Chain lube and rust

GoldenMotor.com

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
Somewhere I remember seeing a long list of reported uses for WD-40 (probably compiled by the manufacturer) There were some crazy ideas on it but the strangest was the belief that it helped to ease arthritis pain when spray on joints, fingers, knees, shoulders.. I'm not sure I'd like walking around smelling like over ripe bananas :)
Tom
My Great Great grand father used it for that. ;)
 

Saddletramp1200

Custom MB Buiilder
May 7, 2008
1,451
83
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Houston, Texas
I will give up a secret from the Master Motorcycle mechanic that trained me. You can force almost any gas or diesel engine to start with WD 40. It's very flamable. It won't dry the walls or piston up like starting fluid. It will also remove chewing gum. It will take bird poo off of paint also Used to use it on the chrome bumper on my Freighliner to keep bugs and road tar from sticking to them. (c)
 

Dan

Staff
May 25, 2008
12,765
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Moosylvania
LOL all.


One day I am sitting here in the shop/garage. The skeeters were awful this year. I reach for a spray can of "Off" but with out looking, spritzed my self with WD40. I can't remember if it worked or not but was good for a laugh.

Gonna try it for starting fluid. Has to be way better then the real stuff. (dryness)


Bummer! Just found this; "Where ya been JB?WD40 stands for Water Displacment and it was their 40th try makeing it when they got it right.And JB's right they removed the propane propellant. Before that it was a great "starting fluid"

WD-40 as a starting fluid?
 

Saddletramp1200

Custom MB Buiilder
May 7, 2008
1,451
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Houston, Texas
I always do my best to give the most real info I can. So I went to my shop and sprayed WD across a lighter. Flame on! rotfl If that don't start a motor, your walking (c)
 

Dan

Staff
May 25, 2008
12,765
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Moosylvania
Cool Tramp! Gonna try it.

Any aerosol will light up like that?

LOL! just tried it with the can of "Off" Was a flame thrower!

Hey! what if starter fluid and WD are the same thing in different cans?

Kids DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I just tried Off then WD40 and after that, Starter fluid with a lighter. The Off made a bigger and more intense flame then the WD40. But Starter Fluid was very much like a flame thrower.

LOL, the things I learn from you guys.

Now I have lost all the hair on my right hand and the shop smells like burning flesh & hair.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
Most aerosols will ignite. Either the product or the propellant will be flamable. I worked for fifteen years for a company that made aerosol products and learned some scary stuff about them. With the knee jerk reactions by the Consumer Products Safety Commision, it's surprising that aerosols are even allowed to be sold in the U.S today.

You had to be near a production line when a defective can went through the machines that filled them. It was like the 4th of July in some cases. :)
As far as igniting the spray from a can: If you'd seen the results from tests where the can exploded, you wouldn't play around with that notion. DON'T DO IT!
Tom
 
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Dan

Staff
May 25, 2008
12,765
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Moosylvania
No kidding tom.

I don't want to tell a story about a punctured can. The results were really incredible and could have been tragic.

Dang, gotta be about 50 spray cans around me right now.
 

Saddletramp1200

Custom MB Buiilder
May 7, 2008
1,451
83
48
Houston, Texas
Sometimes we worry about you Bro. :) Na, Kids reading this, Don't try to burn anything in a can! You can loose a hand, or worse! Of coarse you would save your parents a lot of money putting you through school. 50/50 chance of the can blowing up. (c)
 

wayne z

Active Member
Dec 5, 2010
1,743
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louisiana
I found out By accident that WD40 is a good starting fluid.

I found a nice Stihl chainsaw that had a gummed up carb. I wanted to pickle it for storage till I could fix it by spraying wd in the carb and spin it over. I was REALY suprised when it started and raced away on the first pull!
 

waistofhumanspace

New Member
Jan 8, 2011
140
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0
michigan
WD-40 was developed by the military in the 50s as a rust preventative solvent and de-greaser to protect missile parts. It quickly became a household item when people discovered it had thousands of other uses as a cleaner, rust-prevention agent, squeak-stopper and more. It also works wonders as a light lubricant on small items like hinges, locks, and toys. Bicycle chains, on the other hand, are far too heavy and fast-moving for the lubricating power of WD-40 to have any effect at all. As a matter of fact, WD-40 will actually strip away any existing lubricant and leave your drivetrain dry – metal on metal. Basically, spraying this stuff on your chain is worse than using no lubricant at all!
An alternative approach to chain lubrication is to immerse the chain in hot wax. This is a variation on the oil/solvent approach. The hot wax is of a thin enough consistency that it can theoretically penetrate into the private parts of the chain, then when it cools off, you have a nice thick lubricant in place where it can do the most good. The major advantage to this approach is that, once cooled off, the wax is not sticky, and doesn't attract dirt to the outside of the chain as readily. Downsides of the wax approach include the fact that it is a great deal of trouble, and that wax is probably not as good a lubricant as oil or grease.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
There's an old saying, wet lube for a wet environment & a dry for dry & it seems to hold much truth...

