We ride hundreds of thousands of miles per year and these are the best chain lubes we've found for all conditions

Chain lube is an essential maintenance spray for any motorcycle that uses a drive chain (which is the vast majority). Chain cleaning and lubrication is an important step in chain care and should be a regular part of your life as a motorcycle owner.

Are you in America? Find the best chain lubes in the USA here

Modern X-ring or O-ring chains have built-in lubricant on the inside of the rollers but you still need to make sure the outside of the chain stays lubricated, too.

Jump to:

• Why you need to lubricate your chain
• Things to consider before you buy chain lube
• Best motorcycle chain lubes
• Frequently asked questions
• How we test chain lubes

Why you need to lubricate your chain

If you don’t lubricate your motorcycle chain, several things will start to happen. First of all it will corrode, leaving pitting or rust, which is unsightly but also creates extra friction as you ride. The heat created by this friction will cause your chain to stretch prematurely and need replacing sooner, costing you money – not to mention the extra wear you’ll be putting on your sprockets. Worse still a poorly maintained chain can snap or jump from the sprockets, leaving you at the side of the road unable to ride or potentially with nasty injuries.

Things to consider before you buy chain lube

There are two types of chain; an open-chain which is typically used on lower-capacity bikes or off-roaders and needs cleaning and lubricating frequently while O-Ring or X-Ring chains use sealed rollers to keep lubricant in place. However, the latter still requires lubricant where the rollers act on the sprockets, for example as well as protection from corrosion.

The job of cleaning and lubricating your motorcycle chain can be made far simpler if you have a paddock stand to life the rear wheel off the ground and allow you to spin the wheel and in turn the chain, while spraying.

There are several different kinds of lubricant available, depending on the time of year, the use of the bike, and the anticipated time between cleans and reapplications. For example, dry lubes will generally be a fine spray as opposed to a liquid (wet) lube while a wax will go on thicker and leave a residue, typically white.

Also consider what conditions you ride your motorcycle in, some lubes are specifically formulated for dry weather riding where they will reduce the amount of dirt that sticks to it. Other lubes will be designed for wet weather riding, where they prioritise water repellent properties. All weather lube is the best middle ground, which are designed to work well in all conditions.

Best motorcycle chain lubes as tested by MCN

Other chain lubes to consider that we are yet to test

Frequently asked questions

Can’t I just use WD-40?

WD-40 isn’t a lubricant, it’s a water dispersant (hence the WD in the name). What’s more WD-40 can force its way past the X- or O-rings on your chain and thin the captive lubricant inside, doing damage in the long run.

WD-40 the brand do great chain care products of their own (as included in the list above) so stick with the dedicated sprays rather than the can you have in the back of the shed already.

Can I just use gear oil?

There’s nothing wrong with using gear oil to lubricate a chain and many of our readers have been doing just that for years. The only down side To gear oil is that it’s generally designed to contained within a gearbox and so doesn’t have the viscosity to stay put on a spinning chain and sprockets for very long. You’ll find that you need to apply it more regularly, and the stuff that flies of (referred to as fling in the chain lube game) will get all over your rear rim.

How often do I need to lubricate my chain?

You should be applying lube to your chain every time that you clean it, which ideally should be weekly if you are riding your motorcycle regularly.

How MCN tests products

At MCN, our team of expert journalists have decades of experience gained over hundreds of thousands of miles. We don’t test our kit to destruction; we use it exactly how you do, in the real world and in all conditions. That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on.

Each of our writers has an in-depth understanding of the needs of today’s biker… because they are one.

That means we can deliver impartial buying advice you can rely on. To make it onto this list, these chain lube must have been used for thousands of miles by our team of experienced testers, show no major flaws, lubricate and protect the chain effectively as well as offering decent value for money. 

Each of our expert reviewers tests their chain lubes for a variety of things, both subjective and objective, and these are no exception. Factors assessed include how easy they are to apply, how much grime they attract, how they smell, how much product flings off onto the chain guard and so on. a

We’ve used each of the tested chain lubes in this page while we’ve been covering miles on test bikes in all the appropriate conditions for the product.

If you can’t see a review against a chain lube on this page, it’s because we haven’t tested it yet. These items will only be included if we think they’re important and relevant in the market, and rest assured, we will be working on bringing you a review as soon as we’ve done the miles.

To find out more, head to our dedicated page explaining how we test motorcycle products.

---

Our scores explained

When we review a product, we award it a score out of five. In the ratings tab of a given product, you may also find more specific scores for the different aspects of a product’s performance to help you make an informed decision. Here’s a guide to what each number score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

- Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us.