2014 V-Strom

Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
3,357
Age
52
Location
Rindge, NH
Bike
2006 ST1300
If only it had a shaft drive...
+1!!!! I also don't care for the beak...or bill...or whatever its supposed to be, but I could live with it if it had shaft drive.

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Skunkape
Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
1,254
Location
NSB Florida
Bike
2018 GL1800 DCT Tour
I think chains get a bad rap. The new chains are much better than the old ones. If you use the correct lube and don't obsess over it it's no big deal. I spray mine with Bel Ray Super Clean about every 500 miles, no cleaning just spray. It doesn't sling or make a mess. Adjustment at time of tire change. 13000 miles so far and still looks good. Easy.
 

sherob

Old Herder of cats.
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
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3,256
Location
Brighton, CO USA
Bike
21 HD FLHXS (SGS)
STOC #
5294
How did we survive before... windshields... adjustable windshields... electric windshields... heated anything... and shaft drive. :D
 

Bones

Your Humble Scribe
Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
4,907
Age
60
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western Mass
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2014 BMW R1200RT
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5575
I think chains get a bad rap.
After 20 years of shaft drive bikes, I added a bike with a chain four years ago. With 20,000+ miles on my Versys I conclude that a chain is not an issue. Light weight, uncomplicated, no shaft effect.

I wouldn't let a chain drive keep me from buying a bike. I'd even consider a drive belt.
 
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dduelin

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Site Supporter
Joined
Feb 11, 2006
Messages
9,640
Location
Jacksonville
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GL1800 R1200RT NC700
2024 Miles
006739
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6651
I think chains get a bad rap. The new chains are much better than the old ones. If you use the correct lube and don't obsess over it it's no big deal. I spray mine with Bel Ray Super Clean about every 500 miles, no cleaning just spray. It doesn't sling or make a mess. Adjustment at time of tire change. 13000 miles so far and still looks good. Easy.
+1. I had some anxiety over chain maintenance with my NC700X but at 4500 miles I haven't had to even adjust it yet. Cleaned it once and sprayed it a few times with PJ-1 lube. The stuff doesn't even really fly off like the old days.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
3,357
Age
52
Location
Rindge, NH
Bike
2006 ST1300
This was a freak thing, and I know the odds are against it ever happening again, but it scared the :censored out of me bad enough that I'll think long and hard before buying another chain driven bike. I hated getting one for Amelia, but its all I could find in her size.

A couple thousand miles after putting a new, high quality O-ring chain & sprockets on my KLR I was 900 miles into a SS1k when my KLR lurched, lost power, and all heck broke loose. While this was going on I was going about 80 mph on I-81 in Virginia with a truck right behind me. As it turned out my chain, without warning, broke and instead of spitting cleanly out the bottom, it wrapped around the rear hub and the tail whipped until I stopped. My pannier bracket was mangled, chain guard gone, all brackets on the left of the swingarm mangled and swingarm chewed up, airbox ripped open, inner fender ripped in half, and lots of other broken bits. Over $1500 damage, and I was just happy my wheel didn't lock up. I never had a problem with a chain before, I know it was a freak thing, but my cheeks clench up every time I think about it. I spent what should have been a relaxing weekend camping and a slow, "take the long way home" ride riding around the south on a cheap non O-ring chain on mangled sprockets looking for new sprockets on a weekend so I could get home safely.

Put shaft drive on that Vee, and I'd be drooling over it. With a chain...I'm doing as I said...thinking long and hard (like I am with the Wee).

Not to mention...chains are only good if you put on a few thousand miles a year. At my mileage, I'd be dropping a couple hundred bucks every couple months on a chain and sprockets. That gets expensive quick!
 
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