I always hear WD40 has a tendency to break down O-rings in drive chain. I still use it. I just do my best to dry it off as much as I can. No busted O-rings visable yet.

I've heard kerosene mentioned as a safer alternative to WD40 for cleaning the drive chain. I've never used kerosene for anything. It is a very thin oil like WD, isn't it? Seems like it would be just as hard on rubber as WD. IS there really that much difference between the two?

Rook

Marvel Mystery Oil is your ticket. It removes all grime settlements with ease and lubricates the O-rings. My last ZX-11 chain now has 26 K with very little stretch. Try it.

* Last updated by: Steven14 on 4/16/2009 @ 10:18 PM *

Hi Steven-great weather down there for riding?Nice up here right now.About your chain-I usually spray silicon spray on a rag and wipe mine off before using Silkolene.How do you clean yours?Ride safe now!!!Thanks

Marvel Mystery Oil is your ticket.

Hi Steven.

So do you use this instead of a chain lube (i.e., as your chain lube)? How often do you apply it? Thanks. -bg

No, this is not intended to be sole chain lubrication. I use it only for cleaning. It's actually oil with detergent properties. I just wet tip of a cotton rag, wrap around the chain and rub back and forth and advance slowly throughout the entire chain, then clean the rear sprocket edges. A messy job indeed. I use it about every 2 K miles and every time I change rear tire, along with regular chain lubrication every 400 to 500 miles.

Here is a pic of the chain after one of these procedures:

after reading debates about whether to use wd40 or not i decided i wouldn't use it. a few weeks ago i ran out of maxima chain clean and kerosene, and i decided to try it. there was some rust spots on the chain from riding in the rain and the wd40 cleaned that chain like nobody's business! it took the tarnished look out of the chain along with the rust! the worst thing about wd40 is it will not let the lube stick to the chain properly. i don't suggest using the maxima stuff because you're supposed to spray it off with water. kerosene has always worked well for me but it's usually hard to find this time of year with summer coming up. since wd40 is fairly inexpensive and readily available, i'll probably use it again for/with excellent results.

Kerosene for chain cleaning. Great on chains and also cleaning your rear rim from any gook. I have never had a problem finding it. They usually sell it in a one gallon plastic container at your local hardware store. I get mine from True Value. Just make sure you don’t store your used cleaning rags in your garage/house. Very flammable.

steven;
where can I find Marvel? that chain looks like brand new man!!

Thanks. I'll look for Marvel and if I can't find it, I'll just try kerosene. Nice to know WD-40 seems to have some special properties as well.

Rook

I've always just used WD. I clean my chain, go for a 10 or 15 mile ride, then spray on some chain wax. Works for me.

I've seen that Mystery Oil in the auto section at Wally World. I'll have pick some up and give it a try.

I always used wd40 and a rag the Maxima oil spray.

where can I find Marvel?

All major autopart stores, and as Dogo said, Wallmart as well
http://www.marvelmysteryoil.com/index.php/site/wheretobuy/

WD=40 will not hurt your chain.
THink about the fact that you can use it to de-grime your hands all day long without skin irritation. Its just not going to hurt your o-rings. Kerosene is a much harsher cleaner (and I realize that it is recommended by the manufacturer) and it does not harm the Orings.

DO what feels right to you because you can not buy piece of mind.
DO not fear the WD though.
I know many, myself included, that have gotten long service lives out of thier chains by using WD as a cleaner.
I believe that the secret sauce is not the WD or Kerosene but the fact that you are removing the grit that chews up the O-rings in the first place. In other words, those who routinely clean and lube thier chains have long lasting ones.

At the end of the day, in the grand scheme of these money pits that we call toys, even if you changed a chain and two sprockets at 15-20k, that is not a great deal of money.

I just spent a long time explaining.....dont worry. :)
Peace bro!

I heard WD-40 has water in it??

I heard WD-40 has water in it??

More like snake oil
WD-40 Co. is based here in S.D., but me ain't buying it.

kerosene has always worked well for me but it's usually hard to find this time of year with summer coming up.

just hit up the local gas station and pick up a jug of diesel, its the same thing, or even jet fuel :-)

I received a e-mail with the all best uses for wd-40, but I can't find it . It was a good read. Not what you would think. You would not believe all the diffrent things that it will clean. I do not use it for cleaning but they say it's great for lipstick on clothes. You may end up smelling like a horses ass, but at least the wife won't know what you have been up to.

I clean mine with diesel and blow it off right away with compressed air. Lube it with 90W gear oil. I tried those chain lubes but someone told me about gear oil so I use it. Its also in the manual. I've got this citrus cleaner in a spray bottle and it works great for the grimy parts of the bike. After cleaning I use WD40 for the wheel and swing arm for easy clean up.

You may end up smelling like a horses ass, but at least the wife won't know what you have been up to

Once upon a time ........... I wish I knew this trick

WD-40

Grease is packed inside the rollers. The o-rings try to keep it in. You eventually lose the grease on the torque apply or one way chafe. Curl your fingers over your fist. Now roll your fingers around your fist. See how you just have that one way over your thumb wearing down and your thumb and index finger, but your pinkie is not touched?

That is what a worn down pin looks like on the inside. When that chain rolls over the sprocket and only has that one half curl to go around, you add all those links together, add the wear up, and you now can pull the chain off and away from the sprocket teeth.

You really taught the chain and now measure pin to pin is use a bunch of pins for a length of stretch. When you use a detergent like WD which can clean the cow puck lipstick flavor off the lapel, you are washing out a lube that was once filled with grease. WD is petroleum based, not water based. If it is part water, that is the oxygen cleaner is water cleans or is a corrosive itself on the move is look at the Grand Canyon.

So, do you have that oil base? Yes. Does it work like oil as in a detergent? Yes. Is it oil, is it oil, is it chemistry in a can? Your boiling the stuff is who thought up to boil a bubbling crude? Jed Clam Pit is who. Who the jet the fckua the diesel fuel is that one more detergent? Don't you want to keep the grease is use grease to clean off the chain? Use gear oil to clean and lube at the same time is it flows to corrode or clean things away? 80/90w cleans the dirt and grease off your hands?

I would have the surgical gloves on, a soaking rag of clean 90w gear oil and smear the dirt off the chain. But, now my deal was lithium grease right out of the box with the '08. I just keep pushing grease into everything with a toothbrush and that puppy looks as clean as the day I brought it home.

I just keep pushing grease into everything with a toothbrush and that puppy looks as clean as the day I brought it home.

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I am starting to feel Lazy . All I do is clean it with chain wax, but I do it every time I clean the bike.

^^WOW, Rom. That IS clean. I knew those old toothbrushes would come in handt some day.

Hub, you mind mentioning that oil bath for the chain you told me about last year? The one where the chain is removed and immersed in a pan of warm gear oil.

Rook

^^WOW, Rom. That IS clean. I knew those old toothbrushes would come in handt some day.

Rook, that is not me. A quote from Hub. My hat goes out to him. A chain really does take a long time to clean. And when you are done cleaning, you are packing grease into the rollerbearings of a chain with a tooth brush you a very dedicated. Win races that way.