Best motorcycle chain lube | 55 tested and why you DO need one!

What's the best lubricant for my motorcycle chain? While some riders think it could be a scam, and that there's actually no need to use one, we've tested 54 products (and using nothing) for fling, stickiness, O-ring compatibility, ease of cleaning, corrosion protection, wear performance and extreme pressure. We've used a world-leading independent lab, and found out what the average road-rider should REALLY do to keep their chain lasting as long as possible.

Chapter selection
00:00 Introduction
00:54 Why you DO need to use chain lube
03:09 What type of chain lube; oil, wax or dry?
04:18 Scottoilers and maintenance-free chains
06:26 How these tests were done
07:58 Best value motorcycle chain lube
08:24 Best chain lube for fling
09:02 Best lube for corrosion protection
10:10 Best looking chain lube
10:48 Lube least likely to attract grit
13:50 Best for O-ring safety
14:10 IP239 Four-ball anti-wear testing (LAB SCIENCE!)
16:59 IP239 Four-ball weld testing (extreme-pressure test)
18:52 Best motorcycle chain lube
23:29 Sign-off

Thanks to Evotech Performance and B&C Express for their help in supplying materials for this test

All the lubes on test:
• No chain lube
• 80W90 Gear oil EP
• BPC Cog Lube
• Bulldog BDX
• Castrol racing chain lube
• GS27 Dry lube
• GT85
• iPone Careline Xtreme chain lube
• Liqui Moly Chain Lube White
• Maxima Chain Wax
• Morris workshop Pro Chain Lubricant
• Motorex Chain Lube Adventure
• Motorex Racing Chain Lube
• Motorex Road Strong
• Motul C2 chain lube road
• Motul C4 Chain Lube factory line
• Motul C5 Chain Paste
• Muc Off all weather chain lube
• Muc Off wet weather chain lube
• Muc-Off dry weather chain lube
• Oregon Chainsaw oil
• PJ1 Blue
• Pro-GreenMX PTFE Chain Lube
• Profi dry lube
• Putoline Dry Tech
• Putoline DX11
• Putoline Tech Chain
• R&G Dry Chain Lube
• R&G Everyday chain lube
• R&G Wet chain lube
• Renthal chain lube
• Rock Oil chain lube
• S100 Dry Lube chain spray
• S100 white chain spray 2.0
• Scottoil
• Silicone spray
• Silkolene Pro Chain
• Silkolene Titanium dry lube
• Silkoline chain Lube
• Silverhook chain wax/lube
• SportsbikeShop chain lube
• Tech-Cote TC 100 Chain lube (waxy)
• Tech-Cote TC 110 Chain lube (oily)
• Tru-Tension Banaslip Chain Lube
• Tru-Tension Banaslip Chain Wax
• Valvoline Durablend 20W50 semi-synthetic motorcycle engine oil
• Valvoline white synthetic chain lube
• WD40 Chain lube
• WD40 Chain Wax
• White grease (as in spray can)
• Wurth chain wax
• Wurth high performance dry lube
• Wynns clear lube
• XCP Chain Lubricant
• Yamalube chain spray

#Best #Motorcycle #Lube

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LET’S CONNECT!

[ananthkumar]

Best 25 minutes I have spent this week. I can't even imagine the amount of effort that has gone in to this. Great work!

[Grahamvfr]

Glued to the screen for 24 mins, then remembered Ive got shaft drive... Fabulous test!!.

[peteb]

45 years of riding and I have been using sae 80/90 for at least the last 30 years. The secret is teeny, tiny amounts, and not on every link. No fling, no sticky mess around the front sprocket and excellent chain life.

[shashank.bharadwaj]

Few years later, and this still stands the best comparison video of all time. Can't appreciate the hard work it took to get it all together 🙌. Great work John.

[myturkishlife]

60 yo R1 rider here, , always used 80w or 90w chain saw oil, not shed loads, apply with a brush ...
Works a treat..
Happy riding everyone 😃

[scottboettcher]

Fantastic effort! In my 52 years of riding, and longer for bikes, I've changed/lubed/cleaned more chains than I care to recall, but I'll say this - the best chain maintenance is the one you do - and regularly. Of course your location will determine how often and thorough you should be, but I've used Honda chain cleaner and Honda chain lube for the last 20 years or so.
The chain cleaner is also good for cleaning up after oil changes, etc. as well. Meant to not harm rubber, so it's safe for lots of things that need cleaning.
What some folks don't realize is that not doing so prematurely wears the chain and you'll spend more money replacing it. I can tell which buddies don't do it often as they chains get loose more quickly.
All this stuff is fun and only takes a few minutes. Thanks for the incredible effort on this.

