It has been a long time: chain vs. shaft

[Guest]

I don't think they're the biggest POS out there. I can think of many things that handle worse, shift worse, and are just plain goofier than their backwards spinning motors and ungodly weight. Let's see...

Russian made farm equipment
A Sherman tank
An old brittish midget
Rosanne Barr
Carrot Top

Yeah...that about sums it up.

That '78 Yamaha XS11 was king of the mid range power roll ons! It looked heavy, it was, I do believe it was their modified 750 with an added cylinder. One thing I liked about Yamaha's, Allen screws. I think the Sherman tank matches up quite nicely with it.

 

[Guest]

 

[koolaid_kid]

George, I hereby dub thee "The Turd-Stirrer"

Hehe. I shall humbly consider thy offer.

If you think old shafties are slow and don't handle, let's go for a ride... :twistedevil: :twistedevil:

If there is anyone out there that dense, I will pay for your fuel. But I will insist on riding sweep.
Where are you, Tim?
All in all, I think this is going well, with refreshing insights from members who may not have participated in the last debate.
Thanks for everyone's input, let's continue after the break.

 

[earlfor]

Shaft drives are for those people that wanted a car but couldn't afford two more wheels.

Earl

 

[Tim Tom]

Shaft drives are for those people that wanted a car but couldn't afford two more wheels.

Earl

Since we're down to absurd mudslinging, I'll respond in kind.

Chains are for Mr. T wanna-be's

 

[bwringer]

Shaft drives are for those people that wanted a car but couldn't afford two more wheels.

Earl

Nah, Suzuki GS shafties are for people who wanted a BMW but didn't have the requisite cubic buttload of cash.

At least, that's true in my case... I really wanted a BMW boxer -- an RS1100 or something similar. The GS850G was a good bit more attainable.

This Motorcyclist article is what inspired me to look for a GS850G specifically... I found mine the next spring.
http://bwringer.com/gs/850sport_tour/


Stupid aside:
On page 5, you can see part of a note I made next to the phone number for the SpecII, the supplier for the Telefix fork brace. I called that number several times over the next year with no answer. When I did get through to some grumpy old dude, I was treated to an astonishing and profane tirade about the difficulty of dealing with the German maker and the poor exchange rate of German Marks to US Dollars, culminating in incoherent screaming and a hangup. It was a minor hobby of mine for the next ten years to call SpecII once in a while and ask for a Telefix FS-10 fork brace. Same routine every time; scream, curse, howl, bang. :twistedevil: No idea if that nut job is still around...

Sadly, the Nonfango racks and bags were also NLA shortly after the article appeared.

 

[earlfor]

Since we're down to absurd mudslinging, I'll respond in kind.

Chains are for Mr. T wanna-be's

I'll probably never be mistaken for Mr.T regardless of what I ride. LOL

Earl

 

[cowboyup3371]

Wow, I guess I need to go find a bike with a shaft to figure out which I like...or at least one I can ride for longer than a few minutes.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Got both, Shafties are the way to go if you're in a post-apocalyptic world.

You just never have to touch them, maybe some moly grease if you're bored....

Chain bike for speed......but high maintenance, gotta inspect them more often!

 

[bietau85]

Lets not beat up on the shafty's.
Shafty's have plenty of good points , hold on let me think ................ oh yeah, it's easier to keep that area around the rear wheel and the wheel clean, and....................they don't require adjustment, and............. well, they normally have bigger gas tanks . I guess that's all I can think of .
Chains on the other hand can be messy, leaving all that gear lube on the chain guard, swing arm, sprockets, and wheel. This helps protect that area it covers from rust from exposure to salty roads in spring among other things, and this lube can be cleaned off exposing a like new finish . You got to like that! Chains are lighter, less unsprung weight on the rear wheel, that's got to help the suspension in some way, maybe even the handling, especially in a bumpy turn. Chains do require frequent adjustment, I try to adjust mine about every 6 months or so, and put a little 90 weight gear oil on them every 500 miles. Chains lose less horsepower to the rear wheel . More power to ya, baby!
And although I can't speak from experience, I have read that shaft drive models exhibit torque problems when accelerating and slowing down, tend to make the bike pull to the right or left depending whether you're speeding up or slowing down .
I guess that's why shafties are more suited for touring, long straight roads at steady speeds and the chain drives are pretty much suited for everything .

Whatever happen to having an excuse to get away from the wife and hide in the garage cleaning the wheels and putting love and care into your 2nd wife?:lol:

 

[TheCafeKid]

Got both, Shafties are the way to go if you're in a post-apocalyptic world.

