Accessorize Your Motorcycle for Ease of Use!

Recently, I’ve seen a number of bikes come in with the owner saying he “just bought it from whichever shop” and have found the chain and sprockets completely at the end of their useful life. It’s easy to pawn off a bike with worn-out parts, and sometimes hard to tell what you’re getting if you don’t actually do the work on them every day. If you’re really not sure and you need a second set of eyes, give me a holler.

Anyway, this leads us back to accessories. The newbie rider may think, “Hmm, coffee cup holder for the handlebars, LED light string, two-ton capacity saddlebags, or even a neato sticker set.” Sorry to say I’m an old crank. I think of the bike first and how to make it as easy to maintain and last as long as possible. My thoughts on accessories go a different direction to be sure. My all-time number one accessory for any of my chain-drive bikes has got to be the Scottoiler automatic chain lube-oiler.

So back around '95, I was living in Sussex County, England. A very nice place with hedge-rowed roadways and miles of twisty, hilly bike country to be enjoyed. What I didn’t enjoy was replacing the chain and sprocket set on my Yami 600 every 8K miles. Don’t take it like I was beating the bike. I lubed that chain and adjusted it religiously. Between higher allowable speeds, lots of on/off throttle riding, and regular rain and general dampness combined with plenty of sand from the nearby North Sea coast, that chain and sprocket set just took a regular beating.

One day my buddy Roger and I were out riding (Roger was a lot smarter than me with a shaft-drive R90CS BMW), stopping at bike shops for a hot tea and checking out the new and used bikes. At one shop, I spotted a Scottoiler chain luber sitting on the parts counter and made the inquiry. The sheer simplicity, easy install, price, and non-invasive to the bike design sold me. I knew I was going to get one.

Sure enough, within a few months, I'd finally saved for that next bike; the VFR750 that I’ve mentioned before. I pre-purchased a Scottoiler for the occasion and within hours of getting it home, I had it installed. Tip: They are much easier to install on a brand-new bike with no road grime build-up as the oiler line holder is glued to the underside of the swing arm.

So off we went. I owned the VFR for 13 years and put 50K miles on that bike. Never changed the chain or sprockets and only made minuscule adjustments over the years. Usually when the tires were being changed, and more for my own conscience than for the bike's well-being. As advertised, the Scottoiler kept the chain lubricated through wet, dry, hot, or cold conditions. Keeping those chain o-rings wet with oil and keeping that chain cool really pays off.

I’ve owned other bikes with Scottoilers and moving on from the VFR, I found one thing about that accessory was that it will help you keep the bike cleaner. The VFR had an outboard to the swing arm sprocket as it was a single-sided swing arm bike. My later bikes having normal sprocket locations inboard to the swingarm would cause excess oil to fling onto the wheel rim. After a couple of weeks of riding, you'd have a black-spotted rim. I found with a quick spray of 409 and a rag, spin the wheel and let the rag just wipe it right off. Much easier and cheaper than normal chain maintenance.

The Scottoiler paid for itself in about 4000 miles of use, considering that a chain and sprocket set would cost double or more than the product. If I had to add in a shop’s installation fee, then it still would have paid for itself in that first chain/sprocket swap. These are the kinds of accessories that rise to the top of my list of must-haves on my bikes. I’m not a sales rep nor am I affiliated with the company in any way. I just think really good products should get some sunshine. Now if I can only figure out how to keep my coffee from spilling out of that cup holder while I’m riding my dirt bike.

Don.