Chain vs Shaft drive

[richard]

Had a good conversation with a m8 last night and he was Trying to convince me that it was cheaper to run a shaft driven bike cos you do not have to change the chane and sprockets every so often,My argument was what if the shaft need replacing its gotta cost a bomb so the price is evened out over time..

:dunno: :dunno: :dunno:

R

 

[derek kelly]

I used to have a VT500 which was a shaft drive, the bike was not brand new when I bought it and I had it for about three years, it was used everyday either for commuting to and from work, or for recreational purposes, as far as I know the shaft was the original one, and in the time I had the bike nothing ever needed doing to it, I traded that bike in for a brand new bandit, and the only reluctance I had was going back to a chain, whilst adjusting the chain on the Bandit I discovered that Suzuki do not grease the spindles, and the Dealers do not inform you of this even on the services.

 

[ianrobbo1]

IMHO Richard its "no contest" shaft drive every time for "longevity" :bow: chains on the other hand are lighter and more sutable for the "sport" type bikes, so as with all bikes, you choose what you want the bike to do and go with the type of drive that suits, :dunno:

 

[Bubba]

Shaft drive wins every time IMHO, and I think I am right in saying that the manufactures give a lifetime warranty on the shaft. BMW deffo do

 

[richard]

Shaft drive wins every time IMHO, and I think I am right in saying that the manufactures give a lifetime warranty on the shaft. BMW deffo do

Just so happens it was the new K1200s we were chattin aboot...


:yo: :yo: :yo:


R

 

[Fat Bert]

Ask Cyclops

when he first bought a Hardley Potato-son I mnetioned to him about checking and lubing the drive mechanism

He spend 3 weeks in the garage trying to find the chain!!

 

[RHINO]

Haha

when he first bought a Hardley Potato-son I mnetioned to him about checking and lubing the drive mechanism

He spend 3 weeks in the garage trying to find the chain!!

And when you told him it was a belt not a chain he went searching your draws for a belt that wasn't 10 feet long (bloater) man8um

 

[richard]

More like Bert gave him a good shaftin
:k

 

[Fat Bert]

Very Funny Richard

So when cyclops eventually found the belt...............

Piccie says it all LOL

 

[ianrobbo1]

wish I could post pictures,!!! :dunno:
wouldnt be from "a private" collection of men though, like some,!!!

 

[skippy]

Having done many hundreds of thousands of miles over the last 30 years using both shaft and chain driven bikes I can honestly say that if you use a automatic oiler and a decent chain and sprocket set the average bod will only need to replace the set twice or three times before changing bikes or every two to three years for the lower mileage types (10K/year) it is only when you start to do 30+ k a year that the longevity advantages of shafts start to come into play.
One of the major advantages of a shaft is perfect wheel alignment all the time, most of the disadvantages only effect their use on sports bikes as they rob a sizeable portion of your rear wheel horsepower and the much larger unsprung weight causes handling issues as does the tendancy for the pinion to try and climb the crownwheel under acelleration.

All in all the bikes I've had with shafts I preferred the shaft and the bikes I've had with chains I think were better served with chains.