Sheldon Brown <
[email protected]> wrote:
: A shy Briton wrote:
:
:> In the process of re-building my road bike after a re-painting and seriously considering running
:> with a dry chain instead of the usual lubricant. Figure it may cut down on the amount of ****
:> that collects even with frequent cleaning. Anyone done this? Any thoughts?
: I think you're on to something here! My car has been burning a lot of oil lately, making lots of
: blue smoke. The mechanic says I need an expensive ring job, but I think he's just greedy.
: Maybe I'll try your approach, just remove the sump plug and drain all of the oil out. That should
: stop the smoking...
Reminds me of the time - in another life - when a fellow bike mechanic thought that it would be a
good idea to assemble a Honda 450 engine without oiling components as he proceeded. He didn't like
all that smoke when they first started up. Me either.
But the smoke is necessary, because the electric starter couldn't turn the engine over, nor could
the kick starter get the damn thing to rotate even the slightest millimetre. The whole show was
locked solid, and that was just from friction (????). This was a not a rebore, where extra drag is
usually anticipated, just a reassembly.
The only solution was to remove the spark plugs and squirt some engine oil in the bores - hey,
that must be why it's called engine oil! We waited ten minutes or so for the oil to work its
magic, replaced the plugs and voila!, when the smoke cleared the engine ran like a sewing
machine on steroids. I can't imagine the rapid wear that took place on the cams while the oil
pressure built up.
The owner of the bike shop wasn't too happy and called the mechanic an idiot. He left a few weeks
later because I don't think he was really cut out for that sort of work.
Which brings me to the chain. It isn't a major life diverting activity to wipe a chain once a week
or so - takes less than 5 minutes. Oil is good and necessary for metal to metal contact.
Cheerz, Lynzz
