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Chain adjust nomenclature.


CoyoteChris

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I love this bike!  Time for the first oil change (piece of cake) and a chain adjust.

I got out my breaker bar, torque wrench, rulers, etc and went to work on adjusting the chain.

Unencumbered by the thought process, I read the procedure in the owners manual.  I then decided to do the business on the center stand instead of the side stand and note the difference.  I also checked the slack at four points, just like it was 1964 all over again. It didnt change from side stand to center stand that I could tell.

Question. In days of yore, we would put a ruler perpendicular to the chain at midpoint, press the chain down first (about 1/4 inch on this bike) and then press the chain up. I did this on my VFR and set the slack to 1 inch at midpoint.  If this what y'all do?  Sept is at an end here in the great Pacific NW...still time for a nice warm ride or two....but winter is coming.

VFR Sept.jpg

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Hi Chris.

Love mine as well! Chain adjust is also a piece of cake! Gotta love the single swingarm.

 

The 8gen specifies checking the chain with bike on side stand. My guess for this is that there is no center stand with the standard model. Simply suggesting side stand covers both versions.

 

The 6gen mentions chain tension whilst on center stand. Both 6 and 8gen specify the same chain slack of 25 to 35mm.

 

I've found it makes no real difference on an 8gen wether side stand or center stand. Just a lot easier doing the adjustment on the center stand if you have it, as per the 6gen. Had no chain issues doing it this way after 68,000kms on my 8gen. YMMV. (Currently on second chain with the original OEM sprockets).

 

Cheers.:beer:

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1 hour ago, Grum said:

Hi Chris.

Love mine as well! Chain adjust is also a piece of cake! Gotta love the single swingarm.

 

The 8gen specifies checking the chain with bike on side stand. My guess for this is that there is no center stand with the standard model. Simply suggesting side stand covers both versions.

 

The 6gen mentions chain tension whilst on center stand. Both 6 and 8gen specify the same chain slack of 25 to 35mm.

 

I've found it makes no real difference on an 8gen wether side stand or center stand. Just a lot easier doing the adjustment on the center stand if you have it, as per the 6gen. Had no chain issues doing it this way after 68,000kms on my 8gen. YMMV. (Currently on second chain with original OEM sprockets).

 

Cheers.:beer:

Thanks, Grum. Do you press down on the chain, note the ruler marking, and then pull up?  Wow, looks like you are getting great sprocket and chain milage......which lube do you prefer and what chain cleaner?  You must be doing something right. 👍

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36 minutes ago, CoyoteChris said:

Thanks, Grum. Do you press down on the chain, note the ruler marking, and then pull up?  Wow, looks like you are getting great sprocket and chain milage......which lube do you prefer and what chain cleaner?  You must be doing something right. 👍

Hi Chris.

Never measured the slack. I simply pull down and push up, no rocket science in knowing what 25 to 35mm looks like especially with us ex Aircraft Engineers!

Years ago I bumped into a very experienced motorcycle mechanic and he recommended Maxima Chain Wax and I've been using it ever since, really like the stuff. I generally don't travel more that a couple of hundred K's without giving the chain a good squirt. Currently running a nice Gold EK525ZVX3124 (cut back to 110 links) and is performing excellently. Generally just wipe over the chain side plates with a Kerosene soaked rag to get it looking good and clean.

Ahh Yes the other added gem of the center stand, more pieces of cake! So easy to lube and clean a chain.

Cheers.

 

image.jpeg

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Ha, that's the same wax I've been using for years.

and same for me, 60,000km on my last chain with only 2 adjustments in it's life.

Only swapped it out as I went for a 520 chain kit with 2 extra teeth on the rear.

25,000km on it now with only one adjustment at 1000km.

Quality chains do make a difference.

I've never used a ruler either, I know what 25 to 35mm looks like.

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I'll add a funny storey about chain lube.

A few years ago on one of our runs to Phillip Island for WSBK with the boys, my mate forgot chain lube.

I offered him mine but I only take a tiny can of Maxima that gives you four lubes which is good enough for a 2000km trip, he wouldn't accept it as he didn't want to use it all up.

At a servo that we stopped at I noticed a can of Castrol antifling chain oil.

He asked me about it and I told him I used to use it back in the 80's and it was good stuff, so he bought it.

We had just covered 65km of dirt road so he gave his chain a liberal dose, and decided to be a nice bloke and did all our bikes.

Faaark, the crap went everywhere, I've never seen chain lube spread so far and wide.

Seriously, we were cleaning it out of every possible surface for weeks after we got back including leathers and luggage.

Even the bloke on the R1200R with no chain had it all over him.

Antifling my arse.

The can has now been glued to a piece of timber and has a bronze plaque on it, it has become our "best passing maneuver on the Bonang" trophy which is handed out every year after our Phillip Island trip.

 

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Run your chain looser than what Honda recommends and it might last longer.  No scientific proof but a lot of people do that.  I've gotten 28K from VFR chains doing this.  As far as chain lube, it's like "fuel injector cleaners".....they all work, just use it.  Honda recommended differential lube works great, is the cheapest, and doesn't attract grit and grime unless you slop it on.  

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On 9/27/2019 at 7:48 PM, Grum said:

Hi Chris.

Never measured the slack. I simply pull down and push up, no rocket science in knowing what 25 to 35mm looks like especially with us ex Aircraft Engineers!

