Loobman chain oiler

[banditderek]

Hey all. Here are pics of a Loobman Chain Oiler attached to my 4PT. Has anyone had experience with these? I like it lots, but havent used it for long enough to make an informed decision about it. I like how it doesnt have any parts that have to be made to work by some means coming from the bike. Gravity does it all!


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[Jens Eskildsen]

Thanks for you're story. Rminds me that i bought one a long time ago that I havent fitted

Might just pull myself together this weekend.

[rambrose]

I did a review on WELCOME TO FRANKS FORUM • Index page

Well I've got one. ordered it late on Tue. They sent an email requesting confirmation of my address at 19:50!!

Item arrived today (Friday).

They're keen on supporting bikers rights and offer a £1 discount for BMF & MAG members. Have to pay via cheque for this which delays dispatch times.
I asked about a discount for DC bikers but they pointed me towards the multi buy discounts.
* Order 3 units (£53.97) Get 1 Free (so you receive 4 units)
* Order 4 units (£71.96) Get 2 Free (so you receive 6 units)
* Order 5 units (£89.95) Get 3 Free (so you receive 8 units)
* Order 6 units (£107.94) Get 4 Free (so you receive 10 units)
* Order 7 units (£125.93) Get 5 Free (so you receive 12 units)
Dennis from Loobman is also keen on feedback so, so far, contact with the company is good.

This is what you get for your money


Plus a couple of pages of instructions



The instructions take some reading and you'll read them again and again to work out what they're trying to tell you but it's all there.

Some bits require assembly before fitting to the bike. Only takes about 10mins.

The bit which took me the longest was deciding on where the reservoir was gonna go. The loobman site has photos on where some customers have fitted theirs. My bike was there but I wasn't keen on sticking the bottle on the fairing. Space was limited on my bike and one point worth mentioning if you fit the reservoir around the back of the bike, get someone (bigger the better) to sit on it to compress the suspension. Ensuring your chosen location doesn't interfere with anything.

The fitting of the kit only takes another 10 mins or so. I took off the side panels to aid access which increases the time a bit.

Here are a few pics


This is the delivery head. The 2 oil feeds are actually a couple of ends chopped off tie-wraps. Impressively simple and cheap to replace.


The delivery head fitted. I used an extra rubber washer (plumbing stuff) to protect the paint work a bit more. Ok a pointless exercise on mine.







Because I didn't read the instructions properly I had a few minor glitches.
For some reason the oil dosen't like going up




After getting rid of the upward bend i put an extra tie-wrap to secure the wire to the swingarm.

The dose or the amount of oil that is going to be delivered to the chain is the volume of oil between the feed pipe and the bottom of the catch tube.
This can be controlled by sliding the feed tube up and down the catch tube.
On my bike It takes 10 minutes for the oil to appear at the delivery head.
(Dennis from Loobman said that's about right for my chosen setup).
This is determined by the position of the reservoir (length of tube and it's path).
Shorter\steeper tube paths will result in quicker delivery times.

Oil will continue to be dispensed until the delivery tube has emptied.
This is important as if your journey ends before the tube has emptied, oil will drip off the chain. As stated in the instructions, for bikes with a right hand chain and side stand this could be dripping on the tyre. Otherwise you get an oily patch on the floor.

Another side effect of ending the journey before the oil has finished, is that there will be excess oil at a single point of the chain which is likely to cause splatter when you next ride. The same can be said if you squeeze the bottle but don't ride off straight away (within 10 mins for me).

I've just about managed to prevent dripping on my 20min journey to work by giving the bottle a gentle squeeze then get the biking gear on, unlock the bike etc.

For longer rides dripping is not going to be a problem.

The oil in the reservoir is going to last me a months worth of communiting which aint bad. Probably last a bit longer now that I've sorted out the dosing.

Dennis from Loobman has been most helpful, answering all my emails without fail so I can't fault the company. (Haven't had to return anything though but don't think this would be problematic)

Better than a ScotOiler
Definately better value for money and I can get 5ltrs of engine oil (suggested by Loobman) for just over the cost of 0.5ltrs of ScotOil lube.

A gentle squeeze of the bottle is the only extra bit of effort required.

The ScotOiler drips as well when stationary.

Haven't checked the volume of the reservoirs but they look like they hold similar quantities (Not including the touring reservoir add on).

Chain oilers aren't everyone's cup of tea but if you're after one then I do rate the Loobman and would buy another.
Due to a rather large pillion (Mrs wants it clear it wasn't her) the reservoir bottle ruptured on the tyre.
Contacted Loobman to see how much a new one would cost.
They said just send it back together with a stamped address envelope for the new bit and they'll replace it free of charge.
Even though it wasn't their\product fault.

Can't ask for a better service than that

[*Touring Ted*]

Mine self destructed in about 30 mins as soon as I went off smooth tarmac. Maybe it's the way I fitted it but I can't see what I did wrong !! The delivery "zipties" kept snapping and were a pain in the arse to change.

It's £15-£20 for a reason (flimsey) but definately better than nothing. A Scottoiler is about £70 and imo way worth the extra.

I kept forgetting to squeeze the bottle too making it pointless. Although, that's my fault !

[dave ett]

Originally Posted by rambrose

The ScotOiler drips as well when stationary.

Hmmm, maybe a drop or two, but generally once the engine is stopped the vacuum ceases and the metering valve closes, so the oil stops. Sure gravity will pull a bit out of the tube, but it's not going to syphon the entire contents out of the reservoir...

[Tony P]

Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*

Mine self destructed in about 30 mins as soon as I went off smooth tarmac.

Yours lasted well then!

Mine was pulled apart by the first tuft of long grass having been fine all the way to Siberia.

Nice idea.
Neat on bike.
Expensive for the bits of platic you get.

Probably fine for tarmac only bikes.

[*Touring Ted*]

Originally Posted by Tony P

Yours lasted well then!

Mine was pulled apart by the first tuft of long grass having been fine all the way to Siberia.

Nice idea.
Neat on bike.
Expensive for the bits of platic you get.

Probably fine for tarmac only bikes.

Oh definately.. The cost to manufacture is probably 3p !

Generic plastic bottle, bit of tubing , a few zip ties, some old fence wire and maybe 1-2 moulded parts..

TonyP puts it in a nutshell.... It's a cheap alternative for a streetbike but just asking for failure for any other type of riding. It's just far too flimsey.

[Flyingdoctor]

I have a loobman fitted to mt 250 Serow and like the simplicity of it. Mine works fine. You can't beat gravity as a delivery system! I've used a Scottoiler on a lot of my bikes but it's sitting on the shelf in my garage at the moment as I've now got a Guzzi with shaft drive, oh what joy.