Automatic Chain Oilers?

[kari-star]

I just got a brand new chain on my bike (which is a whole saga on it's own), and I'm thinking about mounting an automatic chain oiler. Any tips/ideas?

I know many of you have the scottoiler (http://www.scottoiler.com/), and are happy with it - but the price is a little too rich for me.

I found the loobman (http://www.chainoiler.co.uk/)which is only $30, and it looks fairly simple and kind of janky to install. lots of zip ties, I've read. Someone even said something like "the whole thing is constructed of zip ties, and then you have to use zip ties to mount it." :lol: There are a lot of good installation pics over at the stormtrooper (http://www.stromtrooper.com/v-strom-modifications-performance/63169-loobman-*ab*.html)forums.

there's also this pro-oiler, though I don't know much about it.

And then I just read something that gave me pause - these oilers apply a light-weight oil to your chain, so you need to oil it every 100 miles or so? right now I've been using a spray chain lube (this one (http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/motorcycle-chain-lube/dupont-teflon-chain-saver/)) every 500 miles or so. I am looking for a TIMESAVER, not a new thing to have to track and worry about all the time. I ride about 100 miles a day when I'm commuting on the bike to work, and so far this summer it's been, on average, 3 or 4 days a week that I am able to moto-commute. and those are my short trips!:slaphead:

opinions? on brands or even on automatic chain oilers?

[BlueLghtning]

I ran the loobman for a while and enjoyed it. It is pretty "cheap", but it works. The reason chain oilers like the Scottoiler do work so well is its pretty much constantly applying a little oil every time you ride. So yes with one like the loobman, you'd be oiling your chain more often then say with a spray oil, but its so easy. You can make a habit of just giving it a squeeze every time you fill up with gas or something. Its really not hard to do. If you want to make your chain last longer, you oil it more, but that also means you will be filling up the bottle more often.

[Gitana]

I thought about getting a Scottoiler and have decided against it. Every 400-500 miles, I put the bike on the centerstand, put it in first gear and lube up the chain. It takes a couple of minutes and I don't have to think about it any more. It means that I am visually inspecting the chain with regularity, too. I think I probably wouldn't check it as often if I had a Scottoiler.

[Luna Tique]

. Every 400-500 miles, I put the bike on the centerstand, put it in first gear and lube up the chain. It takes a couple of minutes and I don't have to think about it any more. It means that I am visually inspecting the chain with regularity, too. I think I probably wouldn't check it as often if I had a Scottoiler.

I do the same steps only I have my bike in neutral. :D:

[ridingAK]

On long days like I did on my Mississippi ride I oil the chain once a day. I probably should have been doing it more, but when when I am getting off the bike only long enough to fill it up and maybe run to the restroom, I don't want to take the extra time. For that kind of riding an automatic oiler would be awesome.

[Gitana]

I do the same steps only I have my bike in neutral. :D:

Put it in first gear, and you don't have to turn the wheel. It turns for you.

[sweptwingnut]

Put it in first gear, and you don't have to turn the wheel. It turns for you.

Just thinking this through further. I am sure many do it that way and that it works well. That is,,, as long as the bike stays on the center stand. When using this technique, I would recommend a partner to be sitting on the bike, holding the front brake, and clutch hand ready. Otherwise, doing this by yourself and all it takes is an accidental bump off the center stand and you will have more to deal with than waking a narcoleptic bike. (insert submission for funniest home video here) :lol:

Sans a partner to help, I think keeping the bike in neutral and spinning the tire manually may just be the ounce of prevention that is worth the pound of cure.

[BlueLghtning]

Put it in first gear, and you don't have to turn the wheel. It turns for you.

Please be extremely careful with doing that. I used to be guilty of that myself till I saw this link below. Getting your fingers caught between the chain and sprockets is ugly and will never be good if the bike is running and in gear. And to add insult to injury when your bike is running forward in gear, you are exposing yourself near the bottom of the chain. Once your hand or fingers are caught, they are going for an ugly ride. It could even be a cuff sleeve, shirt, glove anything. All it takes is something to get caught and you will have no control of what happens next.

I would really suggest that anyone that oil's their chain do so in neutral with the engine off and spin the tire backwards when you do. That way you are less exposed to the bottom where the chain and sprocket meet and the threat of getting fingers caught is going away from you.

This is fair warning. This link is GRAPHIC and has some pics of some poor guys mutilated fingers, but I think it will get the point across. Its well worth looking at if you are guilty of this! http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242261

[BlueLghtning]

Sans a partner to help, I think keeping the bike in neutral and spinning the tire manually may just be the ounce of prevention that is worth the pound of cure.

Totally agree. See my post above.

[sweptwingnut]

YIKES!! Point well taken.

[Dualsport Chic]

Ugh - I should not have opened that link BL - but it is effective - aside from feeling the urge to vomit, I can promise you I will never oil my chain in gear!!!

:eek:

[Luna Tique]

:omg: I am just getting back to this thread.

I will not go look at the link you sent BL. My imgination is more than I need to envision that hand.

For all the reasons Nut and BL mention I would never consider using Gitana's method. Too many variables. Things could go very wrong in a split second.

[msyzf2u]

LOVE IT.

I've been using a scottoiler ever since I've had my first sportbike back in '91, a zx600. That unit was transferred to the '97 yzf1000 and is still working perfectly on the yzf. I put another scottoiler on the 05 zx10r. For me, the scottoiler has been a wonderful investment.

Back then, the scottoiler was the only game in town. I've looked at the other oilers now on the market - scottoiler remains the lease fussy (IMO).

I regularly get over 23,000 miles to my chain/sprockets. I have my oil setting at the lowest, only moving it up by 1 setting when i am riding in the rain.

Checking my chain is done at the same time I check all other critical things (fluids/tires/electricals), before every ride. Admittedly, they get checked afterwards too - but that is due to a bath.


:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:






BL... really good link, thank you for that. Good reminder to keep upper most in your thoughts. We participate in one of those sports, where the simplest lapse in judgement will have life changing consequences.

[Gitana]

I'm sorry, but that guy gets the Darwin award for idiocy. When I oil my chain, the bike is on a perfectly flat surface, on the center stand and my hand is about a foot away from the chain, spraying the oil onto it. What kind of nut case decides to use a rag on the chain when it's going around? If you need to clean the chain, obviously it shouldn't be in gear. I use a grunge brush and WD40 for that. But oiling it? Not a problem using my method and considerably faster.

[kari-star]

thanks everyone!

BL, thinking of this as something to do when you get gas makes it seem way less scary. Already

I don't have a center stand so when I do oil my chain I put it up on the wheel jockey roller (http://www.wheeljockey.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=53) (I learned about it here! (http://www.twowheelfemales.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3914)). It's just an extra step, and I have to do it weekly, which shouldn't be THAT horrible but somehow it is for me.

but now I'm totally ashamed, because I went back to the wheel jockey link and read about how excited I was to get it and how it was going to make oiling my chain a million times better... so I think for now I'd better stick with actually USING IT. don't you hate when you have the tools already and it turns out you're tremendously lazy? :slaphead:

[Luna Tique]

:lol: