Chain Rust - Bike On The Street All Year Round...

My turn to ask a chain lubing question. I am parking my bike outside on the street. I hadn't used the bike for a month and of course this happened. See attached pic from yesterday.

Rusty chain and rust gathering on some parts. Never lubed / greased / cleaned the chain. Could I please ask how do I fix it? Also, how do I clean the rest of the parts showing in the pic as gathering rust?

 

IMO, that chain is beyond help. You could lube it up with gear oil but the O rings (it looks like an O ring chain) have probably suffered and removing the rust mechanically, with a wire brush for instance, will damage them further. Rust on the side plates merely looks bad, it's the rust on the rollers and pins that kills a chain. Give the bike a good clean and then use something like ACF 50 or XP90 sparingly to avoid further corrosion, just keep it away from the brakes and tyres.

 

^^^yes.

any oil, any grease, anything is better than nothing. but there are proprietary spray-on chain lubes that soak in and will stick to a moving chain better than just plain oil or grease. check at a bike shop and ask what they recommend.

best to lube the chain when warm, after a ride or after you wash the machine, but if the chain looks dry at any time, it needs to be lubricated.

an occasional wipe down with a slightly oily rag will also help to keep the rest of the exposed metal from rusting. a loose fitting cover that allows air circulation will keep off the rain and snow.

 

The poor bike looks like nobody loves it. The chain is in awful condition, can't believe anyone would let it get so dry that rust forms. I would say the chain is scrap, no matter how much you oil it there could be tight links or general damage that could be dangerous and/or costly.
You can clean the rust from suspension etc with chrome cleaner or even wd40 and some good rubbing, then spray with something like ACF 50 to protect. all the metal parts from rust.
I am also assuming the bike was not covered fully. Neglect will kill the bike.

 

Poor chain

I would personally replace the chain because it looks too far gone in the photo. However, it could be superficial and be cleaned up and lubed without any issues. Have you considered taking it off for a thorough clean and bath?

The other superficial rust marks on the shocks should hopefully come off with some Autosol metal polish.

 

If you live somewhere where the roads are salted in winter then don't do what I did and be lured into thinking that the salt won't be a problem if it is a dry day. The dry salt on the road will end up on your bike and will be moistened by condensation over night creating a super concentrated chlorine solution. I had a problem with my headers due to this, obviously the heat burnt off any ACF50 in that area. I cleaned them off and then put ceramic grease on to try and protect the metal a bit.

 

Bike needs a bloody good wash and then treating with ACF50 or similar, like Scotoiler FS365 or even WD40. Check YouTube if you're unfamiliar with them, there'll be a bloke somewhere testing products.

Chrome cleaner or polish will sort out the shock - kitchen foil rubbed on the part and water is an excellent and cheap rust remover.

Replace the chain, looks too far gone, then regularly clean, adjust and lube the new one. Bikes don't look after themselves

 

The important lubricant on a chain is already locked in by the O or X rings so all the lube you put on a chain is mainly about cosmetics, preventing flash rusting and cleanliness. Regular WD40 cleaning followed by an anti fling treatment that could be gear oil or one of the proprietary chain lubes.

I would bin the chain in the photo above. It should never have been allowed to get in that state in the first place.

 

The rollers still need to be kept lubed or they'll seize on their bushings. The seals are only for keeping the factory lube between the bushings and the pins.

 

Agreed. I did say important lubrication. The rollers are there entirely for chain/sprocket contact and play no part in the articulation between inner and outer links.

 

Chain look's fine ! If that's only surface rust !! The important area's are inside the tube's between the plates! If those pin's rust then wear becomes rapid !! Give it a good lube , ride it for at least half an hour, longer is better... Relube after the ride ... Check for hard and fast kinks in the chain regularly from now on ! If just one link becomes really stiff .. then the chain is naff ! One buggered link means more are likely to follow soon.
42 yrs riding nine bike's from new ! And close to a Million km on the road , I average 50/60 thousand per chain .. ride until they die (chain that is ) best mileage ~76,000

 

It looks like the inner plates have rusted down to the O rings which won't do them any good when they start moving. I've had 15 road bikes from new and looking back I never kept any of them long enough renew a chain with the exception of the current ZZR which reached it"s wear limit at just over 30k despite good maintenance and continual (auto chain luber) from new. Heavy bikes like that with big power and torque are hard on chains and they're flippin' expensive! The only things harder are dirt bikes, even a good O ring chain is knackered after 2-3K.

Edit....just remebered I had to change the chain on a new 1000RX in '86 after around 3k as one of the links was shot. The O rings had gone and the side plates had been splayed apart slightly. The dealer reckoned something, possibly a small stone, had been forced through between the links while riding as the rest of the chain was perfect. "Not covered by warranty Sir I'm afraid" Feck!!

 

A big thank you to everyone in here who set me on the right path.

I got down to business on the chain on Saturday. Washed her, applied a chain cleaner (oxford mint), quite a bit of my elbow grease and finally anti-corrosion spray (tech cote TC200). Please see photo for before / after. I applied a chain lube today.

Is this in a state ok to keep or should I still replace it?

 

I am following up with more here, as I think it's relevant (problems caused by the bike standing outdoors in winter in London)

I notice there is rust developing everywhere on the bike. Please see attached pics.

Is it possible to treat the rust to remove it from al these points? It has been suggested that I use kitchen foil / wire sponge to remove the rust from chrome. But I can only reach certain parts in this way.

Separately, there are all these bolts that are located next to plastic/metal that gets scratched as a side effect when one starts treating the bolts in this way.

What do I do with those rusting elements next to the brakes?

 

As far as the chain goes, it does look a lot better. Check each link for any stiffness or any loose side to side play (not as long a job as it sounds). Then check it for "stretch" against the wear limit which should be in the owner's manual.
The finish on bolts and fasteners on most bikes is notoriously poor quality and corrodes if there's a R in the month. I usually take bolts/nuts off one by one if cleaning them up risks damage to other components. Personally I wouldn't use anything more abrasive than Solvol Autosol on chrome to remove minor rust.

 

I would be getting a brass brush on some of those parts, followed by some ACF50. The chain and other parts still look 'dry' to me, especially after your experience, I'd want to see the layer protecting it.

 

To do it properly you need to take it to bits in order to thoroughly clean each component without damage to adjacent parts.
If your budget will stretch to it I would replace the chain and probably both sprockets.