shaft vr. chain

[deyo27]

I am new to motorcycles had a gs 1100 e witch was chain drive sold it and now have a honda nighthawk 650 that is shaft. Was just wondering what is better?

[78GS1KNH]

I had a 1975 GL1000 shaft drive, the best thing about them is little to no maintainence is needed aside from checking the diff oil. Sold that Old Gold and bought a '78 GS1000 chain drive. I miss the goldwing, but i absolutly love my GS.

[BassCliff]

Seriously though, shaft drive is very low maintenance but robs a little of the crank horsepower in delivery to the rear wheel. With a chain/sprockets you can vary your gear ratio a bit (for lower rpms at freeway speeds, etc) and a chain delivers more of the engine's horsepower to the road.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Was just wondering what is better?

You may as well ask which oil to use or which tires to buy.

There are very valid points to either chain or shaft.

The chainers will tell you that it's lighter and easier to change drive ratios. They are correct.

If you are going racing, a chain is also more efficient at transferring engine power to the rear wheel.

The shafters will tell you that the shaft is quieter, takes less to maintain and is cheaper in the long run. They are correct.

A chain needs to be cleaned and occasionally lubricated, and has a useful life of 20-30,000 miles. Then you must replace the chain and both sprockets for optimum life. Cost varies, but I have heard $125-$175 as being reasonable, depending on the quality of the products chosen.

A shaft will need fluids changed occasionally, I tend to do mine when I install a new tire. On my Wing, that's about every 20,000 miles. Cost for fluids: less than $5. It is also imperative that you inspect and grease the driven splines in the wheel. Some years came with splines made of softer metal, so they tended to wear out quicker. Even if you buy a new spline set, it's only about $100. Used ones are much cheaper, and you only have to do it once.

Depending on how well or how often you lube your chain, there might be excess lube that will get flung off. Most will be caught by the chain guard, but a fair amount will also end up on your wheel, requiring some tedious cleaning.

Many other arguements for both sides, these are just starters.

.

[tkent02]

They both have their advantages, I like to keep a few of each for various purposes.

[850 Combat]

Chain is simpler, moer efficient, and lighter. It also tends to not upset the chassis as much when you move the throttle. Between the lighter weight, much of it unsprung, and shaft jacking, chain drive bikes handle a bit better all things equal. They are quicker too.

Many chain bikes are cooler than most shaft bikes.

Shaft, particularly the Suzuki shaft, is super light on maintainance requirements. Inspect / clean lube hub splines at rear tire changes is about it. The airhead BMW I owned took more shaft maintainance than that.
Shaft never has you spraying chain lube on your rim and garage floor. There is no chain lube waiting period.
Suzuki shaft drives are not as bad about jacking when you get on and off the throttle as some other shaft drive bikes I have owned /ridden, namely airhead BMW and Yamaha triple. Its about equal to a 650 Seca or a Guzzi that way.

In my old age, the benifits of low maintainance and cleanliness tend to outweigh the drawbacks for me at this time. I still own 11 chain drive bikes right now, and 6 shaftys.

Long term, a shaft is cheaper. They do not give high quality chains and sprockets away.

I believe that a shaft drive 650 Nighthawk has hydraulic valve adjustment. It doesn't get any lower maintainance than that. I don't mind the way they look, either. They kind of copied the Triumph Hurricane when they styled it. I had one of those.

[gsryder]

Lets not forget the availability of after market wheels with chain drive and not so much with the shaftie.

[Nessism]

Shaft drive is better except for when it's not. Any other questions?

[tx2000bob]

It is also imperative that you inspect and grease the driven splines in the wheel. Some years came with splines made of softer metal, so they tended to wear out quicker.
.

Is there a decoder ring to find out if my '83 GS850G has the "softer metal splines"?

[BassCliff]

Is there a decoder ring to find out if my '83 GS850G has the "softer metal splines"?

Hi,

The '82-'83 came stock with the softer part. It's a gold color. The '79 and '80 had the dark metal, hard splines. The new spline part is a lighter silver color and is almost as hard as the original part. I think they started changing sometime later in the '81 model year, IIRC.

Good spline:


Bad spline:



Old spline, new spline:



Use this stuff on your spine gear, Honda Moly 60 paste:




Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Planecrazy]

One thing Cliff forgot to mention is that you MUST take the spline out of the wheel to tell whether it is good or bad (an extra fifteen minutes of your time once you have the wheel off).

If you look closely at his pics you'll notice that the bad spline has one end that looks fine ... that end never contacts the final drive gears, so it never wears, and ... you guessed it - that's the only part of the splines you can see when they are installed in the wheel. It is almost impossible to see beyond the unworn part of the splines when they're installed...

Most of us check our splines when we change the tires, and a great many of us swear by the Honda Moly Lube ... best insurance you can add to your splines, whether they're the softer ones or the harder ones...

Regards,

[simon kuether]

REAL bikes have BLACK frames and CHAINS .

Cheers , Simon .

[bwringer]

I have three shafties and a, um "chainie", and I ride a hell of a lot.

I really like my V-Strom, but I'm really not looking forward to coughing up another $200 for a chain and sprockets every year or two. That's assuming I can get 25,000 to 30,000 miles out of each chain and sprocket set, which is fairly typical for these bikes.

The shafties each only require half a bottle of gear lube annually.

And, like any other wear item such as tires, there's always the factor of deciding whether and when and how to replace the chain and sprockets when you have a trip coming up.

Exposed chains are nothing but a pain in the ass, if you ask me. Exposed fork tubes are another precious, impractical, and downright idiotic little fashion move the motorcycle industry made in the '60s that has somehow stuck with us to the present day.

You see, way back when, many chains and almost all forks used to be covered, and so fork seals and chains lasted almost indefinitely. This situation was far too practical and economical for the riders, so off came the shrouds, allowing rocks, bugs, weather, and dirt to work their evil magic.

[Billy Ricks]

Ride what you want to ride. The old shaft vs chain debate is lame.

[Steve]

Ride what you want to ride. The old shaft vs chain debate is lame.

True, but he said he is new to motorcycles, so probably has never even known that there is a debate.

Sounded like he was asking for an opinion on which one to get next and some possible reasons why.