hya... i noticed lately my chain seems to tighten up after riding for a bit. especially after a stretch of motorway it really tightens. so i keep chainslack fairly loose when measured cold (on the loose side of 35mm) so i keep some slack when i sit on it and after a few kms when the chain warms up. has anyone noticed this too ? i have the stock (rk) chain on it wich has only done 6000kms sofar... is this normal? i cant remember anything like this on previous bikes... maybe a have to cut off the oem chain en bin it? i aint a fan of rk-chains as it is (normally run DID chains)
Interesting question, i had been setting my chain according to the handbook ie 30mm. Took it for a Dyno tune a couple of weeks ago and the guy had to slacken it off after about 30 mins got so hot you couldn't hold on to it. Now I keep it a bit slacker.
both the axel nut and the adjuster bolts are torqued to spec always and defenatly not on the move. in fact if any of those where to come undone the chain would more likely pull the wheel forward caussing more slack instead of thightening up the chain. i think it has to do with the sprocket warming up and expanding in turn caussing the chain to tighten or something? fact is,if i adjust to manual instructions and keep it on the tight side of what honda says its gonna be very tight if i ride it for a bit... i just measured it once more and at the tightest spot it now has over 35mm (max honda spec) play sitting on sidestand with nobody on it. i rode it yesterday like this and after 30kms or so it had about 25mm play left at the tightest spot with me sitting on it and a hot chain. so if i adjust it cold at 25mm (min play according to honda) its defenatly gonna be way to tight after riding for a while. i noticed this before on other bikes i owned but never this extreme... maybe its the RK chain that it came with? normally i only use heavy duty DID chains and i feel those are better quality then the one my bike came with. i did check every link on this chain and nothing is broken or seized on it...i keep it lubed properly aswell... i think i just keep an eye on it for a bit and if it keeps playing up i just grind it off and put a DID on with new sprockets but that would be a bit ridiculous with less then 10k kms on the odo meter
Sounds like you've got a dodgy chain and or sprockets. I would just get rid asap. No way I'd risk riding that around, chain could snap at anytime and could cause a nasty accident.
My original thought was that the axel could have moved back, but if you're sure that it's not moving, then the sprocket is the easiest thing to swap out first.
i been to the dealership i got the bike from and had them take a look just now. no tight spots or visible damage on either chain or sprockets... i expressed my worries and he agreed (tho he felt nothing wrong with it) the risk doesnt way up to the expenses so he made a phone call to honda NL and they warrant a new chain of choice and both sprockets... since i be doing the work myselve (i dont trust anyone ) they be paying me 1.5 hours laybour aswell. now normally wear parts aint warranted by honda but given the low mileage they wouldnt take responsibility for anything going wrong with it. my guess that richard (dealership owner) is a friend of mine helped aswell.. i still feel the tightening of a hot chain is not abnormal and probably the chain and sprockets are fine but being handed a free DID with sprockets and money in the bank i couldnt care less...
In theory the sprockets will expend with heat but so should the chain! Am guessing they aren't expending at a similar rate and hence you're getting the tight chain! Personally I think the oem isn't great and use heavy duty DiD chain and talon rear aluminium sprocket I'd say that you are fitting the chain etc yourself and just sell it and use the money for a better chain and sprocket combination
I look forward to see how you get on with the replacement parts. IT could be that what you describe happens on all bike to some extent purely basec on metal expansion with heat and unlike oil level check, people, me included don't check the chain set it when cold and check it hot. BTW I take it the wheel alighment is good
just to finish this story.... i received new chain (DID zvm-x) and both sprockets (original honda) warranted by honda nl. i fitted them friday and rode it past weekend and today and guess what? this chain tightens up aswell...LOL exactly the same as the first one..... i did some checking and measured temps of the front sprocket (with a laser temp thingy u can point from behind on it). that front sprocket gets hot...around 65 degrees c after an hour ride.... so i reckon expansion of the front sprocket is caussing the tightening.... the chain itselve barely gets warm (probably causse its running out in the open) anyway i set tension so loose that it has around 3cm freeplay with me on it and a warm motor. cold this equals to 3.5/4cm of play at the tightest spot so on the very loose side of 3.5cm... i weigh around 75kg with gear so a fat f*ck should set it even less tight to keep some slack when riding.... a little loose is better then too tight and i feel if u set it according to the manual u end up too tight if u check it loaded after a ride... ridewise i dont notice anything different with the new chain so i guess there was nothing wrong with the first one...LOL
65c isn't hot enough for a small fromt spocket to expand so much to make the chain go tight. I'm guessing too that 65c on the front sproket is quite normal as the heat soaks through the final drive shaft / engine casings which will be quite warm as the oil and water inside will be arround the 100c mark. For this problem to happen again with a brand new chain and sprokets suggests the problem is elsewhere.
assuming nothing in the swing arm, chassis is moving about, I think heat expansion causing this is unlikely (too complex to analyse, different metals and different temperatures in the chain, swing arm and chassis involved) I checked mine and perhaps there was a little tighter after a ride but probably a couple of mils Until recently I was not correctly making the adjustment: I was pulling/ pushing too hard on the chain to measure the slack. Local Honda technician said mine was too tight and light finger pressure should be used to measure the slack. Honda says to put the bike on its side stand (not sitting on the bike). Although I do mine on axle stand and check once back on the ground. I tried the visualise the chain slack as the suspension moves. As you put more load or weight on the rear axle, it moves up in an arc bringing the rear axle closer to the front sprocket so I expect the chain gets slacker. Now if you sit on the bike and adjust, then this would make it tighter with no load on. To what extent this is noticeable, I don't know. I also suspect the geometry of the rear varies from bike to bike and the movement can increase or reduce the slack
your right about the arc the rear swinger makes but the point (on that arc) where the distance between the front and rear sprocket is the furthest is when both sprockets and the pivot are closest to a perfekt line up. without load my rear sprocket sits way lower then the front making the distance smaller. even with me on it it sits lower thus when it compresses it gets tighter still. if yours isnt you must have set your sag enormous to the point where the tail sits really low... my sag settings are bone stock.... furthermore, i tried the new demo blade and checked after 20kms travel...same thing the chain tightens from where it was when i rode off. actually so thight it didnt have slack at all anymore....wheras i started off with around 3cm (i checked before taking off) so i am confident it must be the sprocket expanding to heat... cant think of anything else it doesnt have to be much to go from spotton to too tight... anyway, i did 2500kms since i put the DID chain on and its been flawless as the oem would have been aswell i am sure... i keep it on the loose side (as mentioned earlier) and it is spotton like that... i been to köln last weekend (300kms autobahn one way) cruisin at speeds of 240/250kmh and on arrival the chain slack was 3cm loaded (me on it) so that done and dusted in my book...
I will check mine just in case; I expect it to be as you describe since I didn't take note of it.(you must know that area of the bike intimately based on the amount of time it has had your attention) your comments make sense to me. I guess from your experience, the conclusion to draw is that "it is normal". If so, I trust the honda engineers to have taken this into their design. must say my adjuster block has not even entered the green zone marker yet (11miles +) happy motoring
