chain cleaning and lubricating

[Woolsey Dip]

I read about a lot of products for chain lube, but I'm not seeing much about how to get the stuff onto the chain. Is it necessary to take the chain off to clean it and lube it? I've been trying to do this job on my gravel driveway with no lift or anything, and it ain't easy to say the least. In fact, I don't feel I'm doing a good job at all. Any tips for this newbie?

[Triangles]

I made some wood "jack stands" to get the rear wheel off the ground when I had my GZ250 that work just as well for my vulcan 500. You can find plans on how to make them on the yahoo gz250 forum or at http://gz250bkie.com There are also various "lifts" you can buy to get the rear wheel off the ground. It's almost impossible to adequately clean/loobe the chain with out getting the rear wheel off the ground. For an inexpensive easy way to keep your chain lubed see http://vulcan500.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=183#p183

[burkbuilds]

I've been able to get the rear tire off the pavement for cleaning by doing the following. I put a 3/4" thick piece of plywood under the kick stand, then put a scissors jack under the frame on the opposite side from the kickstand. It doesn't take much to lift the bike so that the rear wheel can spin freely. I also got tired of having the crud I was cleaning off my chain go all over the place, so I made a long narrow box out of some scrap wood and I simply put some aluminum foil in it, slide it under the chain and rear sprocket and start cleaning. I made the "box" about two feet long, six inches wide and about 3" deep, but you could make it any size that works for you. This catches about 98% of the drippings and afterwords I can just toss the foil. No more cardboard covered in kerosene and oil, and no more spots on my driveway from stuff that leaked through the cardboard. By the way, I use a brush and kerosene to clean the chain and I love my loobman manual chain oiler, all of about $30 delivered. I've got over 31,000 miles on this chain and it is still in good condition.