[Shmulik]

Everywhere on the internet they show the chain slack adjustment being done with the rear wheel off the ground. Now the owners manual says to do it on the sidestand.
Which is right ?
I have no other stand should I bother getting the wheel off the ground with a car jack ?

 

[Cire 5th]

I have yet to adjust my chainslack. I took my bike today for its 600 (642 mi) mi service. I think they do it with the rear wheel off the ground so its easier and the bike stays in one place. Im pretty sure someone will chime in here.

 

[lenbrinke]

always check/adjust chain with it on the kickstand.
when i jack mine up with the rear off the ground the chain slackens.
just let the weight of the bike on the kickstand.
i have 4000 miles on mine and have only adjusted back a horse hair,
might not have even needed it but ever so slightly for my taste.

 

[Rio]

8000+ km and I am still waiting for chain to slacken off (or tighten?) enough to warrant me adjusting it. You know, I wanna get more than the finger i use to poke it dirty. But every time hondas service it they must really be efficient...

 

[Wynne G Oldman]

Do it on the kickstand, as it says in the User Manual. If in doubt, err on the slack side. A chain that's too tight can damage the bearing on the output shaft of the gearbox.

 

[Stratton]

Because the front sprocket does not have the benefit of pivoting on the same axis as the swingarm, the length of the lever is not static as it moves. The lever is longer as it travels up or down, with its shortest being a straight line drawn through the front sprocket (center), the swingarm pivot, and the center of the rear axle. This being said, a perfect adjustment would be the bike straight up and down, with the rider on the bike.

This is not neccessarily the slack that Honda tells you to place in the chain because they tell you to adjust it while on the kickstand therfore making it the standard that you start your adjustment at. This is only an explanation of a small part of the physics involved when thinking about how it all works.

Do it by the book and you are always safe and as Oldman said, never too tight if you were to err either way.

 

[Aufitt]

Do it on the sidestand and have about 35mm play at the tightest point.
4400 very hard km and still no adjustment to mine.

Its all in the owners manual.

 

[Shmulik]

OK so I've just adjusted the chain slack with a bit of help from my dad.
Here are a couple of tips:
A. 25mm, the recommended slack, are actually 2.5cm, not 0.25cm.
I had 3cm in mine and it didn't need adjusting after 3000km of being ridden very very hard.
B. When unscrewing the lock nut you should hold the adjusting nut in place as they might move together.

 

[250 Tom]

Right or wrong I always adjust mine on the stand with the back wheel complety off the ground. One advantage to this is that you can spin the back wheel to locate the tight spot and adjust it from there.Then I usually clean and lube the chain, again this is also much easier to do when you can spin the wheel. I do double check it after the bike is set back down. It works for me never had any problems

 

[lenbrinke]

Right or wrong I always adjust mine on the stand with the back wheel complety off the ground. One advantage to this is that you can spin the back wheel to locate the tight spot and adjust it from there.Then I usually clean and lube the chain, again this is also much easier to do when you can spin the wheel. I do double check it after the bike is set back down. It works for me never had any problems

i would say your also right.
the bikes weight is actually sitting on the swingarm in your case,just like
if it were on the kickstand.