having been out on Doris the other day, pre hissy fit, see what I did there? Flat tyre, hissy? Oh never mind! Anyways I was parked up and some smart arse asked wether the oil leak was an optional extra on modern triumphs, gleefully pointing at s couple of spots of oil under Doris, I retorted with the fact that if I'd paid for that I'd want a puddle rather than a spot. It did get me worried though and I checked under Doris, oooer! And noticed a slight dribble, ooooer again, I guessed, read hoped, it might be chain oil oozing out from the sprocket cover so bookmarked to check it the next day, hissy fit prevented that so managed it this morning. Wether it's the cause or not I don't know yet but I discovered something that should be checked/cleaned more than every 2 years as I imagine it's not doing any good
Hi. I have found that regular oiling of the chain leads to a build up of gunk and grime in the front sprocket cover ! You will notice an OIL leak if you take your bike out for a decent length ride on a warm to hot day as the built up grime heats up the residual oil there thins and runs out from the pile! Doesn't look good but does little damage, unless its left to really pile up for several years !!! As then it can fill the cover tight up and some breaks loose into the chain linkages and yes grinding paste action begins! Whilst it can't/doesn't make contact with the chain and front sprocket it's all OK !! It's just unseen and unknown, does no real harm just something to check from time to time, when you clean this area. Don't use solvents like kero or turps unless you remove the chain, and then only replace the chain when all is dry, I just take the front cover of gouge/pry the grime out with a stick of wood or plastic a couple of times a year...! Don't do any other cleaning here as chain lube does it! If the muck is really built up I then remove the chain and wash the area thoroughly with decreased or kero, I usually get 35 to 45 thousand klms from my chains, regular oiling regardless of what you can't see happening behind the sprocket cover is more important than over cleanliness in there!!!!
When I have Scot Oilers or similar I clean the front sprocket area every 3/4 weeks. Keeps the build up to a minimum
Hey ho! You would have thought I’d learnt!! Can’t remember when I looked behind the sprocket cover! Grinding paste going cheap
FYI I use BelRay super clean chain lube. Works well and very little fling off, and therefore do not need to clean the sprocket area very often.
I find the oil drops off the sprocket area and onto the exhaust when it's parked up. Then when the pipes warm up again it smells luvverly!
Incidentally... I found this morning when I got home, the smell gets rid of the midges too.... Multi-tasking!
