Don't be too quick to open that mid drive motor yet.

[Trail Cruiser]

My BBSHD at 2,300 miles was making chirping noise. I lubed the chain, one link at a time. I also lubed the pedal crank shaft bearing by allowing the oil to seep though while the ebike is tilted to the right side. Everything went good after that until after a couple hundred miles when chirping noise came back again. It became louder when the assist level was higher.

I was about to open up my mid drive motor and lube the internal gears and bearings. However, since I also noticed that one of the chain link pin was dislocated and rubbing, I thought of putting a new chain first before opening up my BBSHD.

Lucky for me, all the noise disappeared with the new $14.00 chain.

The take home lessons for me were:

1. The original chain lube that came with the chain lasts more than a thousand miles.
2. Relubing the chain can only last few hundred miles before noise comes bask.
3. Relubing the chain does not guaranty complete seepage of the lubricant into each rollers plus since the lubricant is not as thick, it also easily leaves the rollers dry.
4. Put a new chain first (it's easy and not that expensive, got mine for 14 bucks at ebay) to see if the noise resolves before opening up and potentially making mistakes in handling your mid drive motor unit.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Would the Dry Lube (goes on wet but dries to a waxy finish) from a company like Finish Line work better for you, and also lubing more frequently than a 1000 miles ? Recommendations I have seen, indicate properly cleaning chain and lubing several times a week if you are in dusty conditions and riding daily, or at least a couple times a month if riding only a few times per week and in non dusty conditions. Cleaning before lubricating is important, otherwise lubrication won't necessarily get into the right locations (pins within the links) if there is too much dirt built up. Bad habits die hard - and it seems cleaning and lubricating chains on regular bikes is the LAST thing people usually think of doing, and folks have been known to go years (yikes) without doing any lubrication. (not good). I'm sure you know all of this being a seasoned member, however with an ebike, and especially a mid drive where so much more torque is conveyed through the chain, its a worthwhile 'investment' of time to clean and lubricate the chain as regularly as possible. Your tip is great by the way - no sense digging into any mid drive motor if you don't have to.

 

[Figs]

I have used a cheap dry lube from Lowe’s for over 10 years. Always got 5000 miles plus from my chains on my road bike. I lube every hundred mile and clean with WD-40 and relube every 500 miles. Simple, easy and cheap. The bike branded dry lube is good too, but cost a lot more because of the marketing.

Getting ready to hit 1000 miles on my eBike, a still like new.