How To Lube Your Bike’s Chain

How To Lube Your Chain

The problem with doing a ’how to’ article is that many riders already know the answers, gained through years of experience or simply watching others do it. Assuming that everyone knows all there is to know is that it ignores the fact that there are many who are new to riding and simply don’t know and, sometimes, are too scared to ask for fear of showing their lack of knowledge and being laughed at.

So, in this series of ’how to’ articles, we’ll pass on some simple tips to make things easier for everyone.

First up is lubing your chain. This is an essential task that will not only help your bike run better but will also prolong the life of the chain and sprockets, saving you money in the long term.

If your bike has a centre stand, then spinning the rear wheel while directing the jet of lube onto the chain is easy. But what if your bike has no centre stand, only a side - or kick - stand? One method is to lube the parts of the chain you can see, then roll the bike forward to expose other parts of the chain. It’s a bit of a faff.

Another way is to take the jack out of your car. With the bike on the side stand, place the jack under the end of the swing arm on the opposite side to the stand. crank it up so the jack just lifts the rear wheel off the ground. To prevent the bike rolling forward off the side stand, either chock the front wheel or take a couple of zip-ties and put them around the front brake lever so the brake is applied. You can just snip them off when you are finished.

With the rear wheel just off the ground, you can rotate the wheel while spraying the lube on to the chain. Try and spray the lube onto the inside and outside of the chain. If you do it regularly, you don’t need to use a whole can of lube each time: just enough to coat the chain.

With this method, you can also adjust the chain tension much more easily but remember to check the tension afterwards by removing the jack, sitting on the bike and reaching down to check the tension of the chain with your finders. There should be around one to one and a half centimetres of play in the chain.

How often should you lube your chain? That all depends on the mileage you are doing and in what conditions you are riding. If you are riding through a lot of rain, then it needs to be a lot more frequent. The same applies to riding off-road through mud and dust, which is murderous to chains and sprockets. In this case, before lubing, take a nylon brush and get as much of the dirt off before lubing.

No chain, no matter how well lubed, will last forever, but a lubed chain will certainly last a lot longer. There is plenty of choice of lubes but go for a well-known brand and buy the best you can afford. Avoid using WD40 as it doesn’t have any cling or anti-fling properties, unless it is specifically marked as chain lube. Watch out for any over spray on the tyre as well!

An alternative is to fit an automatic chain oiler, which will lube your chain as you ride by dripping oil onto the chain at a pre-set rate.