Since the change in the original DuPont Teflon spray, I have used this product. Good durability, applies thin and thickens overnight. Minimal sling off. Not a miracle solution, but still recommended.

 

I have used all types of aerosol lubes, and settled on Motul Chain Paste.... as the name suggests, its in a toothpaste tube... has a brush applicator, but i find it messy, so a toothbrush, or as my newest method, i screw a caulking gun nozzle on it and dab it on.
Found a 10% improvement in chain and sprocket life, at least.
Wet weather makes it look like its gone, but, next dry ride and the chain rollers go dark with lube.

This is a pavement bike only.

 

PJ1 wax lube. 12K miles on the original chain on a DR650. Sprockets are fine too. Pavement and improved gravel/dirt. Cleaned with Kero about every 600 miles. I think kerosene is also called paraffin in Europe.

I did pick up a tube of the Motul chain paste to see how that works. I'm using that on the recently acquired 2012 DL650 of unknown history.

 

I have three bikes, two are used on a regular basis, all fitted with scottoilers, lube used, two stroke oil, easy flow and no gunk collected on the chain. I found that heavier oil on the chain collected dirt and crud. With a little time and even less effort on attending to adjustment, no oil collects on the wheel rim. The current chain on my V Strom 1000, in excess of 40,000 kms, and only replaced one front sprocket in that time. Go Scotty.

 

MAXIMA Chain Wax is what I used, pretty much exclusively, and it has served me very well. My DR650 would require chain & sprocket replacement about every 20K miles. My GSX1250FA (2011) would average about 28-30K miles per chain & sprocket set, all the time using MAXIMA. The 1250 had almost 66K miles on it when sold in summer 2023; the original chain and sprocket didn't need to be replaced until 35K.
My current main ride is a 2023 DL1050 V-Strom, with almost 11K miles and chain and sprockets are showing very little if any wear. Personally I much prefer drive shaft to chain drive (also own an R9T BMW and an R1200RT), but love the V-Strom and don't mind the chain maintenance.
Ride safely my friends, J.

 

I have the exact same bike. Also use Maxima chain wax. The original chain made it to 22,500 miles. Have 28,000 now.

 

Well, if you ever ride that beast up to New England, let me know and we can scoot around Maine -- plenty of fabulous, scenic routes up here, from the western mountains to the coast. Take care and ride safely, Jim W.

 

New England is on my wish list. Is the only part of the U.S. I haven’t seen yet. Would be really cool to ride with the exact same bike. What time of your do you recommend?

 

Heh, you may wish to avoid Boston. Even as a Chicago boy that traffic there was actually scary.
Meanwhile, I'm still advocating for PJ-1 Blue Label. Never got less than 40K miles on a chain with it, and got 58K on a DID X-Ring on my ZX1100E and the chain was still within the stretch spec. Very economical!
Bill

 

Ah yes, avoid Boston (highest insurance rates in the USA....drive around there for a while and you'll soon see why.....🤪), unless you want to go downtown to visit such things as the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor, the Boston Commons, Fanueil Hall, etc. etc. I actually like Boston a lot, BUT it can get pretty crazy down there. I'm up in Maine, which according to one humorist, is "So Backward that it's ahead of its time!"😄...in some ways, he's not wrong either. But it's a fun place to ride -- lots of scenic routes, and traffic is generally very thin, inland at least.

 

Front sprocket somewhere around 40 to 60,000 km. Experience has taught me to be very conservative when it comes to my chain and sprockets.

..Tom

 

Thanks for this. Will remove my front sprocket cover to check and see how it's wearing. I'm sure replacing yours at that point has contributed to getting that very long life out of the chain and rear sprocket.

 

"The Rule' is generated by millions of service applications in industry and experience with non Oring chains. The reason the rule exists is the pitch changes with use -so the load is unequal (on the pins) when force is applied to perform work. Perfect pitch allows load to be applied more equally to multiple links as it forms around the sprocket. It is a valid rule made less important with the high quality chains supplied on today's motorcycles. I have been in industry that buys chain by the pallet-full. Literally tons of the stuff. But for the sake of the topic at hand, I agree that changing the less expensive front sprocket half way through the life cycle of the set is my preferred recco. Cuts down on noise and vibration and keeps pitch variations to closer tolerances. As a side benefit, the pushrod and slave cylinder get the cleaning attention sometimes lacking. That cavity behind the cover gets filthy.

 

Front sprocket somewhere around 40 to 60,000 km. Experience has taught me to be very conservative when it comes to my chain and sprockets.

..Tom

I don't have any history that shows front sprocket wear affects rear sprocket and/or Chain life. I do know that rear sprocket tends to last longer than the chain and that the saying some that people repeat that you have to replace the chain when you replace the sprockets or the chain will wear out faster is nonsense.

..Tom

I'll echo V-Tom's experience. I got 53K miles on a chain (contentious lubing with gear oil) and at 31K miles my front sprocket was hooking while the rear looked fine, and made it to 53K. I probably would have changed the front a little sooner had I checked.

