Chain Oiler Survey

[Vlad]

After about 20,000Km with the Loobman I think it's fair to say that the time and money invested was not quite worth it. Here are my most common problems:

- It was awkward and complicated to install properly, yet oiling head never stays in place for long.

- High maintenance. It requires almost more attention than any regular chain maintenance. Adjust/change the oiling tips, check/add oil, squeeze, wash all the oil that it gets coated in...

- Drips constantly. Messy - my tire is almost always oily and garage has a puddle under the bike.

All in all, it will be coming off the bike soon. I'll replace it with regular Jig-A-Loo or Dupont teflon spray.

Then again, the chain is as good as 20,000Km ago, so maybe...

[txbanditrydr]

Vlad... sorry to read of your troubles.  I will agree the Loob-man isn't the perfect solution I can say I haven't had the problems you describe.

I threw away the junk mounting system and made my own (AS SHOWN IN THIS THREAD)  -  the oiling head stays perfectly aligned.  After 30,000+ miles I'm on my second pair of "feelers".  I also don't use it on trips of less than 100 miles because of the delay between the squeeze and the dispense.

It's perfect for those longer trips when you don't want to carry additional chain lube.  The real trick is to use as little as possible - if you see a solid flow over 1" long in the tube you've used too much.  Bottom line.. I use it as a supplement to my (excessive??) chain maintenance procedures.

[drewpy_dawg]

I wish I had seen your thread before installing mine...now I have to completely do it over!  That looks much better and seems like it will be more robust than the way the kit originally worked.
BTW: ATF flows so quick that it is a little better for short trips...at least from what I saw the 3 days I had the loobman on before it went into the shop almost 2 weeks ago.  
Andrew

[Vlad]

Vlad... sorry to read of your troubles.  I will agree the Loob-man isn't the perfect solution I can say I haven't had the problems you describe.

It didn't really give me any trouble - it just didn't live up to my expectations (quite high, I admit).

My setup is quite similar to yours, minus the 90 degree plate. I used a thicker and stronger wire than the one provided.

I'll take it off on the first rainy day, wash it, replace the feelers  and then decide on it's faith. The chances are about 50% that it's going to be replaced with a Teflon spray and/or a bottle of ATF with a fine spout. With a centerstand it's almost as simple to spray/lube as it is to squeeze the bottle every other time I pull over to get gas.

One other thing that made it annoying is having to fiddle with that dirty and oily spout every time I change tires (scrubs, 4-5,000Km) or adjust the chain tension (about every 10,000).

And yes, it drips by itself. I haven't touched that dirty bottle since last October and it still oils my tire every time I park.

[txbanditrydr]

And yes, it drips by itself. I haven't touched that dirty bottle since last October and it still oils my tire every time I park.

Did you drill the little hole in the hose?  If you don't then changes in temperature and pressure will set up a siphonic action that will just drain the bottle constantly.

[Vlad]

Did you drill the little hole in the hose?

I don't think I did. I'll do it when I take it off for refurbishing.

[gyrogearcrunch]

For the curious, here's the links to the various systems in the poll list:

Here's a comparison (with a McCoi bias) between several of the above:
http://www.toadmotors.com/mccoi/oiler_comparison.htm

Um-mm, eh, all I get from this reference website is stepper motors and car dealers. Whazzup? I'd shirley like to have that chain oiler compmaro. Thanks.

Herb

[Red01]

Sorry about that... looks like you got here too late and the site is no longer owned by the same folks anymore.  

[speedwaymaniac]

I got a ScottOiler on my B6, i think its classed as the Magnum with both the standard supply and the number plate reservoir!!
I've had the bike about 3 months now and already clocked close to 2000miles and there's still plenty of "grease /oil" in the reservoir and the chain is always adequately lubed up.
Had a new chain installed about 2 months ago and haven't had to adjust the tension at all in that time and have got to put about a 700 miles on since then. I'm guessing that this will have helped in that area.

Setup looks to be pretty easy but i have to admit that it was already installed on the bike when i got it, so couldn't say for sure. Still it's doing the job for me which is good as i always forget to lube the chain otherwise .. 

[gyrogearcrunch]

What do you get out of this? Looks to me like the McCoy is the real deal - but I can't tell what the hell thay are saying   ! Both my german speaking kids are elsewhere on the planet at this time.

No matter how you figure, a fresh final drive set is at least $200.00. If one of these kits will double you final drive life, compensate for riding in bad weather, and not make too bad a mess of the rear end, I might be in. ROI will be within 12 - 15 k miles.

Any group buy discount possibilities for the Real McCoy or the Pro-oiler? I like the speedo & pump thing. I'm not going for lubing one side enough to slop over to the other (I don't do it by hand, I'll be damned if I'll pay the big bucks to have it done) and same for gravity feed.

