Robbie are you check your chain often enough?
The way it is worded sounds like you are checking every 2-3 months! If that is the case it has probably to wear your chain out sooner than expected.
I do mine weekly to make sure it hasn't gone too slack and it has got 16,000 niles on it in 3 years and will probably do another 3000 miles before it needs changing. An ER-5 chain should last a while before it goes, I know my GS500 lasted 18000 before it went.
Beamer might be able to tell you more regarding chainlife as she owns an ER-5 and will have more knowledge than me.
