Topic: New drive chain question

[dhall57]

Less than 3000 miles ago I put new sprockets 18/48 and a new Diamond #530 chain(what Hondaman Recommends) on my CB750K6. Everything was great, but recently(last 1000 miles or so) Im doing alot more adjusting and throwing more lube on it than I should have to. Yesterday I made adjustment again and sprayed plenty of lube on again. Went for a short ride (50 miles) came back in and check my chain. To my amazement it looked almost dry and I only rode a short distance and when spinning wheel making the sounds of and chain needing lubrication. How can this be? Had just lube it up good . Ive been using two brands of chain lube that my son had on hand for his 2008 Honda CRF250. ProLink MFR, and Klotz. Are these quality lubes or snake oil? Hope I haven't damaged a almost new chain.   

[DJ_AX]

In my little bit of experience...
New chain and sprockets do "break in" and may require a bit more adjusting for the first 1000 miles or so.
I've tried a few different kinds of lube... now I just use a squirt can with 10w40.
It's important to lube it AFTER riding, when the chain is hot, so that the oil soaks in as the chain cools.
Every few hundred miles I lube it up good... brush it in... and then later, wipe it down real good (watch your fingers!)
It seems that if it's done right than the oil is on the inside and the chain doesn't necessarily have to look oily.
When I ride in the rain I need to oil it more frequently.

[DJ_AX]

Oh yeah, regarding chain noise... make sure it's aligned!

[Shane72]

Less than 3000 miles ago I put new sprockets 18/48 and a new Diamond #530 chain(what Hondaman Recommends) on my CB750K6. Everything was great, but recently(last 1000 miles or so) Im doing alot more adjusting and throwing more lube on it than I should have to. Yesterday I made adjustment again and sprayed plenty of lube on again. Went for a short ride (50 miles) came back in and check my chain. To my amazement it looked almost dry and I only rode a short distance and when spinning wheel making the sounds of and chain needing lubrication. How can this be? Had just lube it up good . Ive been using two brands of chain lube that my son had on hand for his 2008 Honda CRF250. ProLink MFR, and Klotz. Are these quality lubes or snake oil? Hope I haven't damaged a almost new chain.

Based on your description of the symptoms, I would bet that the chain has been running too tightly.

Low miles, quality chain, lots of noise, lots of adjusting, etc...

Not assuming you don't already know this, but, a bit too loose is better than too tight.  Remember to check for some slack while sitting with all your weight on the seat.  The available slack is least when the sprockets are at their farthest point from each other--usually the weight of rider and pillion will compress the suspension enough to reveal this.

My friend and I just loosened his chain this past weekend (while doing tires and front bearings) for this same reason.  What appeared to be sufficient slack when on the sidestand suddenly was completely gone when he sat with all his weight on the seat.

All the best,

Shane

[Xnavylfr]

I have boiled or heated a new chain in a gallon can with enough STP additive to cover the chain. You don't really BOIL it ,you just need to heat the STP so that it is thinner, this way it can creep in to ALL areas of the chain. Leave the chain in the STP for about 1/2 hour then hang it up so the excess can drain off and back in to the can. I have found this to last a lot longer than any spray on the surface chain lube, you will still get some sling off but your complete chain will be lubed not just the outside!!

Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[Jiminy Indy]

You didn't mention if this was an o-ring chain or not. If not, then they do stretch a bit at first.

But it does sound like you may have an alignment issue if you're getting noise.

[MCRider]

Less than 3000 miles ago I put new sprockets 18/48 and a new Diamond #530 chain(what Hondaman Recommends) on my CB750K6. Everything was great, but recently(last 1000 miles or so) Im doing alot more adjusting and throwing more lube on it than I should have to. Yesterday I made adjustment again and sprayed plenty of lube on again. Went for a short ride (50 miles) came back in and check my chain. To my amazement it looked almost dry and I only rode a short distance and when spinning wheel making the sounds of and chain needing lubrication. How can this be? Had just lube it up good . Ive been using two brands of chain lube that my son had on hand for his 2008 Honda CRF250. ProLink MFR, and Klotz. Are these quality lubes or snake oil? Hope I haven't damaged a almost new chain.

Based on your description of the symptoms, I would bet that the chain has been running too tightly.

Low miles, quality chain, lots of noise, lots of adjusting, etc...

Not assuming you don't already know this, but, a bit too loose is better than too tight.  Remember to check for some slack while sitting with all your weight on the seat.  The available slack is least when the sprockets are at their farthest point from each other--usually the weight of rider and pillion will compress the suspension enough to reveal this.

My friend and I just loosened his chain this past weekend (while doing tires and front bearings) for this same reason.  What appeared to be sufficient slack when on the sidestand suddenly was completely gone when he sat with all his weight on the seat.

All the best,

Shane

This phenom has been discussed here, but bears repeating. As you say the furthest distance between sprockets for most bikes, occurs with weight on the bike. This is because the wheel carves an arc from bottom of travel to top. If you follow many manuals which say to adjust the chain on the centerstand, and the wheel at the bottom of the arc,  it will in fact be too tight and accelerate chain wear.

My protocol is to have a helper, or use tiedowns etc, to collapse the suspension to the optima point. adjust the chain for whatever slack is called for, often 3/4 inch.

Then put the bike on the centerstand and check the slop. It will be huge, like 1.5+ inches. But that is the amount you'll adjust to from now on.