Results of my chain lube test

For you XJ550 riders out the, I thought I'd report on the results of a chain lube test I've been running. I've been riding my XJ550 for about a year now and I've put about 12,000 miles on it since I resurrected it from the dead. I ride all year round so the chain sees dust, dirt, slush and a good deal of Colorado dry weather too. I have a stock non-oring chain and I've been trying various things to see what works best to lube the chain.

I started using 30 wt oil like the manual recommended. That worked fairly well. I'd spin the rear wheel up with a drill and most of the oil cast off would be gone when I took it out on the road. I tend to lube the chain when it starts to look dry or dirty and that usually works out to about every 500 miles or so. With the 30 wt oil, I probably had to adjust the chain every 2,000 miles.

Next I thought I'd try the good stuff. Did some research on the web and found PJ1 Black Label as being about the best so I bought a can. Followed the instructions to the letter. It was pretty easy to put on and there was very little cast off but the stuff simply didn't work to lube the chain. Seemed like every other time I checked it, I'd have to adjust the chain. The other bad thing was there was a lot of waxy build up that periodically needed cleaned off. Needless to say, I stopped using the stuff.

Finally, I switched to 90 wt gear oil. I use a pump oil can and slowly spin the chain as I oil first the outside links then the inside links of the chain. I'll spin the wheel for about 5 minutes then wipe off the excess. Next I chuck a sprocket in my drill and spin the chain up as fast as the drill will go. Then I'll let the bike sit over night so it soaks in well. The next days ride does put a fairly good coating of oil on the back wheel but a little WD40 on a rag takes care of that and from then on it's fine. The best part is I just finished 5,000 miles without having to adjust the chain. I figure that's the real test of how things are wearing and in my book, the 90 wt oil wins.

Happy Trails!
sanoke

 

Yeah, I also did some experimenitng with chain lubes. Web Bike World has a couple good articles on re-lubing your chain which you may want to check out. Most lubes seem to fall into 3 camps: The viscous, sticky type, The oily types, and dry types. I use the first type, because I always felt it sticks to the chain best. The downside is that it also collects dirt like a magnet. Oily/Wet lubes seem to fling off too easily. I really like the dry film type lubes, but I cant get past the mental aspect of not actually "seeing" any lube on the chain. Bottom line is that all chains need to be periodically cleaned AND lubed (and adjusted when necessary).