In a dry environment, wet lubes will attract all sorts of grit & dirt whereas in a wet environment it's much more a challenge to keep contaminants out of the inside of the rollers, where dry lubes normally don't penetrate as well - generally wet lubes work a little better, dry ones are cleaner.

I've used them all lol, I do prefer the waxy, paraffin based stuff (sprays on wet, then drys to a film), in the summer it does seem to last a bit longer & is a lot cleaner, but greater care must be used to be sure the pins & rollers are well lubed... but the sunny summertime isn't the problem - jus' about any lube will do, it seems to be only how frequently you need to maintain it.

It's the winters that slay me - or more precisely the salt and far worse, the sodium chloride/calcium chloride mix they're using now.

Doesn't matter what I use it seems, regardless of quality, type or brand, in the salty slushy & with the frequency & miles I ride - my chain rusts out in two to four days... and I'm not talking about a little bit of spot rust, I'm talking about seized plates and rollers & a chain that looks like it's been at the bottom of the ocean for years >.<

So, in desperation I've developed a somewhat tedious, time consuming & messy method that does help to prolong my chain's life - instead of two to four days before locking up, it grants me a whole two weeks - which may not seem like much, but it defo saves on lube & chain lol

I take all the chains off, flush them thoroughly in my parts washer, shake out the kerosene & hit 'em with some brake cleaner to get 'em as clean and dry as possible (first time winter prep), then I let them sit overnight in a coffee can filled with a quality bar & chain oil (normally for chainsaws), the next day I pull 'em out and wipe all the excess B&C oil off, then (and this is the tedious bit) I carefully pack each roller & plate with a good, marine grade heavy bearing grease & lightly wipe it down again to get just some of the excess off.

I would never recommend this to others as it's stupid overkill under most riding conditions and it will instantly attract all sortsa road grime & grit... but I suspect winters in Maine aren't "most riding conditions" and the benefits help me immensely, the B&C oil is thick & sticky, but letting it sit overnight allows it to seep in deep into the pins & rollers and while the bearing grease would never manage to penetrate as far, it helps to keep the oil in and the salty water out while protecting the side plates as well.

Once that's been done I can usually get away with just a quick oil & grease wipe down every two weeks or so w/o removing the chain, depending on conditions ofc. After roughly two months it could use a bit more, but I usually tell it to shut up & deal & just give it another shot of B&C & grease, I don't care that much lol

I love the summer months & paraffin lube... blarg it's September again already >.<
 
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GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
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San Diego, Kaliforgnia
While I give no guarantees, try Fluid Film. I cannot attest to how well it will work in a salty riding environment as they rarely salt the roads here in San Diego, but the stuff has amazed me with what it can do.
Fluid Film® | Corrosion Preventative, Lubricant and Rust Inhibitor

Edit: I suppose since this is a thread about chain lube, I should add that I really like Maxima Chain Wax too. It dries white so you can see exactly where it went (makes it easy to check for missed spots), never flings off, does not attract dust or dirt what so ever, easy to apply, made down the street from my house.
 
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BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
Thanks for the tip GearNut, if I see some around I'll give it a shot, but TBH I'm not gonna hold my breath lol - the sodium chloride/calcium chloride mix they're using on the roads now is brutal, I've never seen anything like the rapid damage it causes, even wet rock salt is tame in comparison...

The annoying bit is it doesn't seem to help with the ice any more than regular salt does, not that I even like salt - I prefer sand & light gravel for below zero weather (salt melts, dilutes & refreezes to glare ice duh), but that's another rant altogether :p
 
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rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
2,746
5
0
Left coast
...Dan's bacon grease... lol slinging off going down the roadway!!! lol

...I love the smell of breakfast!

brings some other nefarious concepts to mind... lol
but not in open forum.

:)
rc
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
83
Dallas
I use motorcycle chain lube, and WD 40.

This is how I maintain my chain. First lift the rear wheel off the ground. Then I cup a rag or paper towel in my hand, around the chain. I dowse the chain with chain lube, as I roll the rear wheel around lubeing as I go. The paper towel keeps chain lube from getting on the tire and bike. Now the chain is well lubed, but what about the splatter.

Next I get a paper towel soaked in WD 40 and cup it in my hand tight around the chain, and clean as much of the chain lube off the outside of the chain as possible. Wipeing the outside of the chain clean won't remove any of the chain lube from where it needs to be.

The last thing I do is find the tightest spot in the chain and make my adjustment there.
 
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