 

Late to this thread, I will start by saying I am lazy, first thing I do is fit a Scottoiler. I use cheapest ATF I can find, usually SuperTech Dextron ATF from Walmart, I adjust to 1 drip per 50 seconds, keeps the chain lubed, but not messy. ATF is good at keeping the chain clean. I have my drip tube on the front sprocket.

on my '07 DL1000, my initial 525 chain & front sprocket lasted about 16k. At that time I replaced with 530 chain & sprockets. with the new setup, of I replace the front sprocket at 22.5k, my rear sprocket & chain will go 45k

I am hard on sprockets, front sprockets especially, and more wear under deceleration based on the direction my teeth point when worn, now that I have a little experience with belt drive, if I get to the point I am back riding my V-Strom more again, a belt kit would be seriously considered

 

Do they have belt drive kits for Vstroms?

 

'22 1050XT. Bike developed an odd knock at 19K miles. Oddly inconsistent and could not recreate on the center stand. No chain links binding that I could tell. Even suspected engine knock. Read on another thread where someone recommended chain replacement. I doubted the fix, but I changed the chain and sprockets and problem is gone. Old sprockets had very little wear compared to new. I still don't understand how the chain caused an inconsistent knock but all good now.

 

Glad you solved it. Gotta ask:
1) throttle on, throttle off, or did it matter,
2) how much chain slack were you running,
3) were the rear cush hubs in good shape,
4) front sprocket nut tight?
5) how worn was the chain (spec is 320mm length for a 20-pin section)

 

I missed the question to my post a week ago. Naptime, I guess.
I apply the PJ-1 Blue Label pretty much every other tank of gas, unless it gets wet in the rain, then, as soon as possible.
I also ignore the old rule about changing sprockets when replacing the chain. I just consider the sprocket's condition; worn-down or hooked/hooking teeth, bad.
In the example cited of my much beloved Kawasaki ZX1100E (you might call it a "GPZ" as that's what the decals on the fairing said), when I sold it (for some unknown reason) with 106,000 miles (170,000km) on the clock the original, OEM Kawasaki sprockets were still installed. They were in fine condition. The fact that that latter DID chain went 58K says to me that the sprockets were good and they weren't damaging the chain.
Incidentally, that math says the OEM chain went 48,000 miles, too.
And to agree with V-Tom on the business of cleaning chains, neither of those chains were ever cleaned.
All of this experience possibly indicates reasonable maintenance is helpful to chain and sprocket life.

 

I lube about 600 - 1000 miles (or if the chain is dry). I've used the TUTOTO chain luber. Got to be too messy. I use Maxima Chain Wax. I probably apply too much but oh well. Clean with Kerosene. 15K miles - 25K miles on chain and sprocket life (typically sprocket wear). I may try the DuPont lube in the future. I've seen others use DuPont lube and their chain is always very clean. 80% road, 20% offroad (gravel). Texas, Colorado. RK chains with recommended width (525,etc). 2016 Triumph Tiger 800XC, 2009 WEE, 2014 VEE

 

I clean the chain with WD40 and old tooth brush, dry it and lub with classic chain lub every 2 tanks.

 

Well WD40 definitely smells better than Maxima chain cleaner, does it work as good?

 

Keep ALL brushes and petroleum products AWAY from motorcycle chains. Using them increases the likelihood of removal of the lube behind the "O" rings.

 

I have used probably every thing possible on a motorcycle chain. Lately found a Amsoil product Heavy Duty Metal Protector. Looks and smells like cosmiline, a rust inhibitor machine shops use. Last chain was replaced at 25K miles, still was free and had room to adjust. But with long trips this summer decided to change sprockets and chain.
I ride 60% pavement 40% dirt. Keep chains clean and lubed and have always gotten long lives out of them no matter what I used for lube.

 

Lucas chain oil. 500 miles or after carwash. Spray on then wipe off excess lightly with a shop rag.

 

Sorry for stupid question probably but still.. Should I lube only the inside part(3) Or sideways also(1 and 2) I know it's outer part in the picture, it's just for example, I lube the inside of the chain. Based on youtube videos and comments on how to properly lube the chain there are some mixed opinions for some reason

 

Sorry for stupid question probably but still.. Should I lube only the inside part(3) Or sideways also(1 and 2) I know it's outer part in the picture, it's just for example, I lube the inside of the chain. Based on youtube videos and comments on how to properly lube the chain there are some mixed opinions for some reason View attachment 341146

The between the links parts are bushings. (#3) they mitigate the friction and loads associated with links mating with the sprocket teeth. there is need for lube to be inside of these bushings as well as the surface you see. The rubber gaskets, or 0-rings are squeezed between the plates to seal in the semi-permanent grease inside. The 0-rings benefit from being oily so they don't bind and twist when the chain flexes around the sprockets. caked hard crud wedges underneath these gaskets and lift the rubber, breaking the seal to the inner pins. Oil keeps the crud soft and extends the life of the seal. The crud-paste flings off to make a mess but carries the crud away. The part you can't see is the inner pins with the riveted heads. The actual load bearing parts. The factory packs the grease in there during assembly and it lasts a good long while- but not forever. When even one! pin seizes up... the chain is to be replaced as soon as possible. This joint is not following the circle around the countershaft sprocket and will snap as a result. A desperation move is to cut the 0-ring away and try penetrating oil to free the rust causing the seizure of this one link- to free it. That advice is sure to cause comments but I offer it as a 'get you home, once' shade tree kludge. Before 0-rings, all chains were bathed in oil to keep the pins lubed.
There is good reason automatic chain oilers extend the life of a drive chain. A constant supply of oil.