MAINTENANCE TIPS Kerala

Motorly Editorial · 04 Jul 2026 · 522 views

Walk into almost any bike parking area in Kerala during the monsoon and you'll see someone spraying WD-40 onto their chain, convinced they're protecting it from rust. It's one of the most common — and most counterproductive — habits among riders here, and it's worth actually explaining why, because the reasoning genuinely sounds right until you know what WD-40 is actually for. WD-40 is a water displacer first and a lubricant a distant second — the name literally stands for "Water Displacement, 40th formula." It's excellent at pushing moisture off a surface, which is why people reach for it after riding through rain. But it's a thin, low-viscosity fluid with almost no staying power. On a motorcycle chain, which is spinning at speed, flinging off centrifugal force, and getting hit by road spray, that thin film burns off or gets flung away within a few kilometres. What you're left with is a chain that's been stripped of whatever grease was already there, now running dry, and — because WD-40 also acts as a mild solvent — potentially washed clean of the factory lubricant packed inside the chain's O-rings or X-rings. You haven't protected the chain. You've degreased it and called it maintenance. Engine oil is the other common mistake, usually from riders who assume "oil is oil" and use whatever's left over from a top-up. The problem here is different: engine oil is formulated to stay fluid and keep circulating inside a sealed engine, which means it's deliberately thin enough to flow through tiny oil galleries and pump easily. On an exposed chain, that same thin consistency means it doesn't cling — it flings off within the first few hundred metres of riding, taking dust and grit with it as it goes, and what doesn't fling off attracts road dust into a gritty black paste that acts like sandpaper between the chain's rollers and pins. Riders who do this often complain their chain "eats" faster than friends running the same bike, and it's usually this exact habit causing it. What actually works is a purpose-made chain lubricant — most are wax-based or use a specific tackifying additive designed to cling to a spinning chain rather than fling off, and they're formulated to not attack O-ring or X-ring seals the way solvent-heavy sprays can. The proper monsoon routine is simple: after a wet ride, don't lube immediately — let the chain dry first, since spraying lube over standing water just traps moisture underneath. Once dry, wipe down loose grit with a rag (not water, which just adds to the corrosion problem), then apply chain lube in a thin, even line along the inside of the lower run where the rollers engage the sprocket, and let it sit for a few minutes before riding so it can penetrate rather than immediately flinging off wet. Cost-wise, a bottle of proper chain lube runs somewhere around Rs.250-400 and lasts months of regular application, which is cheaper than the chain-and-sprocket replacement you're accelerating by using WD-40 or old engine oil as a substitute — a full kit replacement on a mid-size bike in Kerala typically runs Rs.3,000-6,000 depending on the model, and monsoon riding with the wrong lubricant is the single fastest way to need it early.

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