Chain Maintenance

Chain Maintenance, Why?

There are 3 ways to transfer energy from the engine to the rear wheel on a motorcycle. There are chains, belts and shaft drives.

Chains are the most common on motorcycles. Dirt bikes, Dual sports, Sport bikes, Race bikes, Touring bikes, some cruisers.

Most bikes with a chain drive - wallpapers4me

Chains tend to stretch as forces are applied to them. They are also prone to kinking, jamming and wear the fastest of the 3 drives. They are also the easiest to maintain, the cheapest, and can last a long time if taken care of properly. Expect 20,000km (or close to 14,000 miles) from a well taken care of, quality chain+sprocket)

You can also move up in chain lengths and sprocket sizes to chain to change the gearing ratios.

BMW F800GT Belt Drive - topspeed.com

Belt Drives are the next most common. Almost on all cruisers, some touring/Sport-touring bikes.

Of all the drives, they are the most fragile, but middle of the road for longevity and price for replacement. These last an average of 40,000-50,000km (28,000-33,000miles) between replacements.

They can fail, just like chains, but unlike chains, it will -NOT- end in catastrophic failure.
They are also whisper quiet, and don't have drivetrain lash like chains do. (making for a very smooth ride)

Shaft Drive - motorcycle-usa

Lastly, shaft drives. They are the least common on bikes. They have a shaft drive, similar to a car. They are the heaviest of the drives, but last the longest.

Expect nearly 100,000km between replacements, although the fluid and grease inside the shaft must be serviced once or twice within that span.

They are the most quiet of the 3 drives, but requires careful clutch control.

So again, why chain maintenance?

The chain on your motorcycle is what transfers energy from your engine to your rear wheel. Maintenance must be done to ensure that the chain lasts as long as it should, and that catastrophic failure does not occur.

What can happen? The chain can slip off the sprocket if it stretches too much, locking the rear wheel.

It can also snap, cracking your crankcase open, damaging your swingarm, or even taking a chunk out of your left (or right if you've got a right sided chain) leg that's resting oh so close to it.

The chain is designed to be the component that fails first within the drivetrain and engine of your motorcycle. Because it is the easiest to perform maintenance on and replace.

How do you take care of a chain?

Chain maintenance should be done every 500 (350miles). Don't panic! This doesn't mean you have to go about going crazy on the chain every 500km. 

Every 500km, the chain needs to be lubed. Just grab your can of chain lube and give the chain a good spray. I recommend spraying it from behind the sprocket or at the bottom of the sprocket where the chain meets it. You can spray the midlength (where the picture indicates with that tool) if you prop a piece of cardboard between the chain the wheel. You DO NOT want lube on your tire. That's a pretty fast way to have a bad day.

Next, every 1,000km, or if you ride excessively in rain, (or 1,500 depending on how dirty it is) the chain should be cleaned, wiped and relubed. You can start by spraying WD-40 or simple green works too, and then with an old tooth brush - wipe that chain. All 4 sides of it, cleaning the brush every so often with clean water.

One of these small brushes can help save you from a lot of elbow grease. Once the chain has been brushed with a degreasing agent, grab a clean cloth and wipe the chain. You should keep wiping the chain until no black stuff appears anymore.

This can take a while, have a few clothes nearby. Once that is done, clean your sprocket teeth and face too, and repeat with the wiping.

After that, feel free to spray on some new lube, and you're good to go.

Clean chain and sprocket, is a happy chain and sprocket

Having a clean chain also reduces the amount of times you need to adjust the chain to account for the stretching that happens over time to it. Adjusting for stretch is a painful procedure that I'll mention in the future.