Bullet chain - OME or O-Ring

[Steffan]

As I will probably lash out on a new one before I head for Ireland in Sept, I was wondering what you chaps ran your Bullets on; O-ring or OME?

Steffan

PS All is back to normal and she is going like a goodun

[Frog]

Hi Steffan

I personally would always go with an oring chain. As you know these do not really need lubing  only the orings keeping moist - much less mucky that a properly lubed (and they usually aren't!)  non-oring chain. Wear will be much better as well - you will get the price differential back in longevity several time over.


Cheers

Frog

[guest18]

As you know these do not really need lubing  only the orings keeping moist

Personally, and it's only my opinion, I would have to disagree with that statement. If you ride in the rain you *need* to lube any chain, or they die very very quickly imho.
Would agree go with an O'ring though!

[bullet350]

 i've found my bullet seems to stretch rear chains at an alarming rate, i run the standard indian item.

i can't help thinking that an o-ring chain should last years on a bullet as virtually every bike ever made puts out more power.

worth bearing in mind that a standard chain is only about £20.

bullet350

[Bruce]

Decided to replace the primary chain on The Norton tonight,found a tin of Link Life in the garage so put it on the camping stove and put the new primary chain into the heated grease in pulling it out knocked over the tin so not only have I got a well greased primary chain but also part of the garage floor.         DOH

[Frog]

To clarify my comment about lubing oring chains......

The point of the oring is to keep lube in ...........the lube applied at manufacture.

By the same token if the orings are working they will keep additional lube (user applied) out. The only purposes of lubing an oring chain are :
1. to keep the orings moist so they slide on the plates as the plates rotate about them as the chain goes over the sprockets and thereby avoid wearing the orings out and letting factory applied lube to then escape
2. to prevent external corrosion

This is not the case with conventional (non-oring) chains where  the purpose of the ritual boiling in 'linklyfe' etc was to get new fresh lube into the spaces between the pins and rollers - this is lubing a conventional chain and most people do not do it adequately.

oring chains do not need lubing because their design means, if the chain orings are good, lubing in the conventional sense will not work - you will not 'lube' the chain other than the outside and importantly the orings.

at least this is my undestanding.........

Frog

[guest18]

Yup, agree with that, it's just that certainly up here if you don't lube an O'ring chain pretty thoroughly (not linklife etc, just spray lube) then the links rust and trash all the O Rings in short order.
I worried that some readers (not Steffan naturally, thinking of the more novice riders) might have taken your comment to mean "I don't have to oil my O'ring chain as it's already lubed", and I've seen an O ring turned to scrap in one weeks use when the (despatch) rider couldn't be bothered lubing it...

Personally, I say scottoiler for the rider who's too lazy to do it properly!

[Frog]

I agree with Smudge - you must keep oring chains at least moist and I too go with the scottoiler - deffo the easy way to do it - have one on my ZZR

Also have a lubeman on the skorpion - it is cheap and easy to fit and works really well (in some respects better than the scottoiler) - particularly good if you do not have a vacuum take-off on the inlet manifold handy as with a bullet. I will prob fit one to my MT500...

Cheers

Frog

[bikeseamus]

   The ultimate chain for longevity are the nex X ring chains. They hold lube better than the round O ring chains and offer less power delivery loss. Anyone who thinks ANY chain doesn't need regular maintenance with some type of appropriate stuff is flat wrong, no matter the type of chain.

  As for ultimate efficiency, a strong traditional non ringed chain delivers less drag and may allow you to marginally win a close type of race, although the difference is small against an X Ring racing chain with tremendous tensile strength and fresh soft sharp ring profiles. A couple break in burnouts help reduce drag on a new one, too. Don't try this as home, of course....

  I always like the old style chains that were lubed with the old oily crap that used to fling thick dirty tarlike globlets all over the bike. After years of liberal driving and lubing, the whole bike was black as pitch and the rims, spokes, and engine looked like they had a nightmarish dull black paint on them. You could smell the bike coming from miles,and the hot surfaces if thick enough actually bubbled and sizzled and popped back at you while running hot...... and after being parked in old leaky barns for several decades they could be bought cheaply because they were so ugly.

  Take them home and clean them off.... voila!    A brand new shiny perfectly preserved bike underneath! It was even possible to determine the original color of paint!  Another advantage is that when the bike became properly caked with sticky oily crud, many of the pieces that fell off got stuck and actually stayed with the bike! Tons of original hardware and absolutely original parts were retained in this fashion and acted as an extra buyer bonus for the restoratively inclined bike buyer.
                    Retention of the crud also allowed you to patch some holes in your asphalt, and rubbing it into your old tired black leather jacket or pants would make them look new again and restore some weather resistance.

  A teenager or cheapskate with too much time on his hands could enjoy many benefits from primitive technology.

  I will now apologise for dragging this serious tech topic into the humor section. Please excuse the hell out of me. Cheers.

 

[bullet350]

with modern chains with built in oil (o-ring, x-ring) all you do when lubing them is to lube the contact area between chain and sprocket.

if the oil you spray on can get 'inside' the links then your chain is so worn its already scrap.

or its time to remove a link and start all over again......

bullet350

[GB500nz]

Some bikes used to have chain cases: the chain was protected from rust and rain, and oil stayed on it. Chains lasted for years. Then some plonker would take the chain case off because it 'didn't look sporty'. Then manufacturers left them off and it's been trouble ever since.

[Steffan]

Tell me about it GB, I have MZs and the old ones are fully enclosed-never bettered- and it is as good as having adrive shaft at a fraction of the cost. The Skorpion on the other hand needs constant attention, even more than the Bullet

Steffan

[002]

I use a standard 50 chain on mine,and plenty of lube.
The 50 is like a heavy duty chain compared to the standard Indian Renolds chain.Or is the Indian a Renolt ?


Jethro

[Steffan]

I use a standard 50 chain on mine,and plenty of lube.
The 50 is like a heavy duty chain compared to the standard Indian Renolds chain.Or is the Indian a Renolt ?
Jethro

Begs the question why the reynolds?? is more expensive than the other then??

Thing keep getting complicated - maybe I should take my MZ- the real one not the Skorpion

[bullet350]

 someone told me that most chain wear occurs when dirt and grit gets onto the chain, and with the chain lube makes a lovely mess similar to grinding paste.

most of the dirt is thrown onto the chain as it travels from the front sprocket to the rear, with a fair bit being thrown on at the point where the chain passes the front of the rear wheel.

to my mind this means that two things may help prolong chain life (lube is number one of course);

1- long front mudguard (depends upon shape of bike).

2- a divider between the chain and the rear wheel/tyre, usually about 6" behind swing arm pivot, long enough to separate  both top and bottom rungs from wheel spray.


BTW this is all just theory figured out whilst drinking tea, using no scientific tests.

any thoughts?


bullet350