Years ago I bumped into a very experienced motorcycle mechanic and he recommended Maxima Chain Wax and I've been using it ever since, really like the stuff. I generally don't travel more that a couple of hundred K's without giving the chain a good squirt. Currently running a nice Gold EK525ZVX3124 (cut back to 110 links) and is performing excellently. Generally just wipe over the chain side plates with a Kerosene soaked rag to get it looking good and clean.

Ahh Yes the other added gem of the center stand, more pieces of cake! So easy to lube and clean a chain.

Cheers.

 

image.jpeg

All right!  I will try some.  My friend Frosty and I are both pilots and we dont have the sense God gave an eggplant so we measured ours. It turns out to be the low limit when the chain wont touch the upper rubber guard....

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On 9/27/2019 at 7:48 PM, Grum said:

Hi Chris.

Never measured the slack. I simply pull down and push up, no rocket science in knowing what 25 to 35mm looks like especially with us ex Aircraft Engineers!

Years ago I bumped into a very experienced motorcycle mechanic and he recommended Maxima Chain Wax and I've been using it ever since, really like the stuff. I generally don't travel more that a couple of hundred K's without giving the chain a good squirt. Currently running a nice Gold EK525ZVX3124 (cut back to 110 links) and is performing excellently. Generally just wipe over the chain side plates with a Kerosene soaked rag to get it looking good and clean.

Ahh Yes the other added gem of the center stand, more pieces of cake! So easy to lube and clean a chain.

Cheers.

 

image.jpeg

Not worth the money for the cleaner and penetrator? 

Maxima-chain-wax-care-kit__49733.1507738536.jpg

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25 minutes ago, CoyoteChris said:

Not worth the money for the cleaner and penetrator? 

Maxima-chain-wax-care-kit__49733.1507738536.jpg

Hi Chris.

Haven't seen the triple pack before,so can't comment. I just get by with Kero on a rag to get the chain clean and just use the Chain Wax after a ride while the chain is still warm. YMMV.

Cheers.

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Yeah Kerosene or Paraffin as its called in the UK will do the job. I've also found diesel to be a really cheap cleaner as well as being an oil. Either just melts the chain lube by thinning it out & thus makes washing the accumulated dirt off so much simpler.  For lube I generally use hypoid 80/90 gear oil, applied to a warm chain is best. Not the best anti fling properties, but excellent lubrication properties. 

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On 9/29/2019 at 1:22 AM, Bent said:

Run your chain looser than what Honda recommends and it might last longer.  No scientific proof but a lot of people do that.  

I agree with that; my internal logic is that if the chain is tighter, it puts more load on the bearing pins when the suspension passes through the point when the sprockets and swingarm pivot are perfectly aligned. I think this is why chains develop tight spots when the rest of the chain is fine.

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15 hours ago, Terry said:

I agree with that; my internal logic is that if the chain is tighter, it puts more load on the bearing pins when the suspension passes through the point when the sprockets and swingarm pivot are perfectly aligned. I think this is why chains develop tight spots when the rest of the chain is fine.

That puts some scientific logic on things.  Thanks Terry!

 

A chain can actually be run very loose and still do fine.  I see no reason for it to be "very loose" but I've seen it with no problems.  Very tight just doesn't seem logical.....

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On 10/7/2019 at 11:07 PM, Mohawk said:

Yeah Kerosene or Paraffin as its called in the UK will do the job. I've also found diesel to be a really cheap cleaner as well as being an oil. Either just melts the chain lube by thinning it out & thus makes washing the accumulated dirt off so much simpler.  For lube I generally use hypoid 80/90 gear oil, applied to a warm chain is best. Not the best anti fling properties, but excellent lubrication properties. 

Thats what I did in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Now, My Suzuki manual says DONT USE KEROSENE TO CLEAN THE CHAIN. I can see where putting kero on a rag wont hurt anything, but some riders claim lots of kero applied with a spray bottle and brush will get the kero past the O rings and disolve out out the inner lubricant.  But there are lots of people saying on the web they use kero and spray it on thick and brush the chain to take off all the dirt....

Hence, I see there are chain cleaners on the market like the one I put a pic of. 

I demand an SAE paper be published on the matter!!!!!🤣

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12 hours ago, Bent said:

That puts some scientific logic on things.  Thanks Terry!

 

A chain can actually be run very loose and still do fine.  I see no reason for it to be "very loose" but I've seen it with no problems.  Very tight just doesn't seem logical.....

Just as too tight valve actuators and too loose valve actuators produce different sets of problems, I feel too tight chains and too loose chains produce their own sets of problems. Me? I like to stay a bit looser than the tight limit.  This bike has a very smooth drive line that way and if I wear out the chain a bit early, so be it....right now...winter is coming....got in one last ride 390 mile (with the FJR) with snow on the mountains two days ago....last night, it snowed at my house....yuck phooy! 😣

 

 

Cabinet Mountains Montana.JPG

Clark Fork River Valley, MT.JPG

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Winter, that's just wrong right now!!  I'm enjoying the beginnings of a beautiful Fall!!  Going riding in the mountains soon while the leaves fall.

 

To get more specific on chains, I find that overly tight chains cause poor shifting.  Right now my shifting is perfect with that crisp "snick" making rev matching easy.  I just changed the clutch fluid which can make a difference as well.   

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