Sprocket Cover Surprise

After work today I pulled off the counter sprocket cover to send up to "Carbon by Gus" and lurking underneath was 26,000km of Shell Advance chain lube, fine sand and dirt reformed into a grease that would make a great cutting compount.
It took a whole can of degreaser and half a litre of kero to clean it up.
I think I'll be pulling the cover a couple of times per year from now on.
I removed and cleaned the chain guard while I was at it.

So if you haven't had a look whip it off and remove the crud. I saved about 1kg

Don't forget to wear your special hat

I try to do mine 2 - 3 times a year / clean the crud out not whip it amazing what collects there isn`t it


( haven`t seen the flower pot people for a long while )

Mmm I have been cleaning that area every time I clean the chain , and yes it builds up quite quickly.

4wheels: easier to not use shell advance

reddog wrote:4wheels: easier to not use shell advance

Mate its always worked for me

I checked under mine recently (25,000 ks). It's had a Scottoiler on all its life, with the occasional Dupont teflon lube from me. Has stayed remarkably crud free. Oily, but no real buildup.

A nut fell out of mine, from the battery 6 months ago ,so thats where it went .

I took mine off in the first week after buying the bike. I have to say that the previous owner, ( from new ) who only did 18000ks must be as fastedious with his bikes as me. As there was absolutely NO gunk build up and it was as clean as a whistle. The chain is also in as new condition.

curiosity got the better of me today after reading this thread, Geezus there was at least 2 cans of jellied spray lube jammed in behind the front sprocket cover, reminded me of chinese restaurant fryer flu, dug out half a one litre ice cream container of muck. javascript:emoticonp('')

How much damage would that muck do to the chain over time

You can't beat just using gear oil. The mess just wipes off with a cloth chain lube just attracts dirt.
Not a fan!

I would like to do this... do I need a torque wrench to do things back up with?

I was kind of looking through the manual to see what is needed.. but seems like a lot of work.. I am not sure whether I am doing what it say's. Why can't they make the pictures in them bigger?

gringo wrote:I would like to do this... do I need a torque wrench to do things back up with?

I was kind of looking through the manual to see what is needed.. but seems like a lot of work.. I am not sure whether I am doing what it say's. Why can't they make the pictures in them bigger?

No torque wrench is required.
You only need a 4mm hex key and just "nip" them up.

I have to undo the gear shift link arm?...

I am guessing the actual sprocket cover is underneath all the other stuff and looks like I will need a socket to get it off.

I have already taken the outer cover off, which used hex(?) bolts, Took one look at the other stuff and not sure what to do now.

Yes I can work on mechanicals (cars), but this is the first time I have ever really worked on a bike and my tool box is pretty basic.

I am assuming 4WA (et al) only removed the outer cover, not the linkages or anything else.

personally i would use a torque wrench on anything related to aluminium,thats just me, i`ve had mine off alot of times,and its supposed to be set at 6-8NM,which is bugger all, and then you know they`re all even,ally can strip easy!!

gringo wrote:I would like to do this... do I need a torque wrench to do things back up with?

I was kind of looking through the manual to see what is needed.. but seems like a lot of work.. I am not sure whether I am doing what it say's. Why can't they make the pictures in them bigger?

I use a torque wrench on larger settings E,G. rear wheel nut etc but when its so small a setting I tend to do it by feel .
( been playing around with nuts & bolts for a long time though )

so have i mate ,its part of my trade, for 30years,i`ll always torque.

paul wrote:I use a torque wrench on larger settings E,G. rear wheel nut etc but when its so small a setting I tend to do it by feel .
( been playing around with nuts & bolts for a long time though )

mtbeerwah wrote:so have i mate ,its part of my trade, for 30years,i`ll always torque.

paul wrote:I use a torque wrench on larger settings E,G. rear wheel nut etc but when its so small a setting I tend to do it by feel .
( been playing around with nuts & bolts for a long time though )

Mine too/ 45 years ( you`d be one of the rare ones who torque everything most don`t )

thats exactly why i don`t let anybody touch my bike,i don`t trust 99% of mechanics unless i`m standing over the top of them watching them do correct work practice

mtbeerwah wrote:thats exactly why i don`t let anybody touch my bike,i don`t trust 99% of mechanics unless i`m standing over the top of them watching them do correct work practice

Mate some things like motor parts are critical and obviously need torque settings but a plastic cover with 6 to 8 nm setting isn`t that hard to do up . Experience after a while will generally suffice on non critical things like this cover . Maybe if someone is " ham fisted " and doesn`t have a feel for what they`re doing then they should obviously use a torque wrench .

There are some "unique" people on this forum.
If you really think its necessary to stand over a mechanic you are better off doing the work yourself because nothing they do will be right.

mate,as i have trusted high cred mechanics in the past to do valves and now have a helicoil in my head due to man X who thought he had torque wrench in his genetics, and has being doing it for a million years and new what 8NM felt like,failed to do so, any repeated service area for me with ally will be done with torque, my opinion i`ll stick with it

now your getting the jest of it,"do it yourself"

4wheelsagain wrote:There are some "unique" people on this forum.
If you really think its necessary to stand over a mechanic you are better off doing the work yourself because nothing they do will be right.

mtbeerwah wrote:mate,as i have trusted high cred mechanics in the past to do valves and now have a helicoil in my head due to man X who thought he had torque wrench in his genetics, and has being doing it for a million years and new what 8NM felt like,failed to do so, any repeated service area for me with ally will be done with torque, my opinion i`ll stick with it

Like I said motor parts need torque settings , but unfortunately relying only on torque settings and not by feel on some older / deteriorated / brittle or well used threads or parts can also end in disaster ,as with classic / vintage or veteran vehicles where you can`t just buy another part off the shelf .Its unfortunate you struck a dud but sometimes it happens .Discretion is needed doing a job and I would sooner trust my own intuition / experience and " feel " in some cases than a set torque setting which may or may not be appropriate any more . Technically what you say is correct but once your thread starts to wear over a period of use you may find the torque setting inappropriate and still strip the thread . Try tightening that plastic cover to proper torque when its older and it will crack . I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one .