at the 8K mile
mark... looks good to the naked eye but multiply that 1 thousand of an
inch times 108 links and you have 108 thousands of an inch wear or
about the range of the  green marks provided by Honda's wear gauge...
202.8 show the very visible wear at the 12K mile mark... the pins are
turning red from extreme heat of grinding dry metal... a chain in this
condition may consume up to 6 to 8% of our RWHP... not to mention it
may snap into and cause case damage...

gallery_3131_51_50064.jpg

 

Honda sticker provided a handy guide to monitor chain wear... stay with
in the green and you'll be looking for a new chain and sprockets at the 8 to
10K mile mark...

gallery_3131_51_39609.jpg

 

What we are lubing are external roller and between the roller and the
sprockets (red area in my drawing)... we are not lubing the X rings
nor behind the X rings so any oil applied in that effort is a waste
and will only fling off...

14746956046_fb75bdf189.jpg

 

 

Why does a ScottOiler allow chains to reach such high mileage? Eggs on Leggs has one and several guys on the old FJ list got huge mileage using them. Seems like if they didn't do at least a little oiling

of the pins the mileage wouldn't be much different than just spray chain lube.

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