Back On The Chain Gang
Tutoro Automatic Chain Oiler (part 1)
Opening the small brown box, the sim-
plicity of the Tutoro automatic chain oiler
came as a great surprise. We’d been sent one by
the guys in Gloucestershire, England to fit and test, the
handful of parts, neatly packed, suggested it simply wasn’t
enough.
According to the supplied documents, everything was
there, watching a series of instructional videos on the Tu-
toro website confirmed it. We were ready to go, ready to
fit the chain oiler.
Tutoro’s own advice clearly states to take your time and
position the reservoir in the most appropriate position;
away from heat, away from the swing arm and moving
parts, and away
from where the
rider or pillion can
knock it. Easier
said than done on
a BMW F800GSA,
the bulging back-
end takes up most
free space. Where the ‘standard’ GS has space near the
preload adjuster, the ‘adventure’ version of the 800 loses
this area due to the additional 8 litres of fuel tank.
A perfect solution seemed to be to place the oil reser-
voir near the rear brake fluid reservoir; two problems, one
TRAVERSE
obvious (no need to explain) and one not so.
Sitting on the bike with the oiler in place it felt
right, out of the way. Standing on the bike it was
clear this was no good, there was no way the rider could
grip the bike with their legs, it wouldn’t take long before
the oiler would be snapped from the bike.
Following Tutoro’s suggestion we looked again, trying
the left-hand side of the bike, similar problems and im-
practical, back to the right-hand side. Spending a bit of
time playing around with the multitude of position com-
binations the three-part bracket Tutoro supplies is a god
send, a position is found. The bracket for the pillions
footpeg, the perfect solution.
Once a suitable
position is found,
fitting the oil res-
ervoir to the bike
is very easy; three
bolts, locking wash-
ers and nylock nuts,
all great quality, all
supplied.
Fitting the hose and nozzle is just as easy. Place the
nozzle onto the lower leading edge of the rear sprocket,
allowing it to touch slightly. The hose then runs along the
swing arm, in a position that suits the bikes owner, run it
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