This is related to a topic below of cleaning the chain.<br /><br />Every so often I like to give the chain a better clean than I can on the bike with my chain cleaner, so I break the chain to take it off the bike, put it in an empty plastic bottle with kerosene, shake it around until the kero is black with grease. Empty the bottle, and then repeat with new Kerosene 2 or 3 times, or until the kero comes out clean after a good shake. Sometimes if the chain is really dirty I'll let it soak in the kero for a few hours before doing this.<br /><br />Then the last time I fill the bottle with hot water and liquid dishwasher to clean ll the kero off the chain. Then I take the chain out, dry it off with a rag, then leave the chain out to air dry overnight.<br /><br />I put the chain back on and join it up with the special Shimano joining pin, and lube with Pedros Extra Dry.<br /><br />My question is: how many times can I break a chain, and then re-join it with a shimano joining pin? Should I always break and join the chain at the same pin? Or should I do opposite sides of the chain, or pins next to each other? Keeping in mind each time I am using a new joining pin, I'm not re-using pins.