Opinions wanted re: rear chain housing/oil
 

A few months ago I had new tires put on the Glide. Mechanic said the rear chain housing had a leak, so he put silicone around the edges, filled it with oil and said all fixed. Looks shitty, but I just said ok, whatever, as long as it works.

Last weekend I rode it in the streets for the first time - been practicing RLaP in the parking lot and wouldn't allow myself on the streets until I knew I could handle that bike. Anyway...

When I got home, the rear chain housing was leaking badly. I'm pretty sure the oil isn't shared. While searching around online, I found that if people keep the housing on, some will not use oil in there at all. Instead, some people just spray lube on the chain or in another instance, squeeze a tube full of grease in there as stated here:

http://www.wildwestcycle.com/f_reartire.html
"FINAL TIP: I haven't used oil in my chain housing for many years. Instead, I squirt a full tube of white lithium grease in there. When it gets warm it flows around and through the chain and when it cools off it gets more solid and doesn't leak - at least not much. Yeah, when you take the housing apart it's kind of a mess but worth it considering I've only taken the housing apart maybe three times in 185,000 miles."

Any of you ride an older bike with an enclosed chain in an oil bath? Do you use something else other than oil in there? Any problems using grease instead? If you had a leak, where was it and how was it fixed?

In the meantime, I'm going to take the hardbags off, ride it around until it leaks again and see if I can narrow down the location. Seems to be from the top of the case and doesn't leak until the oil is flung around.

:icon_munching:

Sounds like the primary oiler was plugged up and it was converted to use an oil bath. Pull the primary cover, and check to see if it's warped... it shouldn't be leaking if it has a good new gasket and a clean gasket surface.

Nope, that bike has a sealed final chain drive.

I rode for a lot of years on an old shovel after plugging the primary oiler. Popped the cover off every once in a while and used chain lube. The chain tension-er will wear faster and will need to be looked after but it wasn't uncommon to do this back in the day.

I think I found the source of the leak. I found 2 small holes in the top of the bottom rubber boot that surrounds the chain where it connects to the metal housing. I can have it replaced this winter.

So, on to a temporary fix for now. I have never patched or repaired rubber before. Is this doable? Any tips or advice? Learning as I go here.

Or just say Screw It, and wrap the thing in duck (or duct) tape with a really loud pattern on it. Cuz that will make the bike happy. Oh yeah.

Let's see if putting a pic up here works...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7vpof7r8ot...2014.59.23.jpg

I don't mind being laughed at. It's the price I'll pay to get this over with and learn something.

He's not talking about the primary.REAR chain. OP-is it that big of a job to tear it apart and fix it right? I must have been lucky with mine,it never leaked a drop in the 3 years I owned it['83 Classic]
I suppose you could take the cover off and go to a modern 'o-ring' chain,but that old sealed system really is good,you'd hardly ever mess with it if it was not leaking.

Rear Chain Guys ... The drive chain that goes around the sprocket bolted to the rear wheel. Not the primary chain from the engine sprocket ( compensating Sprocket ) to the clutch hub sprocket. Patching rubber that has/had any kind of lubricant on the other/inside would be unlikely. There may be some kind of "miracle in a can" that I'm not aware of. The enclosed chain housing was not an easy fix if I remember correctly.

Yes, I will keep the enclosed chain system.

I'm at the point of looking for a temporary fix so that I can continue riding the bike short distances this summer. I have waited 2.5 years to ride this bike. It will all be properly fixed this fall.