New Honda Chain - Rk Not Did? :(

I ordered a new Honda chain from a dealer after reading reports that people get a lot more miles out of the OEM DID Honda chain. Maybe it's even different than a non-Honda DID sold over the counter.

Anyway, the chain I received (in the sealed Honda bag) was an RK. I installed it anyway, hopefully it'll last the 20k+ that the OEM chain (which was a DID, as per stamps on the chain) lasted (honestly I probably could have gotten another 5k out of the OEM chain, but I wanted to replace it prior to a few long rides I have planned).

Actually if you look in the Honda service manual under general specifications page 1-9, RK is a specified chain along with the DID. Technically its an OEM...just not the one you wanted.

Yeah it's oem, same as bridestone, metzler, dunslop tires.

I got 18k out of 2 RK chains. I do think DID is slightly better. 5K miles on my DID and I only had to adjust it a tiny bit. The rk's all needed adjusstment at 2-3k miles.

Both are good, and tons better than cheap chains. Just take care of it and you will get 20k miles or very close. You got new sprockets, right. I believe in a matched set. If you didnt the chain will wear more rapidly.

[image: View Post]soichiro, on Sep 2 2009, 03:34 PM, said:

You got new sprockets, right. I believe in a matched set. If you didnt the chain will wear more rapidly.

Nope. I took my sprockets off and they looked brand frickin new. No mis-shaping at all.

[image: View Post]klinquist, on Sep 2 2009, 03:56 PM, said:

[image: View Post]soichiro, on Sep 2 2009, 03:34 PM, said:

You got new sprockets, right. I believe in a matched set. If you didnt the chain will wear more rapidly.

Nope. I took my sprockets off and they looked brand frickin new. No mis-shaping at all.


Let us know how that works for you. I'm in the same boat and am considering just doing a chain. How was the master link to do? What tool did you use?

[image: View Post]klinquist, on Sep 2 2009, 04:09 PM, said:

I ordered a new Honda chain from a dealer after reading reports that people get a lot more miles out of the OEM DID Honda chain. Maybe it's even different than a non-Honda DID sold over the counter.

Anyway, the chain I received (in the sealed Honda bag) was an RK. I installed it anyway, hopefully it'll last the 20k+ that the OEM chain (which was a DID, as per stamps on the chain) lasted (honestly I probably could have gotten another 5k out of the OEM chain, but I wanted to replace it prior to a few long rides I have planned).

Normally oem is an Rk, you just got a DID for some reason, I guess they bounce back and forth between companies. Their chains are not special than any other non warranty top chain brand.

I'm on a DID pro oring right now, they are indentical to rk if you ask me, they are brothers. BUt i'm only 5,000 mile into the DID, seem to stretch right off the bat, after 2 adjustments in first 1000 mile, seems to be holding.

Normally I dont have to touch adjustments on reginas, till they've start blowing reddust. But My next chin would probably be that RK GWS heavy sob

problem with reginas are their heavy chains use Zrings, and they dont seal well. Their regular oring chains are not heavy enough for vfr

I replaced my OEM with a Regina chain and sprocket set a couple off-seasons ago. ~17k mi. on this set so far and it's holding up nicely. No signs of red rot yet and minimal stretching, so far anyway. I adjusted the rear axle position last weekend to take out some chain slack, so we'll see how the chain reacts over the next couple weeks.

I'm hoping it holds up another 5k, which should take me through the end of this year. I'll replace it sooner if necessary, but I hope it makes it at least that long.

[image: View Post]klinquist, on Sep 2 2009, 06:56 PM, said:

[image: View Post]soichiro, on Sep 2 2009, 03:34 PM, said:

You got new sprockets, right. I believe in a matched set. If you didnt the chain will wear more rapidly.

Nope. I took my sprockets off and they looked brand frickin new. No mis-shaping at all.



There is wear, trust me. You can probably get away with it, but there will be some wear on the sprockrts.

[image: View Post]troyce, on Sep 2 2009, 04:20 PM, said:

Let us know how that works for you. I'm in the same boat and am considering just doing a chain. How was the master link to do? What tool did you use?


Master link was easy. Used the RK chain tool.

My original chain on the VFR was an RK and it lasted 18,000 miles. Replaced it with another RK, (not OEM) and it started showing the dreaded red dust at 10,000 miles. Have a DID now. The finish on the DID links seems to be of better quality than the RK I had before.