Originally Posted by
old's'cool
For a less frequent, more thorough cleaning & relube I completely remove the chain of course, clean thoroughly in kerosene, rinse with brakeclean, then submerge in oil overnight, then hang to let excess oil drip off overnight, wipe most of the residual oil off then reinstall.
I watched my wife go through that whole process once. Then she lovingly applied a wax based lube so she could have a clean chain for a while. One week of riding and looked just like it did before she went through all that. Didn't seem to me like it was worth the effort. I just spray GT-85 on my chain every couple of weeks. It gets gooey and black and greasy but it's quiet and seems quite happy that way. When I finally do break down and clean the bike, I douse the chain with Dawn detergent and scrub it with a $2 scrub brush which I toss when done because the brush is ruined. Rinse it and wipe with an old rag and it looks nice and shiny. For a week. Then it is black and gooey again, which leaves one wondering why one should bother with cleaning it at all.