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Ok, I'm Stoopid... Chain Adjustment?


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Guest SOTY

Ok, I'm stoopid... How do you adjust the chain tension on the VFR 6th gen? Is it near the sprocket or sumptin?

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There is a spanner wrench with a flat extension tube in your tool kit. Loosen the pinch bolt at the aft end of the swingarm. Take the spanner wrench and set it into the toothed wheel on the swingarm side of the wheel hub. It works in either the clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, depending on how much adjustment needs to be put in or taken out if you set ti too tight. When you have the chain properly adjusted, remove the spanner and tighten the pinch bolt. All done.

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Ok, I'm stoopid... How do you adjust the chain tension on the VFR 6th gen? Is it near the sprocket or sumptin?

Have you looked in the owner's manual? I'm pretty sure it's in there. :blink:

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The pinch bolt is a 17mm ....FWIW.. easy to do and NOTE you should NOT need to use a hammer n punch to move it as some have posted on here that previous owners had before them..

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It is the easiest chain to adjust on any motorcycle made. Your owners manual explains the whole thing.

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Torque spec on the pinch bolt is 54, btw.

BTW, that is 54 Lbs-ft or 74 N-m

SOTY

If this is your first chain adjustment resist the urge to make it tighter than the spec 1"-1 3/8" at its tightest point.

Sometimes; n00bs to chain adjustment, think that tighter is better for they think it will stay in spec longer.........Tiz' not true. On the Loose side is better than on the tight side when it comes to chains.

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Here's the adjuster ring you're looking for:

vfr_hub.jpg

Soichiro is right. The VFR's chain is trivial to adjust compared to standard swingarms.

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  • 4 months later...
  • Member Contributer
Here's the adjuster ring you're looking for:

vfr_hub.jpg

Soichiro is right. The VFR's chain is trivial to adjust compared to standard swingarms.

Is the pinch bolt the one just under and to the right of the arrow pointing to the adjuster ring in the photo? If so, then to tighten my chain I loosen that bolt, and turn the adjuster ring counter clockwise if I were looking at the bike from the swingarm side?

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Yes, the pinch bolt is the one you can see in the photo. Don't overtighten it either but do be firm, on't want that one coming loose as your chain could adjust itself on the run.... You don't turn the adjuster counterclockwise, per se, but in the direction necessary to achieve the desired affect, one way to loosen, the other to tighten, you'll see it loosen off or tighten up in a very obvious way anyways, just 1 mm of adjustment on the adjuster spanner will tighten or loosen that chain to a degree you wouldn't expect if you haven't seen it before. REal easy to overdo it either way.

Funny thing is on the VTEC, it's the opposite direction to tighten as it is on the 5th gen... go figure!!

It is well true that a chain is better off slightly loose than slightly tight, otherwise you'll wear it and the sprockets out quick fast.

I believe a new chain should have around 25 mm of free play. Just how this free play is measured seems to be a point of contention, as one can pull the chain down all the way to its full extent, but it can't be pushed up all the way as it hits the swing arm first... and the 25mm is supposed to be from one extreme to the other as I understand it. You will hear all sort of theories on the net about doing it with someone mounted on the bike etc etc, but I have never heard of it being done that way amongst the people I know and/or respect in the MC world in person... if it's an old chain with a few tight spots on it, it's better to have the tight spot in spec and the loose spot, by default, overly loose... if you can't or don't want to pay for a new chain and sprocket set yet... I'm currently squeezing a little extra life out of mine (80,000 km & I believe it's the second set since new, I know for certain I've done 40,000 km with this set), and have enjoyed playing around with different tensions and noting the difference, seeing as I will be swapping this one out, I figured I may as well experiment and learn some...

It really is surprisingly easy on the VFR.

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Here's a tip for adjustment: set your adjuster wrench on the ring, so the hook is engaged in a tooth on the ring. Hold the wrench extension handle against the tire, and gently rotate the wheel and wrench together, just a little bit. Check the freeplay in the centre of the lower part of the chain, by moving the chain up and down. When the upper length of chain starts to move, then that's as far as you need to push it to determine the amount of slack. The slack/freeplay is the total amount of movement up and down and should be about 1 to 1.5 inches.

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  • 2 months later...

Sorry to resurrect a thread most likely left dead, but i didn't want to be accused of not using the search feature.....so here goes:

Yesterday as I was fiddleing around in the garage, I walked past my bike and happened to see the Center Stand. I got to thinking about those who convert their 6th gens to Catless exhaust, and I was curious what bump stop they had to figure out...so I bent down to look at it. As I moved the center stand I noticed that it was bumping my chain.....that couldn't be right!

I walked around to the left side (where all adjustment is taken on, and the side you use to index "Counter Clockwise" for those who are still unsure). The chain was so loose I could almost slide it off the rear sprocket! I had adjusted it a couple months prior, and know I need to replace it and both sprockets (no discussion about whether you need to replace sprockets or not, not starting THAT again), however for now I just needed to tighten it a bit so I could ride to work the next day, Chain Kit will have to be ordered. As I adjusted it, I was having a hard time understanding where to measure from/to in order to get 1-1.25" of free play.

