hey all,
i have a 3-month old F4i. how often should i lube the chain? what should i lube it with? some fancy expensive fluid that comes in a nice looking can? good ol' grease? gear oil?

how often? apart from saturday morning 3-4 hour rides, i pretty much stick to commuting on the bike.

one more thing: honda says chain play should be between 1 and 1.5 inch, but i ALWAYS feel like the chain is too loose. should i be bothered?

thanx for the input i know will come, guys. thanx so much.

 

I always keep my chain to about .5 to 1 inch slack, use chain wax instaed of lube because it doesn't make as big of a mess and "I believe" it stays on better. The recommended mileage is about every 200 / 300 miles. I ride that in a day most of the times so I check mine out on the weekends and average about 500 miles or so. I don't take my chain off and clean it like I should, I just use a cleaner or WD 40 and brush it while it's on the bike. Seems to work ok for me.

 

If it looks dirty, clean it. not everything is safe to use as a cleaner though. do a search to learn more. otherwise, there is no such thing as chain wax in the literal sense. there are lubricants that leave a waxy residue when set up, which is where they get their name from. Maxima makes a brand of lubricant called Chain Wax. it comes out of an aerosol can in a pretty liquid form. after it evaporates, what is left is very tacky substance that resembles wax.

I clean my chain when ever it looks dirty. i use a soft bristle brush and Honda Pro Brake and Contact Cleaner to clean the chain the chain. after words i use Honda Pro Chain Lubricant w/ White Graphite sparingly. i clean up any excess and i walk away.

 

I still need to add some pics but:
http://cbrworld.net/forums/thread/258433.aspx