Classic Bike Guide - May 1999

Well Oiled Do you recognize that unsettling graunchy sensation which accompanies a bone-dry, battleweary final chain drive ? You do ? Shame on you then; there's no excuse for it these days. Nor do you need to spend your weekends grubbing around on hands and knees, spraying aerosol lube with abandon - and the days of gently simmering your stiffened links in a vat of seething Izumi gloop on the kitchen stove are also long gone. Modern technology once again charges to the rescue to make riding old bikes more fun : hurrah!

Scottoiler have just introduced their very latest kit, the Mark 7, which is stronger and more trick than ever. A new reservoir metering valve works to ensure that the right amount of oil is transferred to the chain at all times, while the touring kit and high capacity upgrades serve the longer-distance rider. The Scottoiler is a simple system, using gravity to feed lubricant to the chain. It has no hard wearing parts and absorbs no power from the machine. The basic kit - which retails at £65.95 - suits all bikes and requires only a small amount of fitting to tuck away neatly on the machine. 50cc of oil lasts around 750 miles (unless those are all nautical miles of course…) and Scottoil itself costs £4.55 for 500ml.

Correctly lubricating your chain can extend its life by up to seven times, so the Scottoiler does a damn sight more than simply save aggravation. Editor Westworth always equips his high-mileage machines with Scottoilers as he's mightily impressed with them - but never fails to mention that the mighty Norton Commander doesn't need one as it has an utterly superior fully-enclosed chain. Sigh...