The chain doesn't flex down much, unless i push from the top side, so it seems all slack is measured on the bottom section, flexing upwards. In 1 inch it would hit the swingarm (while on the Center Stand), so I wasn't sure if I was measuring at the right spot. I ended up erring on the side of a "a bit too loose" in the mean time, but the new Chain/Sprocket kits I would like to be more precise on.

So where is the right place to measure from? Do you just use your tape from ground to swingarm, then measure near the middle of the bottom section?

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Check the slack midway between the sprockets while the bike is on the centerstand and always err on the side of being a little loose . Also spin the wheel around and check your slack at several points as you may have tight spots in the chain.

ChainAdjustment.jpg

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Thanks Dutch...that's what made sense but it seemed to hit my Swingarm a bit too fast. Not sure I have that sticker on my bike...probably covered in dirt from the recent ice melt attempts.

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For anyone that has had their posts in this thread DELETED - I did it.

I received a complaint about the content of the BS going on in this thread, I agreed with the issue - so I ended it.

Please - there is no need for garbage comments.

:dry:

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Josh, hope this helps... you measure the slack just the way the sticker indicates... measure half way along the bottom run of the chain. As I mention above, the diagram on the sticker doesn't match reality. You can push downward on the chain to see the extent of its slack in that direction, but you can't (as displayed on the sticker) push it all the way up to the full extent as it hits the swingarm. Someone mentions it only just reaching the rubber guard on the underside of the swingarm,but in my experience, this is too tight. Not to worry. I guess Honda kept that in mind. :S

Measure the full play in the chain using the centre of the pivots as your reference point. I jam a tape-measure or ruler up against the bottom face of the swingarm and push down on the chain and measure where the pivots come to. Then subtract half the height of a link (= from the pivot point to the edge) and subtract that. This is your slack.

Turn the wheel with the bike in neutral and look for tight spots on the chain and adjust at these tighter spots to within spec. No point along the chain should have less than the recommended slack (25mm on the VTEC VFR). In my opinion the looser parts of the chain can have up to 35mm of slack with no real noticeable effects whilst riding... once this is surpassed, you will notice a rhythmic jerking or cyclic jerking effect whilst maintaining constant speeds and possibly unusual jerking effects whilst engine braking, changing gears will be less smooth.. etc etc... due to the larger difference between the tight and loose parts of the chain...

I believe that with the recommended tension, it is possible to separate the links from the rear sprocket's teeth, but obviously not very much, and definitely not to the point of clearing the teeth... oh yeah, another thing, I have seen the odd chain on a VTEC and 5th gen, which was almost resting on the centrestand when these bikes were resting on the sidestand... the real test is with the bike on the centrestand and no-one seated on it, but this is usually a sign of a loose chain (or a loose spot on a stretched chain).

Be doubly sure not to overtighten your new chain, you can stretch one to the point of ruining it on just one long one-day ride if it's too tight...

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Put bike on center stand. Loosen pinch bolt.

Grab wheel and pull towards the rear. Tighten pinch bolt.

Check chain slack. Done. Couldn't be easier. :goofy:

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  • 4 weeks later...
Put bike on center stand. Loosen pinch bolt.

Grab wheel and pull towards the rear. Tighten pinch bolt.

Check chain slack. Done. Couldn't be easier. :blink:

"Grab wheel and pull towards rear"? If that was all the was required, wouldn't it loosen right back up? I figured that's what the eccentric was for, to loosen/tighten it. I still need a new chain, but was able to get the correct setting after refreshing myself of where to turn the eccentric....I don't have the right wrench in my kit, so a long screwdriver and a persuasion tool was required.

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  • 10 months later...
Put bike on center stand. Loosen pinch bolt.

Grab wheel and pull towards the rear. Tighten pinch bolt.

Check chain slack. Done. Couldn't be easier. :fing02:

"Grab wheel and pull towards rear"? If that was all the was required, wouldn't it loosen right back up? I figured that's what the eccentric was for, to loosen/tighten it. I still need a new chain, but was able to get the correct setting after refreshing myself of where to turn the eccentric....I don't have the right wrench in my kit, so a long screwdriver and a persuasion tool was required.

Thanks guys - this is most helpful. I am a noob VFR800 2005 owner (purchased in October). I wanted to lube my chain for the first time, but had a hard time getting the bike on the center stand (too afraid the bike will fall over while I struggle to get it up - I will get there). I also noticed while on the side stand that the chain in resting on the swingarm guide. So there was no space to pull the chain down to test slack. I assumed my chain is over loose. But it make sense now that I can ONLY say for sure when its on the center stand.

I must admit that I was ver disappointed at first, as I purchased this bike that was supposedly serviced by the dealer 1000km ago (28900km). The sprocket edge is however already inline with the outer edge of the move indicator - this means the chain has been adjusted to its fullest already. I hope that when I manage to get in on the center stand, the chain will prove to be in order.

By the way - do I need a torque wrench to get that pincher bolt tightened up correctly? My guess is yes.

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  • 1 year later...

Ok, I'm stoopid... How do you adjust the chain tension on the VFR 6th gen? Is it near the sprocket or sumptin?

I was informed that i needed to order a 'longer' swing arm when i inquired about this.

I think someone's messing with you head, use another dealer if that comment came from them.

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