Originally Posted by Stubacca
I've got one of the Finish Line chain cleaners. It does an ok job, but the chain is definitely still dirty at the end of the process (clean on the outside, dirty on the inside). Ok for a quick clean, but no substitute for taking the chain off the bike and giving it a proper bath.
Yup, and the best bath is gasoline.
I remember something I heard from a drag racer when I was a kid: " Nitro is for racing, alky is for drinking, and gas is for washing parts."
First,I get a couple of those 1 liter wide mouth drink bottles. I fill one bottle about half way with gasoline and the other bottle gets filled half way with lacquer thinner. The chains goes into the gasoline filled bottle and the cap gets screwed on. Then I shake vigorously for a few minutes -- I shake the bottle, not myself. The chain gets fished out of the gasoline bottle with a wire coat hanger and dropped into the lacquer thinner bottle and the process is repeated. The chain is then fished out of the thinner bath and hung up to dry -- doesn't take long since lacquer thinner dries very quickly.
After the chain is dry, I put it in a foil pan -- the kind you get from a take out place -- and hose it down with some spray motorcycle chain lube. When the motorcycle chain lube solvent evaporates, it leaves the chain nicely coated with lubricant, then it gets a quick wipe down and back on the bike it goes.
At this point, I cap the bottles and put them back on the shelf in my detached garage.
A few words of warning: Unless you are brain damaged, you've probably figured out that this operation should be performed in the great out doors. You should also not smoke, or play with fire, while you are doing this. If you live in an apartment, or have an attached garage, leaving gasoline filled drink bottles lying around the living room is a bad idea. That is all.