PRO-OILER: The state of the art in motorcycle chain care

 

Chain drives are a fact of life.

 

Modern chains are sophisticated, but often neglected pieces of equipment.

 

Tough as they are, they still need proper care to keep them fit - otherwise they come to an early and expensive end.

 

There's no way round chain maintenance, so the mission is to make it as painless and efficient as possible.

 

This is what the PRO-OILER does - it pulls chain care into the 21st century!

 

Are you still using spray-can chain lube?

 

You don't actually enjoy the hassle of manual chain lubrication.

Maybe you've heard that a chain-oiler massively extends your chain life and adjustment intervals. But... you just hate the mess you've heard they can create - as far as you're concerned, it's a case out of the frying-pan into the fire.

So you just stick with the hassle of spray-can lubrication.

 

Or maybe you already have one of the classic gravity-feed chain-oilers?

 

If so, then you already know the advantages of continuous chain lubrication:

 

ˇ       far longer chain life

ˇ       greatly extended adjustment intervals.

 

But you're totally frustrated and annoyed by how tricky they are to adjust properly - and the oily mess (or dry chain) when you get it wrong. Sometimes you get off your bike, look at it... and you just think "how did it get in that state?"

 

So it's a case of "yes... but there has to be a better way!"

 

The better way is the revolutionary PRO-OILER.

 

The PRO-OILER is the first and only system to give you continuous electronically metered and pumped lubrication - based on how far you have traveled.

 

Think about it:

The only thing that matters to your chain is the distance it's covered.

More distance = more oil... simple!

 

The PRO-OILER works like this:

ˇ       The microprocessor registers the actual speed and after a certain distance it sends a signal to the pump.

ˇ       The precision electromagnetic pump then delivers a dose of oil to the chain - always exactly the same amount per pump stroke, regardless of temperature or oil viscosity.

ˇ       You, the rider, can select the distance at which the pump fires. Your controller is mounted up front, and you see your settings and other info on the LED display.

ˇ       When it rains, or in dirty conditions, you simply adjust the oil delivery as you wish with the + and - buttons... all while on the move of course!

 

How does this affect you?

 

The PRO-OILER gives continuous lubrication to the chain - but it's economical, really economical and precise. For a typical big bike, that means more than 70.000km per L of oil in dry riding conditions.

You get low fling-off. The system is completely insensitive to temperature, unlike classic oilers. And also unlike classic oilers, which dribble oil when you're standing at the traffic lights, and dry out when you're pressing on, PRO-OILER only looks at the distance.

 

PRO-OILER is the cleverest way to live with a chain drive.

 

 

Below is the General FAQ which answers some basic questions.

 

General FAQ

 

ˇ       What's the problem with spray-on lubricants?

ˇ       Why are classic gravity-feed chain oilers so difficult to adjust?

ˇ       Does continuous lubrication increase chain life?

ˇ       What about fling-off?

ˇ       If we have a lean setting, what happens when it rains or the roads are dusty?

ˇ       I don't ride that much, so what benefit can I get from a PRO-OILER?

 

For the full Detailed FAQ click here

To go to the Download section for PDF click here

 

 

What's the problem with spray-on lubricants?

 

A spray-on lubricant has to satisfy two incompatible requirements:

ˇ       it needs to be sticky to adhere to the chain for the 500km (or more) between applications

ˇ       it needs to get to the contact areas of the bushings and rollers - and stay there, doing a lubricating job, whilst being contaminated with road grit.

 

Being sticky means that road dirt and grit adheres to it - and this gets crunched into a grinding paste - which just kills your chain.

 

You've probably heard the expression "clean and lubricate the chain".

 

The cleaning part is actually almost as important as lubricating - this means cleaning out the caked-on abrasive gunge from the contact areas - before applying a new layer of lubricant.

Only the most conscientious owners actually clean the chain with paraffin or specialized chain cleaner before applying the next dose of chain lube. It's a really dirty and time-consuming job.

 

Some spray-on chain lubricants are dry and waxy - which helps somewhat to prevent grit adhering to the chain and getting turned into a grinding paste. But they still don't solve the issue of keeping lubricant where it's needed in the contact areas.

 

Next, the lubricant suspended in solvent needs to penetrate into the bushing/roller contact area, and then evaporate fully. So you need to lube the chain quite some time before riding off - in practice this means doing it when you get back in from a ride.

 

 

If you manually clean and lubricate every few kilometers, then you can begin to approach the performance of a continuous lubrication system.

 

The PRO-OILER gives your chain a regular shot of oil every few kms, which

ˇ       keeps the contact areas of the chain permanently lubricated

ˇ       keeps the chain clean by flushing out and shedding the grit

 

 

Why are classic gravity-feed chain oilers so difficult to adjust?

 

For two reasons:

ˇ       The oil viscosity changes dramatically with temperature

ˇ       They take no account of distance traveled

 

Oil viscosity

 

As you know, oil changes viscosity with temperature. The higher the temperature the more fluid the oil becomes.

