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It's an easy job, especially on a Honda. I have never had too much trouble getting the front sprocket bolt off, just sat on the bike not on the stand, 1st gear and back brake on hard. The front bolt should budge really easy then. Once you have cut the old chain off, lay it out on the ground and lay the new chain next to it. I have changed 3 chains that have turned out to be too long, so had to cut them straight back off again and buy another link! You will need a chain riveter, they cost around £20 - £30 but they will last forever, but you may need to replace the pins occasionally as they tend to bend with heavy use. I use an angle grinder o grind the rivets off the old chain. I would say first time, probably won't take you more than an hour.

Full sets are quite expensive, and you will probably use less than half of them really, as you will probably come across the problem before you remove everything. You will probably be able to get away with a top end gasket set, strip the engine down to the pistons, and hopefully you would have come across the guilty gasket. It's probably the barrel gasket, which is a pain int he arse to get to, but it's a cheap fix. Exhaust gaskets are only about 20 - 50p each and probably wont come in a full gasket set. You can get them off wemoto and ebay.

Can you post a picture of the offending bit so we can advise. Thanks

Probably have to drill it and use a screw extractor set.

Ha ha. I remember when a mechanic asked me to leave the room when he was changing my head brace bearings. He said his method would upset me!

Chances are mate, you will use less than half the tools in a ready sorted set. You could probably buy a good enough socket set and ratchet, spanners, allen keys and screw drivers for about £30. I would buy them separate for the reason above. Buy what you need to do the job. Some expensive tools will do the same job, but quicker and easier. If you don't mind spending a little more time and grazing your knuckles.....then keep your costs low. You will learn a hell of a lot more working out how to combat problems with your basic tools. Good luck. You will have saved money anyway by the time you do your first service. Everyone will help you if you ask, and there is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to mechanics, so ask away my friend. Cheers, Rob.

Also, well done for buying a Haynes manual first. You would be surprised how many people new to biking (and driving) attempt to do jobs that they have never done before without a clue!

I started out with a cheap socket set in metric, a spanner set, some mechanics screw drivers and some allen keys, or better still, allen sockets. I later bought a torque wrench. I added to my tools as and when I needed them. Many people will say buy the best you can afford, but this isn't always necessary. If your just looking to do standard servicing on one bike only, then the chances are, your not going to be using them much anyway. Some later additions may include the following - Feeler gauges brake piston reset tool chain riveter fork seal driver (though these are easy enough to make out of plastic pipe) Metal files Screw extractors Drill and HSS bits hack saw ball pein hammer centre punch spark plug spanner oil filter wrench steel rule files pliers side cutters crimpers and electrical bits soldering iron Also handy to have - Tube of thread lock tub of copper grease tub of standard grease Oil can WD40 wire brush Don't spend a great amount, I have been working on bikes for about 10 years, which is nothing compared to some on here, but my collection of tools is now huge, so now I don't need to buy anymore except for replacing broken ones. I bought all of mine as I needed them, so didn't really notice the cost. Ebay is a good place to look, and scoot around discount home stores, as in my opinion, a hacksaw is a hacksaw, and one that costs a pound, will do the same job as one that costs ten pounds.

What do the ends of the wires look like? I made mine with a fuse halfway and crimped standard ring connectors on the end, so I just screwed them directly onto the battery terminals.

isnt yours a honda? his is a cheapo chinese copy which will last a fraction of the time a honda will. if it even gets to 12k miles i'll be suprised. That's a fair point

I would personally head down to Chiswick Honda and just order a new sump and have done with it (and the gasket). They wont be too much and will be cheaper than going to a garage. You may need to remove the exhausts to get to it but I'm not sure with VFRs.

They will probably be ok to be honest, but get them checked when you take it into the garage.

The rear wheel axle bolt needs to be tight. The Haynes manual for that model would have the exact torque setting, but generally they are round the 90Nm mark. You would have to put some serious stress on it to snap the axle, but you could probably damage the threads if it's way over tight.

