Chains
No idea what he told you, but what I've figured out, with help from Jacqueline Bickerstaff among others, is that Renold never made "motorcycle chains", they made industrial chains that had an adequate life on motorcycles. And were cheap. The people who make motorcycle chains are people (Japanese people) like DID and Tsubaki, and if you doubt that, just compare the thickness of the sideplates. Presumably Honda et al were not prepared to accept that since doing it properly would cost more per chain, they should just bumble through by lying to the end user about all failures being down to poor maintenance....
My (76 bhp) Ducati Monster has a DID 5/8" x 1/4" chain which has been adjusted maybe once in 10,000 miles. My Manx Norton has used two Tsubaki 5/8" x 1/4" motocross, non-o-seal chains in 14 seasons.