how NOT to clean your chain

always spin it by hand, no keys in. wow ......

 

mmmmm jimmie dean sausages.......thats what for breakfast look at this while eating a broody samwhich...

poor guy but he does take responsiblity for his actions... ...

Off to clean the chain with a buffing towel.........

 

My god, hard to feel bad for the GSXR owner, Now had that been a VFR owner, that's different. LOL This has been talked about here before... Sorry to say But I lube my chain on the center stand, bike in second gear, engine running at idle bingo, done in 5 seconds, no fuss or mess. I do this for the quick simple lube job when it looks like it needs a quick squirt. Now when it's time for a complete going over, yea it's all done with engine off spin tire by hand.. Seems maybe I'm smarter in knowing the calculated risk? Been doing it for 40+ years on any bike that has a center stand. I'm smart enough not to even get close to the chain and sprocket with thy hands, are you crazy. I save my hands for hitting Deer, to each their own, man that's gota smart.

 

im a chef and cut one side of my finger off. it never feels the same when u touch it it feels like some poked it with a needle.tip grows back but nerves are more senseive

 

Saw a Brewery worker do just that trying to clean trash away from a chain and gear probably twice the size of a motorcycle chain. He was lucky. He only lost the tip of one finger. But now he flips the bird, metrically,

Like RVFR, when I "lube" the bike is on centre stand in 1st gear idling alongwhile I spray with a can that has one of those long tubes stuck into the nossel. When cleaning, keep the hands away from moving parts.


The only moving parts a mans hands should come anywhere near should be attached to a fine woman's anatomy.

 

+1 :thumbsup:

 

Hmmmmm.....tequila and chain lube. Thats the same as bourbon isn't it?uke:

 

I give him props for having the balls to have a thought about getting a camera and take a pic.....my ass would have been at the hospital before the camera had a chance to turn on...

 

true... who has the presence of mind to turn the camera on and photograph this, right after it happens? I mean, I posted wound pics, but only after hours of cleaning and whining like a baby

Yes, I can admit that... my damn finger looked like a squashed grape ok?

 

When I did my thumb, I remember the following:

A) Screaming like a stuck pig before realizing I was in shock and feeling nothing.
B) The civilian ER learning I was USAF then wanting $450 before doing more than putting an over-sized band-aid on it
C) The USAF hospital where my thumb was cleaned and the tip pretty much rebuilt.
D) My friend bringing my 1G bace to base for me, and lowsiding her after visiting me.
D) The visit from the Commander, 12th Air Force, and the way the temperature in room dropped 30 degrees when he was told how I was injured (he was known to hate motorcycles).

This happened in May of 1985 and the one thought that never crossed my mind until 5 minutes ago was get the camera...:drool:

 

Answer: Squids.

Seriously tho, I feel bad for the guy. I've had a couple mishaps while working on my bike, but nothing like that. Gotta be careful. Burned a dime-sized spot on the back of my hand during my last oil change, touched a hot header pipe while trying to remove the oil filter. Dumb.

 

That's why now I call it "Surviving the dumb years" instead of "Growing Up"...

 

That...my friend...is despicable. In my 25 years of policing, I never knowing wrote a member of our Armed Forces for traffic infractions. Right or wrong, that was my rule and I have no regrets following it. If I were chief od staff at that hospital, and I was made privey of that attitude, I would have ripped those people a new and extremely large asshole. Then everyone would know what I expected from that point on for your brothers and sisters.

 

Yeah I had to pass on watching the gore, not a fan. Don't even like horror movies. but yeah as anyone that has just smashed a finger tip knows how much hurts. Yeowch! You can't help but feel sorry for the guy.

 

This is absolutely brutal, I really regret clicking on the link, but definitley feel more educated.. I think I'll leave the bike off and on it's Center Stand when I clean the chain.. I too feel sorry for this guy..

 

Saw that thread a while back and i'd like to chime in on a couple things...

#1 - I hope none of you clean chain with the motor running, HUGE NONO as you can see what happens. He's lucky it wasn't worse.

#2 - You would be surprised how bad you can hurt yourself getting a finger caught in the chain/sprocket from just spinning the tire in neutral. I knew I guy who broke a finger and had a nice little gash from doing this.

Be VERY careful this can be a life altering accident. Respect a machine small or large, they can hurt and kill you.

There is something called a grunge brush for those who haven't heard of one, they are cheap, work great, and keeps your fingers and hands away from danger. What a shame for that poor guy, feel bad for him.

Link to the "Grunge Brush"

 

Silly man....where's the common sense!!!! At least get one of your mates to clean your chain using this method......you don't want to hurt yourself.

 

Big +1 for that grunge brush, works like a charm. I do have to agree that cleaning the chain with engine running in gear is dangerous and kinda stupid cause things like this can happen so fast, but I will also admit that I still do it, just yesterday in fact. The trick is WHERE you get close to the chain with a rag to MINIMIZE the danger factor (notice I said minmize, still good chance of bad shit happening). I do the majority of the cleaning with a grunge brush and some sort of cheap spray lubricant at the bottom of the chain with the grunge brush. If the grunge brush comes out of my hand and gets mashed I can easily buy another without a trip to the hospital. To wipe off the excess lube and dirt after scrubbing with the brush (yes, while the chain is still flying along at the speed of engine idle) I switch locations to the center/top of the rear sprocket. This way, if the rag gets yanked out of my hand I can let it go without my hand being smashed between sprocket and chain first. So long as you're not retarded and wearing rings, watches, bracelets, or long sleeves, there's little to no chance of your hand being caught and yanked all the way back forward to the front sprocket, even then you'd have to have mighty small hands to get them mashed up there in that tight of an area, you'd probably be cut loose by the chain guard or the frame before you get close to the no no zone.

All that being said, I've worked on cars and motorcycles for many many years, professionaly and on my own. I've had MANY trips to the hospital, and they were ALL my fault, one short moment of not paying full attention to what you're doing usually pays of with large ammounts of pain. I don't really reccomend that anyone try this if they have little to no experience of how to let go of a rag and dig it out of something later, with fingers in-tact. Just thought I'd share how I do it and attempt to keep my fingers attached.