What do I do to make the chain last in sand

[cjjeeper]

I'm just getting back into dirt biking, just bought 2 new bikes, an XR250 and a CRF230. Where I live its pretty much nothing but sugar sand dusty stuff, the chain after a short ride is coated with the gritty crap. I know its gonna shorten the life of the chain and sprockets by a bunch. What do you guys do to make a chain and sprockets live in those conditions for more than a minute? I've been using an o-ring friendly brake cleaner, but its getting kind of expensive. Is this my only option?

 

[motometal]

it's somewhat sandy where I ride, but not like you described.  Myself and most of my riding pals swear by o-ring chains.  Set it and forget it, just spray a bit of WD etc. after washing to keep the chain from rusting. 

Maybe we'll get some reports from some hard core sand diggers and see what they run.

 

[MWEISSEN]

I believe the bikes you mentioned both come with O-ring chains as stock. If you're using a lot of chain lube, you'll attract sand and dust. Like previously said, just use WD-40 after you wash the bikes, let it set awhile and wipe off the excess with a rag.