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Pro-Oiler...best lube to use with it?


Zero Knievel

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I've had a Pro-Oiler for years, and while the evidence on the chain and rear wheel shows oil is moving through the system, I'm wondering if I'm making it work harder than it needs to work.

I've used straight 30-weight generic oil. According to Pro-Oiler, anything will work, and there's no need to use anything fancy...just something that will clean and lube the chain when applied.

Still, I'm wondering if the thicker viscosity of 30-weight is making the pump work harder or making the system less effective.

What would you recommend as an alternative?

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I would run the thickest bearing grease I could find. The chain and sprocket interface is a high load area. Not the place for light oil.

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It just seems to struggle when you go to prime it. Lighter weights oils flow better through the capillary line. I got a new pump, and it works no better than the old one, and I think the blame is on the oil.

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I've have one on my bird as well. What I settled on is a bar oil for chainsaws, seems to work well but I'm still experimenting. What I have noted is that chain adjustments have greatly reduced, I think one in the last 12-15K. Makes a mess of the polished rim after 3-400 miles though. Currently + - 35K on this chain with lots of miles left. I have cut the chainsaw oil with solvent when it gets cold to make it flow better.

That reminds me, I need to get the valves set this winter, probably not Monday, headed for -18

Edited by OMG
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I use whatever oil is leftover from oil changes. I keep about half a dozen bottles of half-used new oil around all the time for ass lube so it is handy, cheap, and works well. About 60K on it no problems.

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Since when is 30 thick oil?

Technically, it's not, and the Pro-Oiler FAQ pretty much recommends OTC motor oil as the best all-around option.

I think I'll drain and dump the 30 weight and go with some OTC 10w30 or 5w30...just to have something that flows better at cooler/cold temps. That might be the crux of the problem. The oil in the capillary line/pump can thicken faster than what's in the bottle when it's cold, and that might be a big part of the problem. Once you get it to start pumping, it does a better job of flowing. The pump isn't that powerful, so I think any thickening of the oil from cold really affects it's ability to get going.

Sadly, the pump is twitchy at low voltage, so you either need to have a more powerful 12v source (I've often used a 12v car battery), just have taken your m/c battery off of a tender, and/or have the motor running. A m/c battery isn't powerful enough to run many priming cycles with the motor off.

Needless to say, if you have the tank dismounted, running the bike isn't an option...nor is it an option if you're in an enclosed space.

I bought and installed a new pump, and primed a few times. I wasn't impressed by what came out but accepted I probably replaced the pump for nothing (no harm, no foul...I have a spare should I ever need it). I put a paper towel under the rear sprocket to catch the meager drop or two of oil that came out. Next day, you'd think there was a major oil leak by the size of the oil "stain" (clean) on the paper towel. I suppose it took a few hours for all that oil to work it's way through the chain and drip off the bottom.

The guy at Pro-Oiler said each prime cycle should release about 8 drops of oil. I'm not sure what his definition of "drop" is, but I probably expected a lot more to come out than what I actually saw come out.

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I've been using gear oil in mine since I got it. No issues and the chain definitely lasts MUCH longer, changed the chain last year with 30K on it and it was still decent. But swapped it anyway since the swing arm was off and I was changing gearing.

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Since when is 30 thick oil?

When it's really cold. Ok you get my Jack photo again just as a reminder

Zero lives down South man!

And your jack is full of water! That's what's freezing. Still my favorite wiskey.

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Since when is 30 thick oil?

When it's really cold. Ok you get my Jack photo again just as a reminder

Zero lives down South man!

And your jack is full of water! That's what's freezing. Still my favorite wiskey.

True that it's the water freezing and not the alcohol , just shows how much very expensive water you are buying when you buy whisky. Straight alky doesn't freeze till it gets really cold. And that's a good thing to remember when you have been out drinking, have some cheap vodka with you, your radiator needs more fluid, and it's going to freeze, and you don't have any glycol.

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And also in their FAQ:

2. Do I need to use thinner oil in winter, like in a gravity feed system

No.

The PRO-OILER's delivery is not affected by temperature.

It's been road-tested down to -10C and performed well without even needing changed settings.

Zero-Stop over thinking it and trying to compensate for something that isn't happening. If you're looking for great oil that's relatively cheap and easy to find I recommend Pennzoil Platinum, it has some of the best qualities of any oil available.
Edited by superhawk996
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And also in their FAQ:

2. Do I need to use thinner oil in winter, like in a gravity feed system

No.

The PRO-OILER's delivery is not affected by temperature.

It's been road-tested down to -10C and performed well without even needing changed settings.

Zero-Stop over thinking it and trying to compensate for something that isn't happening. If you're looking for great oil that's relatively cheap and easy to find I recommend Pennzoil Platinum, it has some of the best qualities of any oil available.

I'm in the Arctic and gear oil is still pumped fine if I'm not mistaken it's 75W90. And I've been stuck riding close to freezing for much longer than I would have liked. I like the gear oil since it tends to stick a bit better and not just fly off.

