when to lube your chain?

[compensation]

my buddy bought a Honda 250 and the dealer told him to lube his chain after every ride. He ask if that was right so I told him whenever it gets wet for every thousand miles should be fine. how often do you guys lube your chain?

 

[Rabbitman109]

Every 600 miles like the manual says to do...

 

[n00b]

Every 600 miles like the manual says to do...

same here. every 500 miles I start thinking about it. by 600 miles I do it.

 

[compensation]

Well I will just leave it at that for him. Maybe mention 500 miles or so but definitely not after every ride. He will wash it once a week so I am guessing he will do it every 200-300 since I told him when it gets wet. Is it bad my Honda has 38000 miles and I don't remember ever lubing the chain? Lol I still have a white spot from when I was in a hurry and lubed the top of the chain over the plastic. I also showed him to lube the inner side and spray down towards the ground. That way the centrifical force will cram it where it counts.

 

[good dog]

my buddy bought a Honda 250 and the dealer told him to lube his chain after every ride. He ask if that was right so I told him whenever it gets wet for every thousand miles should be fine. how often do you guys lube your chain?

Just to clarify, if the 250 you are refering to is the dirt CRF250, then yes, after every ride, lots of 'chain snatch' on a dirt bike. If it is the street going CBR250, then as others have recommended will be fine.

 

[alexk]

Might be easier to go by a schedule than mileage...

I'm new to drive chains, so I'm still finding my rhythm for lube. (Wow... so hard to avoid the double entendres... hard... dammit.)

I've decided to set a schedule rather than a mileage.

My normal riding consists of

28 miles to work
3 miles to lunch
3 miles back
28 miles home
---------------
62 miles per workday
x 5 days per week
---------------
310 miles per week​

I figure that since I occasionally need to take the cage (eggs are too delicate for a backpack, don't want to try putting a 40lb bag of dog food in there), and there are weekend runs for fun, then 300 miles a week is a good long-term estimate.

So...

600 miles per cleaning
/ 300 miles per week
---------------
2 weeks between cleanings​

Every other Friday I check, clean, and lube the chain. Far easier than being a slave to my odometer. =)