Adjusting your chain

[BIGVFRFREAK]

Does anyone know what the torque specs would be for that bolt on a 5th Gen?

[hondajt]

I searched through the Service manual, and didn't see it. Anyone know?

[drewl]

When in doubt, I do "knuckle white tight". Ride it and recheck.

[RVFR]

if I'm reading it right it's saying 40ftlbs but I use the rule of thump in,if it feels tight it must be. I'm the one that has to loosen it.
found it in the factory shop manual, section on torque values. it's under the rear wheel part on the pinch bolt, which is a 10mm bolt

[porcupine73]

Not sure for 5th gen, but for 6th gen it says 54 lbf-ft.

[RV4 VFR Pilot]

Hello everyone. Regarding the bearing tension bolt...my owner' s manual says 54 ft lbs for the 2001, but I have a question...

I am new to the forum and have read everything I can find about drive chain tension but am still a bit confused.

If I sit on my bike, the chain is tighter than otherwise, so I do understand (I think) that you want to adjust the slack when a rider's weight is in the saddle. But how about hot vs cold.

My 2001 VFR has much more slack in the chain when cold...after a ride it tightens up. So do I want the recommended slack at riding temp with a rider, or cold with a rider?

Any clarification will be greatly appreciated!

[monk69]

Hello everyone. Regarding the bearing tension bolt...my owner' s manual says 54 ft lbs for the 2001, but I have a question...

I am new to the forum and have read everything I can find about drive chain tension but am still a bit confused.

If I sit on my bike, the chain is tighter than otherwise, so I do understand (I think) that you want to adjust the slack when a rider's weight is in the saddle. But how about hot vs cold.

My 2001 VFR has much more slack in the chain when cold...after a ride it tightens up. So do I want the recommended slack at riding temp with a rider, or cold with a rider?

Any clarification will be greatly appreciated!

I would say that the chain should be less tight when hot..... I'm wondering if you're not finding the tightest point on the chain, when checking....

[RV4 VFR Pilot]

I would say that the chain should be less tight when hot..... I'm wondering if you're not finding the tightest point on the chain, when checking....

Hey Monk,

That is what I expected to see as well, but it is not the case. I am checking the slack through the full rotation of the chain.

Next time you ride yours, check both cold and hot and let me know what you find, (if it is not too much trouble). Thanks!

[deepdish]

Adjusting the chain on your VFR is pretty straight forward and simple. First, take out your toolkit. It has the necessary tool to adjust your chain. It is a a half moon shaped piece with a handle on it and a couple of teeth to fit it to the adjuster ring.

For ease of illustration, I removed my rear wheel for some of these pictures. The the transmission should be in neutral and the rear wheel should be on the ground for this procedure according to the service manual.

First, loosen the bolt to on the right side of the following picture. I believe it takes a 17mm socket and is torqued (at least on 3rd gen models, check local listings for your torque specs) to 40 ft-lbs.



After loosening the pinch bolt Place the spanner wrench on the onto the bearing holder.

bearing holder


Spanner wrench on bearing holder


Rotate the wrench clockwise to tighten the chain. Check tension. Slack should be .6 to 1 inch.



If you accidentally got it too tight, turn the wrench upside down and rotate the bearing counter-clockwise

After you have finished adjusting your chain, tighten the pinch bolt on torque to spec.

Your done! You have now adjusted your chain, you cna put your tools away and go wash up then hit the road.

man your swingarm is dirty.....also use belray self adjusting chain lube works everytime

[gvt]

thanks WhiteKnight! i had great success following the instructions and pics in your post. it was even easier than i expected.

i kept the bike on the sidestand, which of course means that the back wheel was on the ground. i just was cautious not to push/pull so hard with the tools as to dump the bike over. no complaints. i wish i had a torque wrench but i tried to get it as tight as it was when i loosened it.

[Spike]

This might be a problem, you shouldn't really notice any difference, certainly not "much more". The chain isn't really stretching per se, what is commonly called chain stratch is really more from wear and tear on the side plates where the pins go thru, over time these holes become larger allowing the plate to move in relation to the pin, or you could say that the pin is no longer in the center of the hole, but now has room to go to one side. Sort of like a pencil in a coffee cup. The size of the hole should not change from hot to cold and thus your slack shouldn't (yes I know technically the metal will change with temperature, but not enough to make for a "much more" change).

And I have yet to see an owner's manual that says to adjust the chain slack while seated on the bike. If you adjust it to spec then, it should be too loose in reality. The reason you have some slac in your chain is to accomodate the swingarm movement when you sit on the bike, or the suspension absorbs a bump. Otherwise a tighter chain would be more efficient, but wouldn't allow sufficient movement of your suspension.

Hello everyone. Regarding the bearing tension bolt...my owner' s manual says 54 ft lbs for the 2001, but I have a question...

I am new to the forum and have read everything I can find about drive chain tension but am still a bit confused.

If I sit on my bike, the chain is tighter than otherwise, so I do understand (I think) that you want to adjust the slack when a rider's weight is in the saddle. But how about hot vs cold.

My 2001 VFR has much more slack in the chain when cold...after a ride it tightens up. So do I want the recommended slack at riding temp with a rider, or cold with a rider?

Any clarification will be greatly appreciated!