did I do an uhoh?!?!?!

[alonzo]

so today I took lucy lu out and rode her for about 80 miles. came home and decided to do a little preventive maint on the bike.

the chain was kinda loose so I decided to tighten and oil it. "usually do this about every 150 miles"

Grabbed for my can of chain lube and I was out. so I grabbed for the can of wd 40. and soaked it really good. all of a sudden I had more slack and the rear wheel turned really easy.

did I just cut all the grease out of the chain?!?!?!?!

my local motoshop dosent open till tuesday and cant get anymore chainlube till then :( Am I going to kill my chain riding on the wd40?

[TeamCheap]

OMG WD40 is about useless and you'd be better off using regular motor oil than that.
WD40 only lubricates for a short while and it is a very light oil at that but it works great for removing moisture from locks and electrical.

[alonzo]

thanks tc I will go out and clean out the wd40 and use some 80 wt gear lube on her. not sure why I even bothered the can of wd40.

I would wait for the bike shop to open but this is my main source of trans and she has to keep rolling healthy.

[IronFist]

I have heard that any lube is better than no lube????
It sounded true to me at the time.

[TeamCheap]

Originally Posted by IronFist

I have heard that any lube is better than no lube????
It sounded true to me at the time.

TRUE but WD40 is no lube.

[lego1970]

Me and some friends were riding our sportbikes down in Arkansas a few years ago. One of my friends used WD-40 on his sportbike, and I was useing some Honda chain lube, and my other friend had some kind of wax that he always used. The tempature on my chain went from about 150 degrees to about 180 degrees by the end of the day, don't remember about the wax stuff. The WD-40 chain was at about 180 after the first stop only 30 minutes later. We rode about 300 miles that day and at pretty good clip and he just kept spraying WD-40 on his chain thruout the day. I'm sure it wasn't good on the chain, but we rode hard, and from what I can remember, he kept that chain for the rest of the riding season. Also don't quote me on the actual tempatures but I remember it was something like that and there was about a 20 to 30 degree tempature difference between the chains.
I think your ok for now, but do a good lube job when you get the chance. I had a Yamaha 125 for several years and to be honest I don't think I hardly ever lubed the chain and it sat on the catwalk of my semi the whole time. Road salt and all. I rode it even with rusted up chains.

[alonzo]

got the 80-140 gear oil slobbered on real good.

took it out for a ride to wal mart. came out and there was gear oil dripping from the chain. I can now call it a harley yep marks its territory with oil wherever I go

[squire]

I use WD-40 to "clean" my chain before I put "chain lube" on it. Cleaning and lubing your chain is kind of a "black art", ask 100 people and you will get at least 90 different answers.

[elroyjetsn]

I love WD40 and use it for everything. (like Windex)

Leaves a fine silicone? film that repells water. But, you have to use it every few rides or the chain will rust. Mine has amost 2000 miles and looks pretty new. Almost no wear, too. The rollers are tight and no grit when you roll them.

Comes from bicycling, the dryer is better philosophy. Keep the chain dry and prevent rust and it will have a long and healthy life.

Wouldn't recommend it if you keep your bike outside. Mine gets garaged.

[fatboy250]

Anyone else tried trans fluid. It seems to work well for me and it's super cheap.

[TeamCheap]

I just try to keep mine clean and use chain lube.