Kerosene for cleaning chains?

[barnone]

Lao,
I've been around a long time and can't remember " Ah, beer was cheap, girls were free, and life was simple back then.",especially the part about girls being free.

[Nuhaus]

50 RMB for a large can of WD40 from B&Q. I'm sure that will last me a few months. Spent a good 30 minutes spraying and going over the chain with a rag to remove grease and build up. Used ChinaV's pic as an example but damned if I could get the sprocket to stay that clean. Took it for a quick ride around the block to get rid of the excess fluid on the chain then brought it back and lubed it with some 100RMB chain lube. Holy cats, did that ever make a difference in the ride to work this morning. Thinking I'll make this part of my weekly routine just to keep it moving like this.

[euphonius]

.... Used ChinaV's pic as an example but damned if I could get the sprocket to stay that clean....

This is a really encouraging little report, Nuhaus. No one's bike will ever look as showroom-ready as ChinaV's, but it's a good reminder to know what dividends a good chain scrubbing yields in terms of performance.

Pix?

Thanks!

[MotoKai]

I'm about 5 weeks late to chime into this thread with this amazing discovery for cleaning chains. It comes from Web Bike World, quite a good website for information ...
Cleaning chains with a pickle

I've seen huge jars of pickles in China at very reasonable prices.

Well - you just had to say pickle and motorsickle didn't you?
http://mp3.baidu.com/m?f=ms&tn=baidu...cle+song&lm=-1
Arlo Guthrie, "The Motorcycle Song"

Apparently McDonald's has big vats of pickles for their burgers and they save the pickle juice. At closing time, the pickle juice is used to clean the grills. So if it can clean a McD's grill, I'm sure it can clean your chain.

As for me, I have a lube spray I use (similar to what ChinaV posted). For you guys in Shanghai, head over to the Jiaoji Lu MotoMarket to pick up a can (about RMB 60 if I recall).

When on long rides out of Shanghai, I stop by the village bike mechanic and he always has a bowl of used motoroil with a paintbrush in it. I paint some of that on to keep me running smooth - a good "paintjob" lasts a few hundred kms.