Bmw new no maintemce chain

[Mikekitts81]

so just seen this https://www.rideapart.com/articles/4412 ... nce-chain/

Its bmws new no maintemce chain iam sceptical on wether i would want a no maintence chain anyway i like the habbit of checking the chains whilst iam cleaning it ...

[catcitrus]

Chain "wear" is not that well understood. I accept that the X ring seals work well--and two ways really as you can only just about lube the sliding ring surfaces--so definitely sealed for life BUT----the rollers wear on link surfaces--a good test is to both pinch the roller and see if you can move it up and down a bit AND do the usual pull off check halfway round the rear sprocket. What might be perceived as stretch is usually roller wear such that when sitting in the teeth you can increase the distance between pin centres. If BMW have made a rolling internal surface that doesn't wear despite not being sealed--and apparently not lubed, I'll be very surprised--especially with road grit etc acting like grinding paste underneath each roller. The other point is of course lubricant on the sprocket teeth--they will just be "normal" and require some lube--there is sliding contact? Personally a quick clean and squirt of a quality non fling ceramic type lube every 500 miles is no big deal-AND I HAVE BROKEN SEVERAL bmw DRIVESHAFTS OVER THE YEARS--- IN DIFFERENT PLACES---but never a chain--the best BMW driveshaft system was the original non paralever where the shaft itself also ran in oil.

[Dark Knight]

Sounds a bit of the old advertising speak, maybe their bikes with chain drive are not selling well.
There are many parts of the chain that are subject to wear and bending forces.
When I first bought the dark horse (the CBF1000), I was in the habit of quickly accelerating up to the max road speed when leaving a 30 MPH limit, soon leaned my mistake, as it soon wrecked the drive chain due to the amount of low end torque avaiable.

[Thedktor]

Some years back I experimented with different chain oiling methods. Proper chain lube, a drip feed oil system, and simple WD40.

All methods gave identical (o-ring) chain and sprocket life, and not surprisingly WD-40 was a hell of a lot cleaner.

This is trail riding with quite a bit of road mixed in, and of course the first trail you hit everything gets covered in dust, or mud and water and any lube on the outside of the chain just attracts grit and acts as a grinding paste.

But I would argue that on roads plenty of grit and/or dust gets flung onto the chain as well.

Anyway, for the last perhaps 20 years chain maintenance for me consists of a quick brush of the chain after a ride, douse in WD-40, wipe off the excess and leave it to dry overnight before using again. Simple, and clean.

[Elmer J Fudd]

To me Zero maintenance would mean no need to adjust or lubricate, but still needs cleaning, as it will, like everything else, get mucky.

Not sure you can guarantee a chain won't stretch without making it very heavy, which will reduce performance, so is there a benefit?

No need to lubricate is a benefit though.

I suppose the point is that BMW did already have a maintenance free drive system as an alternative to shaft drive. It was belt drive and it worked very well from what I remember. Belts had a finite lifetime and were replaced (usually) before they snapped, didn't need lubricating or adjusting.....

I think they stopped using them out of (maybe misplaced?) , customer demand. I never had one, but would be interested in anyone's thoughts who has as to whether chain or belt is better. I think HD still use belts?

[catcitrus]

HD definitely use belts--and nothing wrong with them for road work in a clean environment--but unless they are fully enclosed they won't work offroad with the chance of trapped stones etc. I believe I saw a Vid where they tested all kinds of "chain lubes"--and WD came out pretty much at the top simply because you can only lubricate the O rings and rollers--and WD does a good cleaning job here. Maybe the BMW chain would run well with just WD--that would be my bet--but at what cost--and 525 (Honda) size only, and I bet without a split link which we would all prefer for off road. On the subject of HD chains I did fit a quality O ring to my Kawa Super Sherpa as I wanted a new one on the day-and it was all I could get-it has proved to be excellent requiring virtually zero adjustment over many outings. It is not an enduro or MX machine where weight and low loss power transmission are at a premium--it just plods around in the mud.

[Nigel]

I had a BMW f800s for a couple of years, no messing with adjustment or cleaning/oil so a bonus although the belt should be replaced at 24,000 miles (I think?) Although I had heard of them lasting a lot longer, sure replacement wouldn't be cheap though!

As for maintenance free chain hopefully of better quality than original chain on my 800gs (long gone) scotoiler meticulous maintenance and toast at 12,000 miles

[Hugh]

Greetings,

And the initial and replacement cost is

TTFN

Hugh.

[macvisual]

Metal chain meets metal contact with metal sprockets, it's going to require some kind of lubercant/adjustment over time.

I still clean my chain using trusty WD40 and cloth, then thinly apply extra tacky chainsaw oil - job done.


mac

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

This chain is about 8000 miles old. No appreciable wear. Been adjusted once after initial bedding in.

Fitted with new KTM output sprocket and JT wheel sprocket.

Outside face of joining link degreased and painted red after fitting.

Periodic maintenance is chain carefully wiped with diesel-soaked rag, then dried with clean rag. Small amount of Muc-Off Dry chain lube applied to bottom run of chain. Allowed to stand overnight.

this bike is used in wet weather and for trail riding.

KTM chain.JPG (104.85 KiB) Viewed 2047 times