You just never have to touch them, maybe some moly grease if you're bored....

Chain bike for speed......but high maintenance, gotta inspect them more often!

I like em both for different reasons. Yeah, for a long distance tourer I suppose the shafty has it's merits.
But I'm not buying the "harder to maintain" line on chain drives. They need cleaned every 400-600 miles and toss some lube on em. Takes 10 minutes tops. Today's chains have much longer life spans when properly maintained than roller chains of old. My bike has had the same chain and sprockets on it for 12,000 miles now and shows zero signs of wear. It's still smooth, and quiet.
And, while it doesn't happen often, bust a drive shaft component out on the road, and you're nothing short of screwed. Carry a spare master link and you're on the road in less than 30 minutes at least to get you to the next MC proprietor.
For a "tuner" bike, track day bike, etc chain all the way. But a shafty is the way to go for no muss no fuss long distance...provided it's a proper sorted out design.

 

[Tim Tom]

Nah, Suzuki GS shafties are for people who wanted a BMW but didn't have the requisite cubic buttload of cash.

At least, that's true in my case... I really wanted a BMW boxer -- an RS1100 or something similar. The GS850G was a good bit more attainable.

This Motorcyclist article is what inspired me to look for a GS850G specifically... I found mine the next spring.
http://bwringer.com/gs/850sport_tour/

Thanks for sharing that article. I quite enjoyed reading it. What they say is true, the 850G is a damn good sport-tourer. But you of course already knew that

 

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing that article. I quite enjoyed reading it. What they say is true, the 850G is a damn good sport-tourer. But you of course already knew that

I had a friend who had a 850G back in the day. I think the GS850 is a really nice bike, beautiful lines, nice size, comfortable, big tank.
One day I got a picture from him, couldn't believe he put this wierd looking sidecar on it. Looks like something from a batman film.

 

[tkent02]

That thing needs blasters on the front of it.
Maybe even a little R2D2 unit sticking out the top.

 

[Guest]

Yep, no track days on a shaft...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ablvo8uv-pk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOSxBD9B1r0

Slow too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgGYe5LV4sM&NR=1


This ones for my buddy Josh... ZG1400 & ZRX
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPSZQLXKRXI

My apologies for the heavy does of vitamin K but this IS about shafties and chain, not brand

Oh and I seem to remember nearly dying from heat stroke while trying to find one of those damned easy to replace master links for Coles bike when it pitched the chain back at the first Triple R near On-Flamingsburg Ky. Chains are for sadists!

 

[Rover]

I have only owned chains but I'd take a V-Max anytime.

 

[Dogma]

...
Sadly, the Nonfango racks and bags were also NLA shortly after the article appeared.

I just found this, but I don't see yet how to get them, or what the mounting options would be. They do look like really nice gear. I'd have the cash by spring, if I could find a way to get a set.

Edit: Crikey!

 

[bwringer]

I just found this, but I don't see yet how to get them, or what the mounting options would be. They do look like really nice gear. I'd have the cash by spring, if I could find a way to get a set.

Edit: Crikey!

The Nonfango mounting kit for the GS850/1100 has been out of production for aeons. I got my GS850 in 1998 (less than a year after the article came out) and started calling around (pre-interweb era) looking for pricing, no one could get the parts.

Honestly, if you're into butt-crampingly expensive Italian luggage, it would be far easier to buy Givi bags and mounting hardware, then fabricate your own rack and mounts. Givi stuff is much more widely available in the US of A, and for not much dough you can buy the mounting hardware separately that bolts on to whatever racks you engineer.

 

[TheCafeKid]

Jimmy thanks for the vid... That track looks kinda slow though
But. At this point I simply want to do a track day. Or ten. Next year for sure.

 

[Dogma]

The Nonfango mounting kit for the GS850/1100 has been out of production for aeons. I got my GS850 in 1998 (less than a year after the article came out) and started calling around (pre-interweb era) looking for pricing, no one could get the parts.

Honestly, if you're into butt-crampingly expensive Italian luggage, it would be far easier to buy Givi bags and mounting hardware, then fabricate your own rack and mounts. Givi stuff is much more widely available in the US of A, and for not much dough you can buy the mounting hardware separately that bolts on to whatever racks you engineer.

That's the conclusion I was coming to as I continued to search. Maybe I can score some used Givi bags on eBay someday, or (even cheaper), mount up some of the Givi-knockoff top cases.