OK, haven't had enough controversy yet.

Just wanted to bring up the subject of chainlube

Yes, the dreaded subject of chain maintenance, what is the best way to care for my lovely new DID x-ring chain

Save the hassle, run it till it breaks and fit another set.

Dink

I lube the chain once every 2 rides. I dont really have a preference on brand and such.
I check and adjust the tension about once a month or so.
On my old bike i got about 20k out of the chain...but thats want completey work out.
24k on the bandit, and plenty of life left in the original chain.

Best care, a Scott Oiler.

I have settled on a method that suites me, my bikes, my budget and my riding environment (no one size fits all peeps)
I use Shell Advance and have had good chain life so far and the B1250 looks like getting 25k or more.
In no particular order my advice is;
1. Don’t over tighten the chain - Current Bandit specs in the manual are too tight IMHO
2. Lube every 500km or so and after every wet ride - Carry lube in gear bag on tour
3. Clean chain & sprockets 2 - 3 times per year with blue kero - Start & finish of daylight savings works for me
4. Stringline the rear adjustment and go from there - Only need to do it once
5. Burnouts and clutch up wheelies flog chains

I use either Motul or Maxxis chain lube (failing that I use what ever the bike shop has in stock).

The chain gets a spray of lube every 3rd tank of fuel. This works out at around 600km for commuting or 900km when 'touring'.

I adjust the chain as required, but check it daily. As for cleaning the chain and sprokets, that's easy I use kero and a tooth brush. As for how often, well that depends. I use a gold chain, so when the chain isn't 'gold' anymore I clean it.

I get between 20,000 and 25,000km from a chain. Oh and I change BOTH sprokets at the same time. I know some say that you can get 2 front sprokets to 1 rear, but I've done that once and got less than 15,000km from the chain.

Motul chain lube after 2 tanks of juice and apply at the end of a ride to warm chain.
Clean up with splashes Motul brake cleaner.

hmm better get off ma backside and get some cleaner and lube by the sound of it.... ive done 3k from new and have not given it a second thought

2010banditsa wrote:hmm better get off ma backside and get some cleaner and lube by the sound of it.... ive done 3k from new and have not given it a second thought

OOPS. Same here!

Here is my 20 cents worth (That's inflation for ya)

I give the chain a libral dosing with lanotec heavy duty lanolin spray once a week when commuting or each 500 kms, which ever comes first. I also spray the chain after a wet ride or after washing the bike. The chain gets cleaned when I wash the bike or when it rains. It might get a bit of WD40 on it when I give the swingarm a clean to get any flung lube off if I could be arsed doing it, but apart from that I don't clean it.

Chain adjustment is a subject like oil to use, everyone has a way they do theirs, so here is mine.
I adjust my chain so that when it's cold the chain will just miss touching the swingarm wear cover (that black plastic thingo) when pushed up vertically (but if you give it a shove it will touch it). I worked this out from having 5mm or so of slack on a loaded bike.

I've string lined my bike and found that the swingarm marks are pretty damb close given the amount of slack in the axle blocks. I don't string line it any more and just use the marks.



Oh, here is a link to a PDF service manual. Only thing is that is has a watermark on each page from what I can see and I haven't looked thru it all yet but it looks the goods.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, I'm surprised though that no-one suggested WD40 which seems to come up in every other forum that I've googled on the subject and usually generates some "spirited" discussion.

When I had my IT250 (back when there were still dinosaurs) it had a standard chain which I was forever adjusting, when I replaced it with an O ring chain things were much better but I did notice the power loss.

I'm of the opinion that kerosene is the best thing to clean the chain with and a soft brush, working a section at a time and wiping it with a rag, this is done whenever the chain looks black and gritty.

Back in the day I liked Bel-ray chain lube (blue stuff) or some oil I got from a bike shop with molybdenum disulphide.

Now I just use any chain lube, as long as it states "safe for O rings", I don't think it matters as long as it * stays on * stops it rusting * keeps the O rings from drying out .

It has always bothered me, that its hard to get a good even coverage on the chain without over oiling some spots (messy) or missing spots. This is why I started looking into some form of auto chain lubing system.

The famous ones (eg Scott) seem like over kill and waste as well as horribly expensive. So I thought I would try Loobman, cheap enough (compared with just about everything else for bikes eg engine oil) and you have manual control of when and how much oil is administered. I've fitted it and used it for a few rides now, first impression is that it does a great job on the middle of the chain but is not wetting the X ring area. I'm thinking now I may end up using a hybrid system between my old procedure and the Loobman to top it up on long rides or during rain.

Watch this space for a long term report.

Kettenmax for cleaning with Kero, makes it extremely simple and not much mess. Belray or Silkolene chain wax/gel. Semi synthetic Silkolene stuff is crap

i just use Honda spray lube - works well and doesn't come off very much at all. i am never sure how much to put on - i am sure the makers would want u to use half the can each time

Best thing I ever did for my 1250 was fit a Pro Oiler. Chain was about half-life when I fitted it; 10,000 k later it has needed NO adjustment at all. It is clean and properly lubricated 100% of the time. Excellent initial and after sales service, excellent quality item and great result. Will post pix if interested; check out their web site.

Al Fentanyl wrote:Best thing I ever did for my 1250 was fit a Pro Oiler. Chain was about half-life when I fitted it; 10,000 k later it has needed NO adjustment at all. It is clean and properly lubricated 100% of the time. Excellent initial and after sales service, excellent quality item and great result. Will post pix if interested; check out their web site.

I would love to see pics, how it fits on the Bandit, and the oil delivery head, Thanks so much

I will host the pix as soon as I get home, but this website says it all.

http://www.pro-oiler.com/

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This is the business end; I'll post more of the hardware mounting soon.

dhula wrote:Oh, here is a link to a PDF service manual.

Sorry for going off on a tangent but do you know where to get one of those manuals for the 650 model?

Cheers

Best I can do for you after a quick look is this but you'll have to buy one

Here is the site I found the other manual on but it doesn't have the older aircooled stuff on it. They do offer to e-mail a manual to you if you ask tho, so might be worth a go that way.

I ended up paying for my GSX650F and Bandit manuals cause the watermarks shits me

dhula wrote:Best I can do for you after a quick look is this but you'll have to buy one

Here is the site I found the other manual on but it doesn't have the older aircooled stuff on it. They do offer to e-mail a manual to you if you ask tho, so might be worth a go that way.

I ended up paying for my GSX650F and Bandit manuals cause the watermarks shits me

Fair play!

I dropped them an email - we'll see what happens.