Ride Safe 🙏🏼

[writestuffmedia]

I'm biased because I work for Bike Social, but anyway – this stuff is pure gold. John is meticulous and precise, entertaining and fact-tastic. I've bought stuff based on his reviews, and I'll be buying XCP Pro lube based on this. Bravo 👏

[airheadzradioadventures]

Honestly, I thought 25 minutes on a chain lube video?! Was bored so I clicked on it anyway. I feel like I’ve been through a master class on lubrication and give a heartfelt thanks for what took weeks and weeks of clinical quality control, experimentation, and inspection…. Earned a subscription!

[Rdgoosmicp]

What a huge amount of work, thanks for putting in that effort for us.

[colinculverwell]

I have a Scottoiler on my 600 Fazer. Fitted to the bike from new. When i was working it was used as a daily rider covering 1000 miles a month in all weathers. My first chain (OE) lasted 54, 000 miles. Its still on its second and showing 74, 000+ now. Ive see a lot of negative comments about Scottoilers making a mess but this is usually because owners dont adjust them properly. You do get a bit of fling on the wheel ( no more than a light misting) but this is easy to clean off with some WD40 and a cloth. If you have oil on your tyre its adjusted wrong.

[LotusExige]

Truly amazing. Love these type of reviews. You don't get enough credit for the time and energy you put in John. Great stuff.

[marklevy]

Great post. Have been using gear oil for a long time and never had issues. I keep a paint brush in a jar of oil and give the chain a quick brush over after each ride - literally takes seconds and means don’t have to clean the chain very often.

[projectshow]

My grandfather used engine oil to lube the chain, my father is using engine oil, and now i am using engine oil for the chain ... 70 years of using engine oil and for what i have seen and heard, is the best and cheap.

[zedddddful]

You are probably the only guy I'd trust doing tests like these usually it's people trying to flog a sponsors stuff and you buy it and it's crap nice work John 👏

[officialslowey]

For someone who rides in the Scottish Highlands all the time, where grit and salt remain on the roads well into the summer months, this is such a helpful test. I've been using XCP Professional for 3yrs now and haven't tried other lubes - so it's good to see XCP gets a decent rating. No matter how much attention I give to a chain, they always end up looking shabby after 500 miles. The EOM fasteners take a real beating too, despite a frequent ACF-50 treatment. I'm gradually replacing them with pro-bolt titanium fasteners.

10/10 for effort and dedication, John. Thank you.

[FlyingPhysicist]

Thanks for this. I've used 80w90 gear oil to lubricate first an O-ring chain and more recently a high-quality non-ring chain on my CG125. For £5/litre that lasted me nearly 5yrs of daily commuting. Can't argue with that value, however good the others are.

[waspnest]

I love tests like this, well done. After using 6 different aerosol chain lubes I found Wurth High Performance. Road grit doesn't stick and it's good on dry Summer roads, not as good in Winter which I suspect is why Wurth also produce a chain wax.
My favourite for the last 4 years is EP 90 gear oil which, contrary to your results, doesn't fling when used sparingly in the places it needs to be with as much residue wiped off as possible with a rag. I then use the oily rag to coat the outside links for rust protection. For cleaning....paraffin.

[highphysics]

Wow! Just what I need. A lovely Pom with knowledge, and no irritating background racket.
My new Yamaha Grizzly "creaks" just before it stops. I was going mental thinking it was brakes sticking.This is the 4th quad I've owned, and never had this problem, but, we have had a horrid winter with non stop rain, and, heaps of disgusting MUD. Accidentally found your video, and, sat, open mouthed, and felt soooo dumb.
Brilliant, John, absolutely brilliant. Great detail! Thank you sooo much. 1st day of Spring {Southern Hem} for us. Clean up day....Come on Summer! Awrabest, Allison

[johnw]

Really useful, thanks! Regarding Scottoiler, I've had one on my Blackbird fir 21 years, done 67 thousand miles in all seasons, all weather's and have only just fitted my third chain. That's an average of over 33k per chain on what is a powerful, heavy bike. I'd say it more than paid for itself. Yes, it flings a bit if you forget to turn it down when the weather is warm; but once you get to know it, it's easily manageable.

[ReferenceFidelityComponents]

For years I used paraffin to clean my chain, and after drying, used hypoid EP90 gear oil. Cheap and lasted well and really kept the chain in tip top condition. No fancy chain lube needed, just an old fashioned oil can and oily rag to remove excess.

I always use a quality DID chain too