Chain Rusty...what to do?

[BigBird]

Hi All,

I started my bike for the first time in 2010, and it felt great, but I notice my chain has developed some rust spots.

Bike is a '08 ZX6R has like 2600 miles, most of the miles from the street, but now this bike is strictly track.

I thought I did a lot of maintenance on the chain by always cleaning it with 611 and putting chain lube on it, pretty much after every track weekend, and every 200-300 miles from street riding and I cleaned/lubed before I parked it up for the winter.

any way to fix this? is the chain still good? do i have to replace it?

thanks in advance....

 

[bulldog]

i just WD40 it, wipe w/ rag, get it warm, relube w/ your favorite lub. done.

 

[kawatippi]

:agree: do the same thing...wife's chain had small amounts of rust, cleaned it , lubed it, still had the rust. Guys in the shop said it is fine, about the same amount of miles you have.

 

[rk97]

bulldog;115489 wrote: i just WD40 it, wipe w/ rag, get it warm, relube w/ your favorite lub. done.

isn't WD40 with an X-ring/O-ring chain a no no?

I may be confusing internet blatherings with actual fact, but I could swear WD40 ate rubber parts, or hardened them or something.

 

[jay956]

rk97;115500 wrote: isn't WD40 with an X-ring/O-ring chain a no no?

I may be confusing internet blatherings with actual fact, but I could swear WD40 ate rubber parts, or hardened them or something.

i always heard this too. i cant remember the specifics, but the propellant they used to use was what ate away at rubber. i think everything just uses co2 no so its not a problem.

 

[HondaGalToo]

I've been cleaning chains with WD40 for years, no problems. I also discovered a chain clean by Motul that works very well also.

 

[JGardy_781]

HondaGalToo;115507 wrote: I've been cleaning chains with WD40 for years, no problems.

Same here.

 

[rk97]

^ isn't that like saying, "i text and drive all the time, and I've never gotten into an accident; therefore it's safe to text and drive."

I honestly don't know if WD40 actually damages the rings or not, but I don't think a lack of (perceived) problems from using it necessarily means that it's not damaging anything.

**edit - the internet says that they indeed use CO2 as a propellant now, because the old propellant was ridiculously flammable. WD-40 is not patented, to avoid revealing the complete formula. It is "petroleum based" and safe for use on rubber surfaces.

 

[HondaGalToo]

rk97;115517 wrote: ^ isn't that like saying, "i text and drive all the time, and I've never gotten into an accident; therefore it's safe to text and drive."

Not sure that's a good analogy.

When I pulled my last chain off, there was still a lot of that lubrication grease stuff in the o-ring of the link broken to remove the chain, and the o-ring looked fine.

 

[Joe Vital]

no it is not. there is direct corelation to driving while distracted. plus i have never been run off the road by someone cleaning their chain with wd-40...

cleaning a chain with wd-40 is very effective and has not proven to be detrimental to chain life. many people do this and the folks that do report no ill affects.

the important thing is to keep the chain clean. most manufacturers recommend using kerosene to clean and motor oil to lube. the lube is more of a rust preventive than anything else. the actual lube is sealed in by the o-rings.

 

[Drewbie]

by the time wd40 ate any rubber.. your chain would have rusted off your bike.

 

[BigBird]

so what I understand pretty much is that the rust spots are ok, and try to use some WD40 to try to remove as much as possible and then just use some lube after....

 

[HondaGalToo]

I know a guy who only used WD40, for both cleaning and lube. Nothing else, no other chain lube. For years.

I'm guessing the WD40 will remove most of the surface rust on your chain. It did on mine, the crappy stock Suzuki chain. I was surprised at how quickly that thing rusted, none of my other chains have done that.

 

[BigBird]

HondaGalToo;115589 wrote: I know a guy who only used WD40, for both cleaning and lube. Nothing else, no other chain lube. For years.

I'm guessing the WD40 will remove most of the surface rust on your chain. It did on mine, the crappy stock Suzuki chain. I was surprised at how quickly that thing rusted, none of my other chains have done that.

i was also surprised at my chain. they say an easy way to tell a well maintained bike if the chain is rust free, and I baby my bike and then i see rust :banghead:

 

[NCDave]

Gallon of Kerosene from Wally world is dirt cheap. even cheaper at a local gas station. Put it in an old windex spray bottle and you're good to go. if the chain is really dirty, I get my toothbrush after it, then wipe clean, then chain wax. I don't do the toothbrush part too often because it turns my teeth black afterwards.

 

[HondaGalToo]

NCDave;115593 wrote: Gallon of Kerosene from Wally world is dirt cheap. even cheaper at a local gas station. Put it in an old windex spray bottle and you're good to go. if the chain is really dirty, I get my toothbrush after it, then wipe clean, then chain wax. I don't do the toothbrush part too often because it turns my teeth black afterwards.

:doh: You're not supposed to then reuse it on your teeth!

LOL.

 

[madriders86]

rk97;115500 wrote: isn't WD40 with an X-ring/O-ring chain a no no?

I may be confusing internet blatherings with actual fact, but I could swear WD40 ate rubber parts, or hardened them or something.

'It's the aerosol I think, not the actual wd-40. I just spray some on a rag and use that.

 

[jtsgsxr6]

Some info on wd40 http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345397

 

[vinny337]

I use the WD-40 to clean my chain, then lube it with chain wax...

 

[some guy #2]

I deep clean with kerosene and spot clean with WD40. I lube mine per factory specs and the stock chain has little rust spots on it. I never considered surface rust an issue.