[ST] Mileage and tight chains

["Mike Benzon" <fast87@xxxxxxxxxx>]

About this mileage thing, for those of you with a lot of miles on your
chain, you might want to consider checking it and changing it. I have 18K on
my bike and the gas mileage was slipping down to 45 mpg. I was checking the
chain tension and noticed a tight spot in the chain as it passed over the
primary sprocket. I changed the chain for a new one and the mileage has now
moved back to the 50 mpg range, depending on how hard I am riding.

The tight spot was not easily noticeable. I always checked the chain when I
cleaned it, but I only noticed the tight spot when I had the tension a
little too tight. I am now concerned about the proper method of cleaning the
chain. Please don't read me wrong, I am very pleased to get 18K out of my
chain, but I am wondering if cleaning the chain with WD40 was not the best
solvent to use. My thinking on this is, WD40 is a penetrate and I think it
was penetrating past the O-rings and washing out the lubricant of the
internal chain section. The Triumph book calls for turpentine  which will
clean the outside surfaces of the chain but not penetrate past the O-rings.
I cleaned my chain when ever dirt and grime built up on it and then I
relubed it with a chain lubricant/wax. My sprockets look great with no signs
of wear, but the internals of my chain wore out.
Mike
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Fay" <mfay@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "ST-Digest" <ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 1:14 AM
Subject: [ST] RE: (ST) Get out of third!


> Jack wrote:
> Martin are you just getting 166 miles from a tank?
>



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