New Ride, First Bike, lots of questions

I bought my 2006 Honda VFR 800 in October with 12,000 miles on it. As soon as I got the bike I had brought it into the local Honda dealership, for service. Now that a couple hundred miles have past, I decided to clean and lube the chain. Is it possible to have too much lube or not enough on the chain? What are the signs that you look for to indicate the condition of the chain?

 

If you have too much lube on your chain it will simply fling off and make a mess but otherwise is harmless unless you put so much on that it gets all over your tires. Too little lube will cause pre-mature wear on the chain since there is increased friction between the chain rollers and sprocket teeth. The lube will also keep the o-rings from drying out and keeps the chain from developing rust. With proper maintenance you should get about 15k miles total before needing replacement. The biggest indication of needing a new chain is when there is too much slack and you are unable to tighten it any more by rotating the eccentric cam which adjusts the axle position. The exact slack measurement can be found in the service manual but should be somewhere around 1.5 inches from the chains highest point to the lowest. If you don't understand what I've explained just YouTube it and you'll see plenty of vids on how to check the slack.

Rollin

 

The usual routine is to clean and lube the chain every 500 miles or anytime you wash the bike or caught up in the rain..

 

Thanks! The bike is just to get out riding in Arizona with my Dad and friends. So there have not been to miles put on it, and definitely has seen water yet. Cleaned and lubed the chain this afternoon, letting it sit over night.

Thanks again

 

Ya my first chain I did not lube enough on my 1990 and had to replace it at 12000 miles I think. DId not really realize I had to do it that often.

 

As long as you are using an O-ring type chain (or Z or X or whatever), the lube is really just there to keep the O-rings soft and the rust to a minimum. Too little lube will let the O-rings dry out and the lube sealed inside the chain may get contaminated causing premature wear. Too much lube and it will spin off onto everything, including the tire. Too much lube will also collect dust and dirt which can slowly damage the links and o-rings causing premature wear.

To lube the chain I normally support the bike with the back wheel off the ground. I also like to place cardboard under the chain because there will be some overspray and some dripping lube. I spray the lube onto the outside of the chain while rotating the back wheel and ensuring I lube the inner and outer parts. After letting the lube soak in for a few minutes, I use a rag to wipe off any excess lube while rotating the back tire.

I rarely clean the chain, it just doesn't get that dirty on my VFR. On the other hand my dirtbike chain gets cleaned about every other lube.

 

Due to the disgusting amount of road salt thrown on the roads over here in the u.k i've had to take my chain off my previous bikes completely and leave them to soak in oil.

Glad I have a scotoiler. Cleans and lubes the chain as it goes along. Takes some time setting up, but once it's done you never have to lube it yourself again. Don't know how easy it is to buy in the u.s though.

Will post pics of mine if anyone is interested.