Help a newbie out please! Gear shifting and Chains

Well, come tomorrow morning I'll be caging myself on the hunt for that spanner tool. If all else fails I'll try to acquire the help of a fellow member but I really want to sort this out myself. The experience and knowledge would be invaluable. Hopefully this tool won't prove to be impossible to find. You guys are the best! Thanks to you all I'm much more sure on what to do with this bike.

 

Hopefully someone nearby can give you a hand with the chain and if not I hate to say it but a local dealer might be able to help you adjust the chain.

I have used HondaPartsNation.com to order parts for my bike on occasion. Here is a link to their site. Take a look. The pin spanner for the chain lists for less than $15. If you need one quickly, getting one from the dealer may cost a bit more but generally if they have to order it in, the shipping is usually free so that may offset the cost somewhat.

http://hondapartsnation.com/oemparts/a/hon/506ca835f870023420a3fe3b/tools

 

Just out of curiosity sakes I checked the part number for the chain pin spanner wrench in the tool kit and they showed the same part number for a 97 VFR750, a 2001 VFR800 and for a 2006 VFR800. Should make tracking down that particular part a bit easier.

 

Adjusting chain tension is a two step process that begins and ends with a pinch bolt turning.

This dude needs a factory manual ASAP.

 

Just viewed the video - that screeching sound alone screams at you this chain is way too tight!

Good news is the rear sprocket does not seem too bad, but given the amount of rust on the outer plates of that chain and the noise it makes I would be getting the chain replaced as soon as I could afford to. If funds are really tight - then please make sure you adjust the chain tension before riding it again.

Take care



SkiMad

 

Chain seems too tight to me. Wheel should spin a little easier than in your vid. If the single sided swing arm had a cush drive, I would say that is shot, but it is a bearing set-up.

That squeeking is puzzling, like I said, ride over to Broward, and I will do a 50 point Safety/inspection for yah!

Chain tool is a specialty tool for that motorcycle, Ducati uses something which escapes me, you could use a ratty screwdriver and a hammer if you were in absolute battle conditions. Anyway, Cheers and ttyl...

 

:welcome: to the zoo mate, I am very impress with all the response and help on this forum :thumbsup:
Kudo to everyone above arty2:

 

Sounds like everyone is happy but the local dealerships who probably get $300.00 for a chain adjustment.

 

I am sending him a Pay Pal request for only $250. Those dealerships are a rip off!

 

HaHa..........anyone want to clue this rider in on the hammer and drift method of moving the toothed adjuster ring ?? Works OK if things aren't gunked up.

Did we find out the mileage on the bike ?? A stock OEM chain is usually on the way out at about 20,000 miles. Price shock for soul purifier: you can't find a set of quality sprockets and chain for less than about $165-$180 even if you shop carefully, and cheap stuff ain't worth using !!!!

 

I am absolutely happy to be apart of these boards. The amount of help and insight I'm receiving is astounding and I'm definitely thankful for it all!

So to update:

There was a local bike dealer down the street from me so I waited till they opened and I slowly rode the bike over there to see if they had the appropriate spanner wrench. Thank God they did and they let me borrow it so I set up the bike on the center stand and loosened up the chain by following the .PDF service manual that Randy and zoom provided me. SO much better. The bike shifts a ton smoother and the rattling is significantly reduced. There's still a *hint* of jingling whenever I pass a solid object on my left. So I'm planning on replacing the chain altogether upon my next paycheck. And maybe my entire sprocket if the set is $165 - $200......may as well get it over with right?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what brand chain and sprocket to get or where to get it from?


In other news; I contacted the guy who sold me the bike and he told me to come over afterwards. So I came and he gave me.... A SERVICE MANUAL!!! The whole entire book!!!! I have never been so excited to have received a book before. It's a Clymer!

So now the bike feels a lot better and my spirits are lifted. I feel so much happier being back on the bike!!

@ ridervfr
I'm most likely gonna ride down to Broward for that inspection and the clutch and brake work sometime later this week or the next. Damned work schedule :/


So the next bit of advice I need......and I'm pretty sure this has been covered a million times but......motor oil? I have a gallon of X-tra 10w-50 castrol and the filter but I've been thinking....why can't I just use my automobile mobil 1 full synthetic? I have loads of the stuff and I don't see how motorcycle oil is different from car oil. Anyone got insight on that?



Thanks!

 

Noooooooo. :fear:


Please do not use fully synthetic oil in your bike - use the stuff specified by Honda in your manual which is semi-synthetic. Its not just engine oil it is gear box oil too. Your VFR gear box is not designed for fully synthetic and as others have found it can make gear selection a lottery if you use it. (Yes there are bikes out there which are designed to use fully synthetic oil but yours is not one of them).

Thanks for the update on the chain. :thumbsup: You may want to spend some time reading that Clymer manual.

Take care


SkiMad

 

Ok so stay away from full synthetic then. Roger that! I have the option of trading my stock of mobil 1 full synthetic to the semi-syn high milage variant or the regular dino version of it but the catch is that it's for the automotive version only. This stockpile is a result of the car scene madness. I read a ton about how the oil doesn't matter as long as the viscosity is decent (The Shell Rotella T thread for example) so in theory a car oil made in 2013 should be more than good enough for a 1997 V4 bike right?

 

I am prepared for a verbal bashing here but to the best of my knowledge the oil used should be of a grade specified in the owners manual. Main reason being that, as Skid pointed out, just because it is good enough for a car may not make it good enough for the bike. The oil in your bike serves two purposes, one is to lubricate the engine, the other is to lubricate the clutch. You don't want too many friction reducing additives that would make the engine run great but at the same time make the clutch slip.

Please, I am no expert on this, so I will allow the experts to chime in on this one. Personally I use the Motul Semi-synthetic that I buy from my local Honda dealer. Yes, I know, I said the "D" word, but I enjoy dealing with the guys there and they always have the oil in stock which saves me having to drive around to find what I want and when you live in a small town, your choices are a bit more limited. I also like to support the local dealers when I can, especially when they send me work.

 

DO NOT use automotive oil in a motorcycle. Auto oil has friction modifiers and detergents in it that is not compatible with motorcycles wet clutches!

That being said, I am using Rotella T now and it seems fine. But it does meet the JASO requirements, it just isn't certified.

 

Been using Rotella-T in the mach 1 91 for about 3-4 years switching over from semi-synthetic Golden Spectro that the "local" Oregon dealer in Corvallis just raised the price to $8.00 a quart which even the distributor said was a ripoff.

No leaks, no clutch slippage, no weeping seals or Orings.. A bunch of that clutch shit is IMO, because the clutch hydraulics need a flush and new fluid put in.

For the infidels, pop the top off the master cylinder or both for that matter and check for crud in the bottoms. Also on some bikes, there is a silicone dam that after awhile gives up.


No bashing for zoomer dude. He may just have one of the good dealers.

 

I know I said before, for the sake of what it would cost, I would stick with the motorcycle specific oil and still do largely believe in that. The extra cost considering how many times you change your oil is miniscule. But I am changing to the Rotella T Semi Synthetic only because it is suitable for my bike as proven by Stuke here, and it is the same oil I can use in my truck. I am sick of so many different cans of oil about the garage, be they oil for air tools, bike and bicycle, two stroke engines or what ever. I am attempting unification where I can.

 

This is the tool used on the Hawk that also works on a VFR.....




(Roundtail ground squirrel included for scale)

 

Hammer and Drift? is'nt that a sacriledge? I've done it, forgive meEEEeeeeEEEEeeeeEE...