 

But what you may find surprising is just by how much viscosity changes.

 

Broadly speaking in the typical ambient temperature ranges, oil changes in viscosity by over 30% per 5C step temperature change!

Have a look at this graph, which shows the scale of the problem.

 

Let's say the temperature is 10C, and before you set out, you have set your drip-feed system to give 1 drop per minute.

The day gets warmer...

at 15C - your oiler will be giving 1 drop per 44 secs. (+37% = 1.37 x more oil)

at 20C - that becomes 1 drop per 32 secs (+85% = 1.85x)

at 25C - 1 drop per 24 secs (+146% = 2.46x)

at 30C - 1 drop per 18 secs (+224% = 3.24x)

 

Yes, that's right:

At 30C the same setting gives over 3x as much oil!

 

What does this mean in practice?

Unless the temperature stays constant (and it seldom does), you will have massive variations in oil delivery even from the smallest changes in temperature.

 

The PRO-OILER is completely unaffected by temperature. It pumps exactly the same dose of oil at -10C as at +40C.

And unlike a classic gravity-feed system, there's no need to change to a thinner oil for winter to stop the oiler from blocking up.

 

Distance travelled

 

The PRO-OILER's delivery is not just temperature-independent, it's also linked strictly to the distance you have traveled.

 

A typical big bike with a 530 chain may be running a setting of 1 pump pulse per 6km.

If you're riding in heavy city traffic, this 6km could take you 15 minutes.

On the open road at around 150km/h you will cover the same 6km in just 2.1/2 minutes

 

It's not the time that counts, but the distance.

 

With a classic gravity-feed system (even forgetting temperature and viscosity issues for a moment), you also have to work out what average speeds you are doing.

A setting which gives 1 drop per minute may be ok at a constant 80km/h, but it's 2x too rich at 40km/h - and yet only delivers 50% of what you need at 160km/h.

 

Anyone who has used a classic gravity-feed system will recognize these problems. In practice the only solution is to run a conservative, rich setting all the time to avoid running dry.

Then add to this the fact that you can't even adjust the setting while riding...

 

Now you see why the PRO-OILER's pumped, temperature-independent and distance-related delivery is such an advantage.

ˇ       You can ensure constant lubrication of the chain with the minumum of fling-off.

ˇ       You set your oil delivery rate so there is just enough to lubricate the chain - without soaking it and having unnecessary fling-off

 

 

Does continuous lubrication increase chain life?

 

Yes. Always.

 

Even if you are absolutely fanatical about cleaning and lubricating your chain, you won't be able to match the performance of a continuous lubrication system.

 

How much increase in chain life depends of course on what you are comparing it to.

Compared to a chain which is seldom or never lubricated, the increase can be 5x.

For a normally well looked-after chain the increase is typically 2-3x.

 

The clearest evidence comes from people who have a part-worn chain, and then fit an oiler.

Suddenly, they hardly have to adjust the chain any more - the chain's wear-rate is almost stopped in its tracks.

 

How long will a chain last?

It's difficult to say "your chain will last x thousand km".

Chains vary widely in quality, as do sprockets. Some bikes are harder on chains than others, not to mention the infleuence of riding styles.

However, what we can say is that a chain will last typically 2-5x longer with continuous lubrication.

 

 

What about fling-off?

 

There will always be some fling-off.

It's a "total-loss" lubrication system - so what goes onto the chain also comes off it.

 

So the objective is to reduce the oil delivery until any less oil would mean a dry chain - this is the juggling act that the PRO-OILER does so well:

Continuous lubrication but with the minimum amount of oil. 

 

To visualize consumption - it's a small sugar lump of oil per 100km (approx 1ml).

 

 

If we have a lean setting, what happens when it rains or the roads are dusty?

 

The PRO-OILER is designed to run as lean and precisely as possible in dry clean conditions.

Of course, in the real world, some of the time it rains, and the roads are sometimes dustier than we would like.

 

The controller unit up front with its [+/-] buttons and LED display allow you to adjust the flow for the conditions.

If the roads are wet you can increase the flow - all the way up to 650% more, which keeps the chain lubricated even in monsoon conditions. In "typical" rain conditons increasing the supply 50-100% will do the job.

 

In dusty conditions, the dirt absorbs the oil. So increasing delivery will keep the chain lubricated, and clean it too as the dust is flung off. 10-20% extra oil delivery usually takes care of this.

 

When conditions get back to "normal", then you just reduce the delivery with the [-] button back to your normal setting.

 

 

I don't ride that much, so what benefit can I get from a PRO-OILER?

 

The higher your annual mileage, the more obvious the benefit of running a PRO-OILER.

Not just financially, but for the sheer convenience.

 

However, we are finding an increasing number of customers saying:

"I want a chain-drive bike, but I don't want to bother with chain maintenance between dealer services".

The PRO-OILER allows them to basically fit-and-forget - where they might otherwise be obliged to go for a shaft of belt-drive bike.

So, Buy a Pro-Oiler now!

Go to the Pro-Oiler shop

 

 

 

 































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