You won't need to service it nearly as much as that. I do about 12000 miles a year and I service it myself. As I ride in all weathers, I tend to change the oil and filter every 4 months. The air filter I change once a year, the plugs I check once a year and change them if needed. I would say every 6 months or so, check things like bolt torques, cable freeplay, tire depth and wear, exhaust leeks etc. Oh and I oil and check my chain each week, and it probably needs adjusting every few months. Have a glance at your brake pads now and then and replace as necessary. I don't really listen to the advice of garages anymore, as they are businesses and their sole purpose is to make money from us. It sounds like you check your bike quite regularly, so I wouldn't worry about it. I wont mess with anything apart from the above unless I can feel or hear a problem, then I investigate and repair/overhaul if needed. Not sure about the oil filter on your bike, may be one of those gauze internal things. Worth looking in a manual. I had a cb250 with an oil screen, and I just took it out and cleaned it every year. A bit more fidly, but I guess it needs to be done.

Nothing wrong with being in a high gear, but as you say, you will need to drop down to get some speed up again. The only problem I can see really is strain on the gearbox trying to push the bike in a high gear from a slow speed.

Have you checked the battery terminals are nice and tight?

I have put a lot of thought into chain replacement and have done many myself. I know loads of people are going to disagree with me here, but I find it perfectly reasonable to go for the two to one rule of two chains to every sprocket change (providing they are steel sprockets. They only need changing with the chain if the chain has been allowed to wear out completely. If you have checked your sprockets and you say they are fine, then a chain replacement only would be fine. The back wheel, if it's not creeping forward when you are on it, don't worry about it, it's just a slight bit of friction between the clutch disks and the engine oil. I take it from your post that the bike is quite old and has drum brakes front and rear?

Hi mate. Is it the front or back wheel making the noise? If it's front disk, could be a bit warped. On the front brake caliper, there will be two rubber boots that have bolts through them that allow the caliper to float a little over slightly warped disks. The pins/bolts that go into these need to be greased. Most of the time, it will be that they have seized and are no longer floating, they just need taking apart, cleaning and re greasing. So try that before you buy new disks or something. If it's the rear, and it's drum, like someone said above, get some new brake shoes. It's an easy job and you probably wont need to replace them again. If the drum brakes get too far past there wear limit, there is a danger that they will engage, and not disengage, which is a major problem if your riding it at the time. As with the chain, check the tension on all parts of the chain - put it on center stand, roll the rear wheel round and mid way between the sprockets, push up on the chain. At the tightest point, there should be about 2 - 3cm slack (better check the manual though as that's a rough estimate, but will be safe for you to ride without doing any bearing damage, but as you say, the chains are cheap for them, so may as well just buy a new one then you know it's done. When you fit your new tyres, make sure you take it really easy, especially in the rain, as the surfaces will be very hard, smooth and new, and skidding is heavily more likely. Don't worry about coming off, especially in the rain, I bet there are not many people on this site who can say that they have never come off their bike! Hondas tend to be very good at surviving bangs, so you made a good choice. I would start with taking the brakes apart and having a look. Take your time and take photos of anything your unsure of and post them here. Good luck

You could always remove the disks and check them out. I know they're a pain to get off, but it may save you spending £300. Put them on a mirror or something else very flat and check they haven't warped. Measure the wear on them with a steel rule or better still, a measuring caliper and check them with the wear specs in the manual. Maybe that your pistons aren't sitting properly from when you changed the pads. All are cheap checks.

I bought original pipes for my 750 when I replaced them, and they cost me over £650! If it's just for use and not looks, Motad 4 - 1 systems are very good.

Thanks mate. I may buy one when I next do a service.

I have been thinking of getting one of these for my tool collection. How much is this set?

Compression may be a little low. May have blown a gasket somewhere causing it to lose speed.

Just top it up for now. Shouldn't need flushing out unless it's been in there a couple of years, and even then, it will probably be fine. I buy cheap ready mixed stuff and share it with my wife's car, I don't need much for my bike.

As far as I know, they are meant to be smooth. If they are not warped or blued, they should be fine. Clutch cable set incorrectly maybe? Have you changed the type of oil you use recently?