Thoughts?

Steve

I don't (yet) have a chain oiler, but just ordered a Loobman. But let me tell you about my experiences with chain oiling. I inherited a can of white lithium grease (Lubriplate No. 105) from Pop. A left-over from ww-2? Anyway, I use an old teethbrush (I have more than one tooth) to apply the grease to all 4 sides of the chain, then wipe off the excess with an olde rag. Recently, I had occasion to remove the rear wheel for a tire replacement. I was amazed that a chain with 5,000 miles on it was as limp as a wet dishrag in my hand. Usually, my experience with chains of that mileage/age has been that they behave as if they had rigor-mortis. Maybe the limpnes was due to the X-ring design? I like to think it was the No. 105 Lubriplate. [/unquote]

Herb

[Vlad]

I was amazed that a chain with 5,000 miles on it was as limp as a wet dishrag in my hand. Usually, my experience with chains of that mileage/age has been that they behave as if they had rigor-mortis. Maybe the limpnes was due to the X-ring design? I like to think it was the No. 105 Lubriplate. 

An X/O/Y ring chain should not be as flexible as you describe, no matter how well lubricated it is, IMO. This means your rings are worn to the point where they don't press against the plates enough to provide proper sealing.

Speaking of oilers, I used Loobman for a while but discarded it because it's messy and maintenance intensive. I realized that it's easier to maintain/oil my chain properly than adjust/fill/squeeze/wash/replace "feelers", etc. on Loobman all the time.

I just realized that my current chain (DID 540ZVM2 gold and Renthal sprockets) has over 30,000Km on it and is still within spec. The only lubricant and cleaner I used on it is Dupont Teflon milti-use lubricant in a spray can. Chain was washed only once (not very thoroughly) and adjusted only when changing rear tire (every 6-12,000Km). No mess, no fling, no hassle whatsoever. I think I found my winning combination.

[gyrogearcrunch]

I was amazed that a chain with 5,000 miles on it was as limp as a wet dishrag in my hand. Usually, my experience with chains of that mileage/age has been that they behave as if they had rigor-mortis. Maybe the limpnes was due to the X-ring design? I like to think it was the No. 105 Lubriplate. 

An X/O/Y ring chain should not be as flexible as you describe, no matter how well lubricated it is, IMO. This means your rings are worn to the point where they don't press against the plates enough to provide proper sealing.

Speaking of oilers, I used Loobman for a while but discarded it because it's messy and maintenance intensive. I realized that it's easier to maintain/oil my chain properly than adjust/fill/squeeze/wash/replace "feelers", etc. on Loobman all the time.

I just realized that my current chain (DID 540ZVM2 gold and Renthal sprockets) has over 30,000Km on it and is still within spec. The only lubricant and cleaner I used on it is Dupont Teflon milti-use lubricant in a spray can. Chain was washed only once (not very thoroughly) and adjusted only when changing rear tire (every 6-12,000Km). No mess, no fling, no hassle whatsoever. I think I found my winning combination.

Great! You found what works for you, and you have some quality hardware installed (chain, sprockets). That's a happy situation.

I wash my chain regularly since I made special trough to use on it (lastic rain-gutter with end-caps). This keeps the Kerosene where I want it. I'm always amazed at the pile of gritty black gunk left in the filter I use to recycle the Kero. I figure that's a good thing to get out of the chain.

What I wanted to convey was that the X-ring chain I have now was always that floppy since new. I forgot to mention that it has virtually NO sideplay, an indication of low wear. Also, it hasn't gotten any stiffer with age like the OEM chain eventually did. The bike likes the chain too. It seems to be livlier since I installed the

[Red01]

I just realized that my current chain (DID 540ZVM2 gold and Renthal sprockets)

Where'd you find a 540 chain & sprockets?   

[Vlad]

I just realized that my current chain (DID 540ZVM2 gold and Renthal sprockets)

Where'd you find a 540 chain & sprockets?   

Typing error, it's 530.

[Vlad]

What I wanted to convey was that the X-ring chain I have now was always that floppy since new. I forgot to mention that it has virtually NO sideplay, an indication of low wear. Also, it hasn't gotten any stiffer with age like the OEM chain eventually did. The bike likes the chain too. It seems to be livlier since I installed the

Interesting. I have a 10 link piece of my DID X-ring chain at my desk at work (left-over from longer than spec chain). I use it as a stress reliever often (not that my job is too stressful :) ) and it's as stiff today as it was when I bought it in July 2007. What brand/model of chain are you using?

As for chain cleaning, there's very little need for that in my case. Teflon does not attract dirt and grime nearly as much as other lubricants.

BTW, the best (and only, IMO) indicator of wear is "stretch". Haynes service manual says that the distance between 1st and 21st pin on any part of the chain should not exceed 32cm.