Just thought this might be interesting/useful to some…
Ever since I bought my Honda Hornet 600 (2001) about 4 years ago its hit reserve around 90miles on the tank, with about another 30 in the reserve. I believe its only a 16 litre tank, and sometimes seemed annoyingly small on an otherwise great bike. From reading forums this kind of mileage seems in the normal range. The later Hornets have larger tanks, 2007 model having 19L.
A while back I got a new chain from Essential Rubber … the old one was stretching by the day, no matter how much lube I put on. I can’t say I was perfectly attentive to the chain, but it got oiled reasonably often, and was on about 30,000 miles (assuming it was still the bike’s first chain).
I’ve not used the bike much since, focusing on my Speed Triple instead. But took the Hornet to Brands Hatch the other day and it was like a different bike around the track … smoother, easier … and maybe faster too. Even sounded different, like a humming top - rather than something grinding away.
Anway, I took it to Wales yesterday - and to my happy surprise it made it to Monmouth (120 miles) without even hitting reserve! Implying there’s another 40 miles left in the tank … so 160 miles total. A few more trips like that and the chain will pay for itself in no time.
I’ll certainly think to change a chain sooner in future
It is possible the chain had been changed before I got it … so it may only have been ~15,000 on that one.
I wasn’t taking it easy on that day and no easier than normal … but am hoping the police car parked sideways (!) down an M40 slip road just before Oxford thought I was … :ermm:
It’s worth remembering that a slightly slack chain is much better than a slightly tight chain. Both my bikes always run slightly slack chains (about 2 inches of play), and very seldom require any adjustment, but I generally wipe them clean and lube them about every hundred miles or so. They are lasting ages.
Though do you go on these enjoyable rather speedy 300 mile Jetstream runs? That’s a lot of chain cleaning … think I’d rather just buy a new one a bit quicker