If your having issues with oil flow, I'd expect the issue to be in the rubber connectors on the hose. Any air leaks can be a issue a loose connection at the pump will drain all the oil from the line. And it's happened to me on the connection to the nozzle a few times but only once at the pump that was likely my fault. I'd have to do a few minor mods to keep the hose tight at the nozzle as it's worked it way loose a few times.

A good cleaning with rubbing alcohol then a small piece of heat shrink that has hot glue in it over the hose/connector has held it in place very well.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would run the thickest bearing grease I could find. The chain and sprocket interface is a high load area. Not the place for light oil.

How could that be the case when there are so many happy oiler customers out there using light weight gear oil with rediculously long lasting chains.

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I would run the thickest bearing grease I could find. The chain and sprocket interface is a high load area. Not the place for light oil.

How could that be the case when there are so many happy oiler customers out there using light weight gear oil with rediculously long lasting chains.

This is my understanding...

If you were running a non o ring chain then the weight of the oil might make a difference. If it is a o ring chain the idea is to keep the o rings in good shape by keeping them cleaned and lubed. I like the gear oil because it sticks better, motor oil tends to "wash" off pretty quick with rain.

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You all should also know that gear oil is numbered on a different scale, a 90 wt gear is about the viscosity of a 40 or 50wt motor oil from what I recall-research it to know for sure. Pro-oiler has supposedly done a lot of testing so why not use what they recommend? If they were trying to push their own oil I'd be skeptical but they're not. The properties of gear oil should be advantageous over motor oil, but I suspect that a constant supply of almost any oil will make a chain last a very long time. I don't have an oiler and don't plan to get one, but at a glance I found lots of posts from people all around the world using oilers with different oils and reporting chain mileages in the tens of thousands. If you wanna know what works, other people have spent the time to put the info out there, find it.

Manual oiling: I've never seen it as a chore, it's part of giving the bike some love in return for what it gives me and also one more reason to spend some time looking at it up close and possibly spotting something than could use attention. I do understand it can be a pain on long rides especially without a center stand. I've always done it after a ride, bike idling in first on a stand, spraying slowly (carefully depressing the button just a little) with the nozzle directed at the o-ring portion one side at a time then I give the rollers a shot. The theory is when you spray a hot chain the cooling and contracting action will suck the oil into the chain, seems very logical. It makes a bit of a mess of the wheel and surrounding stuff but it's what I'm used to. One thing I see against this is that the part of the chain near the front sprocket stays hot much longer than the rest, no idea what the difference will be, but there's gotta be some so portions of the chain will be unevenly lubricated. Having the like new clean Ducati and a Bird with white wheels got me looking for a cleaner way and also led me towards a different theory. If the chain is sprayed cold the lube has a longer time to soak in before it's solvents evaporate. Doing it with a cold engine means the entire length of the chain will have an equal soak before the solvents evaporate. Turning the tire by hand instead of in gear will lessen the fling-off mess and allow more lube to stay on the chain to soak in and to coat the surface. I've only done it once and I can see the difference, the chain stayed wetter looking after a couple rides compared to my old method even tho I'm pretty sure I used less oil. I didn't clean the wheel so I can't say whether it made more or less mess while riding, but none spattered while oiling the slow moving chain. The bike was way faster afterwords so I know it's lubed better.

Just kidding, but I have seen the difference on a dyno between a dry and freshly lubed chain, almost 3HP and noticeably quieter.

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O rings don't need lube. They keep lube in. They need to be clean so dirt does not grind them away.

I clean my chains with wd40 and then use a dry lube. I sold my F4i with 28k miles on it. The chain almost never needed adjusting and it had tons of life left.

I think cleaning the chain has much more to do with long life then what specific type of oil you use.

Which brings me to my next point...if you have to clean the chain every day on a long trip anyway, why does anyone need an oiler? I really don't understand the need unless you just skip cleaning.

Edited by TuffguyF4i
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The benefits of manually-applied lube are gone within a few miles. Definitely after 100 miles. So, unless you want to apply oil to the chain every gas stop, you're slowly destroying the O-rings with HEAT (the chief issue). DIRT is the #2 O-ring killer. A constant bath of oil keeps the O-rings moist and counteracts the effect of heat on the O-ring.

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But the benefit of any lube (keeping the O-Rings moist) starts to cook off right away. Even if you apply fresh lube at every gas stop, you go a long distance without external lube protecting the O-Rings.

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O rings don't need lube. They keep lube in. They need to be clean so dirt does not grind them away.

I clean my chains with wd40 and then use a dry lube. I sold my F4i with 28k miles on it. The chain almost never needed adjusting and it had tons of life left.

I think cleaning the chain has much more to do with long life then what specific type of oil you use.

Which brings me to my next point...if you have to clean the chain every day on a long trip anyway, why does anyone need an oiler? I really don't understand the need unless you just skip cleaning.

I cleaned my chain once and it lasted over 30,000km so it wasn't the cleaning that did it. The chain wasn't wore out when I changed it, but I was going on a trip and wanted to change the sprockets so I swapped the chain too.

If you keep the o rings/or x rings in my case lubed then they won't heat up and let the oil/grease inside out.

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