Lubricants, greases and other slippery or sticky things.

[Ribenapigeon]

What is a good range of lubes, greases and other slippery or sticky consumables should you have for motorcycle maintenance?

Cheers.

[Grubscrew]

Rubber grease is great for brake seals. Silicone grease which is virtually the same is great for where the plastic fairings push into the rubber grommets holding them, makes removal a heap easier, also ideal for smearing on the rubber seals where the wheel spacers rotate against.
Water pump grease is great for things like your abs sensor, side stand and centre stand pivot points as it’s more impervious to the water elements.
General purpose greas is ideal for wheel bearings, headstock , swing arm. Copper grease is good for brake pad pins and the metal side of the pads touching the pistons of the caliper only a smear mind.
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FJR1300/CBR1000F

[MCN]

GP Grease Lithium based.
Copper slip/Anti-Seize.
Zinc Anti-Seize.
Silicone Grease.
Silicone Spray.
Telfon Lubricant Spray.
Engine Oil.
Chain Lube.
WD-40 (or better).
Brake Cleaner.
Thread Locking compound.
De-Greaser.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

...and for dealer servicing...

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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[stinkwheel]

What I have, although some of it is quite specific for a particular task

High speed grease (LM).
High load grease (moly disulphide).
Anti seize compound (copper grease).
Red rubber grease.
Silicone grease.
Silicone lubricant.
Various grades of engine oil.
Gearbox oil.
ATF (for forks and few more specific tasks).
WD40
GT85 maintainance spray.
ACF50 corrosion inhibitor.
Chain lube.
Cutting fluid.
Graphite powder.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Ribenapigeon]

Thanks folks those lists give me a good shopping list. Im keeping my XJ as a run into the ground mobile, so putting effort into regular proper maintenance so building up kit to do this.

[weasley]

[steve the grease]

I don't want to get all contentious like, but that copperslip/ antisieze grease is specifically designed for high temperature applications like exhaust studs, it's not really designed for jobs like caliper pins and so on ........... and here's why.

Copperslip , between brake piston and brake pad is OK , it's a high temperature application, but.....
There is a post on here about a stainless ABS sensor which has corroded into the Ally carrier, the reason being that the metals are far apart in the reactivity series and so electro chemical activity ( corrosion) is more of a problem. A similar thing occurs with aluminium ( such as brake calipers) and copperslip , copper is very noble, Ally very reactive , the result can be corrosion of the Ally caliper. A while ago I was speaking to the ( a well known brake manufacturer) technical hotline and the Tech person I was speaking to said " I wish that Fu*$ing golden shite had never been invented, it causes more problems than it solves. "
Draw your own conclusion.

[Grubscrew]

Yep, agree there. I also am aware of the dis similar metals causing that electrolytic reaction, but there’s apply and there is apply.
I’ve never had an issue with a fine smear, but yes, liberal application of grease such as this is gonna bite you back.
As for silicone grease should never been used on brake piston areas, again, having only applied just enough to let that baby slide in, has never given a cause not to.
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FJR1300/CBR1000F

[Robby]

If you're worried about copper grease causing galvanic corrosion in your brakes, you can always use aluminium grease.

In reality on bikes the bikes aren't getting left alone and hidden away for 20-40k between maintenance, so it's less of an issue. The calipers are getting a bit of a clean every time you clean the bike, and should be getting a proper clean and re-grease every 5-10k.

Whilst galvanic corrosion is a theoretical problem, brakes seizing up from a lack of lubrication is a very real one. If the manufacturers really wanted to avoid galvanic corrosion they wouldn't be using stainless brake pad pins in an alloy caliper, but most of us would rather deal with the consequences of that (scrape out behind the pistons once a decade) than use mild steel pad pins and have to change them every service (because of rust notching them).

[MCN]

[stinkwheel]

NASA use copper grease on aluminium alloy where stainless is in contact with it. They published a paper. It was extremely thorough, even down to how much you should put on each fitting (lots).
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[A100man]

[weasley]

Seal compatibility depend on what material the seal is made of and what the grease or fluid is made of. Not all seals are compatible with all substances. Further to that, you need to make sure anything that might contact the brake fluid won’t bugger it up, or be buggered up by it. Red rubber grease is not a silicone grease.

Silicone grease is good for plumbing as it is waterproof, slippery and pretty benign.
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[ThunderGuts]

I also have a tub of Morris marine grease; bought years ago for packing ball races in bicycle bearings but it’s useful as a basic grease without a temperature requirement.
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TG.

[stinkwheel]

Well. My silicone grease is for electrics. It's non-conductive and waterproof.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[MCN]

[MCN]

[Wyberton John]

When I put cable lube into Amazon search it showed me a page full of Durex...
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Fazer Thou Gen 1