Chain fix

Me and my dad have a '91 Honda Nighthawk 250 that we bought off a guy about two years ago. Well the chain is very very loose. It has about 2 - 3 inches of slack   but the thing is ... we dont know how to tighten it LOL !!! We would apreciate some tips and help ... thanks  

Don't ride that bike until you've adjusted the chain!  You'll be flirting with a possibly serious accident if you ride it.

You'll need a socket that fits the rear axle nut and a wrench that fits the chain adjustment nuts.  Put the bike up on its center stand or get a shop stand if your bike doesn't have a center stand.

Loosen the rear axle nut.  You'll see the chain adjustment nuts on the swingarm, at the axle.  Loosen the lock nut and adjust the bolt to push the axle back, tightening the chain evenly on both sides.  There should be guide marks to show you where both sides are even.  Place a shop rag in between the chain and the rear sprocket and crank it in to move the axle tight against the adjustment fittings.  It's important to get both sides even and one way to judge that is to roll the back wheel a few rotations, looking for the sprocket teeth to ride in the center of the chain rollers.  When you have the chain adjusted to about 1-1/2" slack, and evenly on both sides, tighten the adjustment lock nuts without moving the adjustment bolts, then torque the axle nut to 80 ft-lbs.

Better yet, have a shop inspect and adjust the chain for you, because it's not unlikely that you'll need a new chain.  

Hopefully your bike has an owner's manual to cover the chain adjustment.  If not...got to this link  www.http://sportrider.com/tech/146_0010_handson/ If the link doesn't work, go to Sport Riders Homepage and find the "Tech" page.  just wander through the page and it will show you step-by-step on how to adjust your chain and make sure that your wheel is aligned (A. Trevitt is so handy).