WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY CHAIN?

I don't know what's gong on with my chain. About 6,000 miles ago I put an RK x=ring chain and a 45 tooth JT sproket on the x. I keep it adjusted and lube it abut onece a week. I'mriding almost all highway. For the last 10 days I adjust it and two 100 mile days later its loose again. I adjust it and two hundred miles later its loose again....etc.. The sprocket look o.k. No hooking. The rear wheel is not moving forward,and it tourqed to 90 ft lbs. Can my chain be worn out at 6,000 miles??

Yes, definitely it could be though my RK X-ring chains have tended to last closer to 10k miles and my rear sprockets almost always look pretty good still at that point too. Is there a lot of side to side movement in the chain, like enough that it could hit the tire? Do you see marks on the tire on the chain side from contact? Is your chain slider underneath the swingarm getting worn away quickly? Hows the front sprocket looking? Are you sure you're not running too much tension?

Hey Skierd, Forgot to check the side to side movement and wll do that in the morning. The chain slider seems to be wearing alot and I am keeping a close eye on it. Hasn't worn through anywhere yet. The chain is acting like the pivit points are elongating, and I should have checked side to side movement for that. I shocked at how fast it is streaching. This is a $ 105.00 RK X chain. Should last more then 6,000 highway miles. I run the chain about 10mm off the swingarm. How the hell can it strech that much in 200 miles!

Do you ride near the beach a lot? Sand/salt exposure maybe? Any dirt miles with those distanzias?

If the slider is wearing fast the chain is shot. Stop riding before it gets worn through and replace that chain.

How do you clean the chain and what do you lube it with?

I manage 10-12k on my RK chains, stock only lasted me 5000-6000 miles for comparison. But... I find the front sprockets to get eaten pretty quickly, espcially if you ride anywhere gritty, to the tune of 4000-6000 miles.

No sand. The chain seems pretty clean. I never clean it though. Just spay it down with a Dupont Teflon chain Lube about once a week. Do you clean your chain?

Yup, more frequently than I lube it actually. Just a spray down with wd40 and a quick wipe down with a shop towel whenever it gets grimey, and after a dirt ride. If I know ill be on all pavement for a while ill use maxima chain wax on it after cleaning and a quick ride to help keep rust off. If you're just lubing and not cleaning you're never getting rid of the grit that wears the chain out.

Well Skierd here is my confusion. This is the first time I've had an o ring-xring chain. I've always rode dirt and always just had a regular chain. With that I did what you do. I would hit it real good with wd40 and wipe it down and a little more wd40 2 or 3 times a week. With the x-ring I don't do that because my feeling is the wd40 is a solvent and it will suck the grease out of the x-rings ??? Perhaps going to a non 0-ring chain is the answer.

After reading the Chain Sticky I think your right. Sounds like WD40 is the way to go. Thanks for the advice.

No problem :). I was worried about the solvent effect too, so on my first chain I pulled apart a random link when I replaced it and there was still plenty of lube in there. Not surprising since we're told ti clean the chain with kerosene or gasoline which is way stronger.

The thing that got me was the RK guy saying thats what the guys at the shop use. I used wd40 for 8 years living on the beach in Mexico on my xt550 with no problems. For these new fangled 0 and x ring chains I thought I had to get fancy. My chain is shot. Real flexable and yes it is rubbing on the rear tire. The sprockets look fine, but I think I should replace them anyway. $$$$$$$$$$$$$