TRAVERSE Issue 09 - December 2018 | Page 105

Back On The Chain Gang Automatic Chain Oilers (part 2) chain and sprockets? The thing we noticed almost immediately was that no matter the flow rate or viscosity of the oil the splatter that came from both chains was soon coated in red dust, plastics, wheels, sprockets, frames all covered on both bikes. Probably not such a problem if you’re not Perhaps this is somewhat of a problem when in certain off-road conditions; the amount of dirt that does stick to the chain. It’s always going to happen. The amazing thing with both chain oilers was just how well they coped with the extreme conditions and the benefits provided to the chain and sprockets. Yes, some too precious about the look of your bike, but certainly a lot more unsightly compared to conventional oiling or waxing of your chain. The Tutoro was slightly worse than the Motobriiz but we could live with this. After almost 20,000 kilometres, a third on red dust, sand and mud, both bikes looked dirty as did the chains, in fact we were often asked why the chains were so ‘rusty’. readers will say that modern ‘o-ring’ chains need little, if any, lubrication and perhaps the links themselves don’t however, metal rubbing on metal (chain on sprocket) should be lubricated to reduce wear. And this is exactly what both chain oilers did. Both bikes needed very little chain adjustment during the 20,000 kilometres and returned showing very little TRAVERSE 105