G-man

I'll tell you something else about chains, the default changing of sprockets when swapping chains is another knee-jerk phenomenon. If your sprocket teeth are uniform, ain't hooked or worn down into stumps, why are you changing the sprocket? Your new sprocket isn't going to magically enhance the bike performance or prolong chain life any more than a perfectly good old sprocket. Send that money my way instead, haha. I'll put it to better use.

Well, we have a nice back and forth thread about the merits of chain lubes, but...I've used Belray Superclean. There's essentially zero flingoff once it dries. The downside is that the stuff is white in color (though some like that coz they could see what's been lubed and what hasn't). And of course, it's a road grime magnet like all chain lubes.

I dunno why the hell I thought you were a female, haha. Sorry, dude. Wow, you got lucky with that spill! From what I've heard of dudes laying it down at 60 mph, they didn't usually walk away from that, let alone pick up their bikes and limp them back to the garage. Happy it worked out cool for you, Ex. I hear you about keeping up with loose and broken bits on the bike while cleaning it regularly. I often enough find something or other which could use tightening or whatnot while I'm cleaning up ole girl. Our roads are not that bad around here, but I still clean the chain & sprocks when I clean the bike.

That be called a 'streetfighter' around these here parts. Nice!

test

Haha, that was good!

Alright, not be a broken record, but...*cough cough*...WD-40! I clean essentially everything on the bike with it, frame, tank, side covers, wheels/spokes, mufflers, chain, whatever. It works. And then, a little windex on the headlight, mirrors, and bullet fairing lens, and I call it a day. 15 minutes, and I'm done.

Well then, so far so good. Chain looks great, sprockets look great, everything's clean, and the bike seems happy. I toss her up on the lift once every few rides to give her a quick going over with the nefarious WD-40 and a roll of paper towels, and wipe essentially everything down with it, including the chain and sprocket. I put maybe 150 miles on the new chain, and its like I just put it on this morning. No stretching, bunching, nothing (though, methinks all that stuff usually has more to do with folks running their chain with too little slack, anyways). But hey, it is only 150 miles so far, so we'll see. BTW, I'm not the only one doing this. I've talked to others who've swapped their cleaner/lube for WD-40, and everything's cool with their bikes. We get enough rain here, but I don't ride in it. But, if your main concern is rust, nothing would be better against it than W[ater]D[isplacement]-40, anyways. I've got no problem with doing maintenance, Live Rider. I just don't jump on the bandwagon merely coz of long-standing common perceptions. This ad nauseum argument for lubing the o-ring chain goes back to standard chain maintenance with unsealed rollers that did indeed need regular lubrication. That's why you always read how the chain must be lubed after a ride, when it's warmed up, so the lube gets into the rollers. Into the rollers? The rollers are sealed in an o-ring chain, ain't no lube gonna magically work it's way in there, warm chain or not. But yet, coz it was always done that way, it's still commonly done that way. As for Exupnutta with her metal on metal wear theory, you outta be greasing up the sprocket teeth if that's your main concern, and after every ride. Go take a look at your chain now. Where's the grease? On the rollers? Or sitting on the sides of the chain, serving essentially no purpose other than looking filthy? Just sayin'.

That's one option. Another would be to order from JCW, try it out, send it back to them for a full refund if it doesn't fit. That's more than could be said for an ebay purchase, where you'll at least be eating the shipping cost.

CAPS ARE FUN TO TYPE. To read though, not so much. Yes, I know that WD-40 isn't grease. That's my point, grease applied to an o-ring chain, I have my doubts about it's eminense in terms of bike maintenance. Where's your proof that spraying your chain every 200-300 miles does much in terms of prolonging chain/sprocket life? Sounds like a case study is called for. Think I'll volunteer my chain as a test subject. Coz... New chain off of ebay? $68. Not having a greasy mess to clean up? Priceless.

Well, what's the difference, then? Both say it's 7" H4 headlight, except JC Whitney actually states that it would fit a '77 yamaha XS bike. I'd go with JC Whitney on this one.

Hmm, I dunno about WD-40 bypassing the o-rings to get to that grease in the rollers. Well, unless your chain is all fucked up and in need of replacement anyways. But ok, say it does, how does that compare to products labeled as degreasers that are designed to clean the chain? Anyways, WD-40 or not, seems to me that the road crud that gets attracted to a greased up chain would cause more premature wear, no?

Anyone here spray down their o-ring chain with WD-40, and call it a day? I'm starting to come around to that idea more and more. Alls I've read about o-ring chains praise its longevity over the standard chains. But then, in a half-hearted, after-the-fact sort of way, there's always the disclaimer that you should still lube them. But why? The pin/roller assembly is sealed, so it's not as though you're gonna get any lube in there. I suppose there's some logic to lubing up the rollers as they make contact with the sprockets, but any benefit of that soon becomes a moot point after the first ride anyways. And nowhere have I read that you outta blast the chain with lube after every ride. Seems to me, you're better off just keeping the chain clean, as opposed to greasing the sucker up, only to attract a bunch of road grime on it which adds to the wear and tear of the chain and sprockets, and then collects into a giant greasy dirt ball behind the front sprocket cover (OMG, that was a gross job when I swapped out the chain). So, let's hear some counterpoints.

Can y'all see that pic?

Hey hey hey!

Hey, and only 19 buckaroos, too. I could swing that, yup yup. Thanks, man!

Try Dennis Kirk, Charly.

Really? Hmm, that's kinda funny. And, not haha funny, but rather, hmmm, funny. *scowl on face* Well then, I guess an option would be to snip off the current sealed bulb doodat, and install a new socket that allows for bulb replacement. Or...Hey Road Rascal, how much was that ebay dude asking for the replacement assembly?

I was looking to replace the bulb for a brighter one on the ole girl, but read in the clymer's manual that only the UK models have replacable bulbs, whereas the US models need to have the whole assembly (bulb/reflector/glass) swapped out??? What sort of madness is this? Anyways, did anyone try to swap out the bulb on the US model without replacing that whole assembly?

Dammit! Yup, gonna have to get photobucket or something, I guess. Anyways, thanks Harv.

Yes, seller's rating is everything, true true.

Wowsa, he looks tough. The dog, too. Hey, a bunch of you Brits on this here board. Do you guys watch alot of Doctor Who over there? How about Monty Python and Fawlty Towers? Haha, just kidding...although, I did catch the latest Doctor Who. It was good.

Hmm, still not working for me. Well, anyways, here's mine. Ain't she shweeeet? As you could see, she's just like yours, Harv. Except I carved up the seat a bit, which went from this, to this.

Ebay is hit or miss. I saved bigtime cash buying a new chain on ebay. Last friday though, I received a bullet fairing from an ebay purchase. It arrived in pieces, as in broken....with the mounting bolts tossed loose into the box, and lack of any instructions for mounting the sucker. Seems whoever did the packing was having a bad day or something. Insult to injury, so far, getting that squarred away with the seller is proving less than hassle-free. As for the fairing itself, it's ok (from what I could tell of the unbroken bits).

Hey, how did you find a pic of my bike? Speaking of pics, how do you post your? Is there a way to post from my computer, or does it have to have a url?