Chain oiler installation

Mark Savage said:
That's always been my thinking too, and still is. Yet, Andy the Chain Man, told me otherwise when I bought some chain wax from him some years ago along with a couple of chains. He said apply it and go for a ride so it works its way in. I don't know if that was specific to the wax he sold me (pictured), or not.
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I agree with Andy the Chain Man for standard chain. By the time I get out of my riding gear, the chain isn't very warm anyway. Doing it on a warm chain sounds nifty, but I usually just lube my chain after cleaning up the bike. Big plus is I don't use spray lube. What I use penetrates instantly when the chain is cold. Oil fling if there is any is minimal and wipes right off the drive side of the rim due to the process and relatively thin oil mixture I use. What I do is tedious and time consuming. I use a similar process and oil mix on my bicycles.

The oiler on the Norton I have would attach to a small section of chain guard cast into the back side of the inner primary and dribble onto the chain as it went around the gearbox sprocket. Probably make one hell of a mess.
 
I think chain oilers were nothing more than dust rinse on dirt roads. H-D quit them about the time the Interstate system was finished.
 
It didn't take long to plug the automatic chain oiler on this machine...
Chain oiler installation
 
I‘ve got a complete setup on the shelf if anyone wants it for a “museum quality restoration “, just pay the postage and it’s yours!
 
In the case of sealed chains, Im not entirely sure that we accomplish anything by lubricating. The lube that's needed is all sealed up inside.
Lube or wax can help prevent rust, however the gold anodized chains are quite resistant to rust with or without a spray coating.
The lube effect on rollers and sprocket teeth is all gone after a mile or two, unless you have an oiled splashing a constant stream on the chain and everything else ( no thanks)
So why do we fuss with the chain sprays on sealed chains?
I think it feels good, like lubricating non lube Featherlight cables. Venhills acknowledged that many of their customers do this and that it won't destroy their cables, just gum them up a bit and make the bike owner feel good about maintenance.

I'm the same, have been spraying /lubing these prelubricated sealed chains for eons. Always felt guilty on days that I forgot to spray the chain when out on a tour. Not that it ever really made a noticeable difference!
Some of this may be a throwback to the days of rapid wearing unsealed chains, boiling chains in oil and all that. They still wore out at a crazy rate. Remember needing to adjust the chain every three or four hundred miles? That was wear happening at a high rate. I'm not sure if the chain boiling helped with things or just attracted stuck on grit to the process!

I'm currently running one gold anodized sealed chain without additional spray lube as a test.
Will report the results. So far I can't see any wear difference from those that get sprayed, but it is early days. The rear wheel has become easy clean.
Actually, it just stays clean as does the rest of the bike.

Glen
 
Thomasa said:
My, that was an aggressive pickpocket. You must have been riding my Matchless.
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That was justice done for hijacking Coolhand's thread. Apologies. If enough thread is left, the Missus will sew it back on if it can be found and she would like to turn these nice Levi's into cutoffs, well one leg anyway.
 
I lube all my chains whether they are normal chains or O ring chains, the rollers and sprockets love it, have always got long life out of all my chains doing so, and chains with joining clips always get taken off for service, a good soaking in kero, a good clean and loosen any tight spots, and then soaked in hot oil, my last chain on my Norton has well over 40k miles on it and replace with new one from Andy the chainman before he retired the old one was the same length as the new one had no stretch at all after all those miles so its hang on the wall as a spare.

Ashley
 
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