Opinions on final drive? (Belt vs Chain vs Shaft) (fuel, engine, BMW)
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I once bought a BMW R75-5 with about 100k miles on it and rode it from San Francisco to New Your City and another 10 years without drive failure. My current Burgman has over 33k miles on the original variable ratio drive belt without any problems. My first bike used a chain and maintaining it was an annoyance.
If someone came up with a chain drive that ran in an oil bath I might be interested although new sealed link chains might not require as much fussing. Besides the Triumph Bonneville I might buy is a chain drive.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW
I once bought a BMW R75-5 with about 100k miles on it and rode it from San Francisco to New Your City and another 10 years without drive failure. My current Burgman has over 33k miles on the original variable ratio drive belt without any problems. My first bike used a chain and maintaining it was an annoyance.
If someone came up with a chain drive that ran in an oil bath I might be interested although new sealed link chains might not require as much fussing. Besides the Triumph Bonneville I might buy is a chain drive.
Although not a 'bath', the Bultaco Metralla had a fully enclosed chain, kept it clean and out of the weather.
If you use a chain. Do yourself a favor and get a good O-ring chain. They dont wear out
(chaining the pitch of the chain) and stretch as easily, that will then wear out the sprockets. O Ring chains help keep dirt and grime out to slow down wear. A little surface cleaning and lube is all that is needed. But use an oil or lube that will not damage the rubber o rings.
If you use a chain. Do yourself a favor and get a good O-ring chain. They dont wear out
(chaining the pitch of the chain) and stretch as easily, that will then wear out the sprockets. O Ring chains help keep dirt and grime out to slow down wear. A little surface cleaning and lube is all that is needed. But use an oil or lube that will not damage the rubber o rings.
Company has (had) a phenomenal marketing department to STILL have the reputation it has, but there are **SO** many products on the market that do things better than whatever you'd grab WD-40 for.
With o-ring (or X or W) chains, the "lube" only needs to do 1 thing, condition those o-rings. Once a ring fails, the lube they capture leaks out and you get tight links. Anything you spray ON the chain isn't going to get past those o-rings. You don't want anything sticky either, else the dust/dirt will just stick and abrade at the rings.
Just personal opinion, but I prefer non o-ring chains with a chain oiler (Scottoiler being the big brand name most will recognize, there are LOTS of other options out there). You get a cheaper chain, more power/efficiency/mpg, and with the oiler you're looking at 60k+ service life. They can be messy if not calibrated (or malfunctioning), but when everything's working correctly it's unnoticeable.
I just bought a BMW with a shaft drive. It has been meticulously maintained, recently had the clutch replaced and the splines show virtually no wear.
As for the chains, they can be a problem. Had an R6, new chain installed by dealer, about 50 miles later cruising down I635 in Dallas the chain breaks, took out pieces of the engine and sprockets with it - lovely at 65 mph. Dealer maintained not my problem as didn't happen when they test drove it - so out $$ to repair the bike. Sold it not long after and have never looked at a Yamaha since.
You haven't been around the BMW crowd much, I think the R1100's wear out the splines on the driveshaft in the neighborhood of 60-70K miles. Also the clutch (dry) should be lubed and they had a spate of final drive failures for a while, especially on the K1200LT, I had one strand me in Idaho. Bike had about 26K miles on it. 2 or 3 months out of warranty. They would not make good on it. Maybe because I was from NJ and it was up the rep in the northwest region. I loved riding that bike. Go to a BMW forum and you'll find about failures.
Belts are good unless you get something stuck, like a stone stuck in one. I was told heavy downshifting can shred the teeth off one, but never heard of this happening in real life. Most of your racing bikes run chains though.
I, honestly haven't heard anyone with a Japanese bike having any shaft drive issues. I did hear some about BMW having such issues but I thought it was isolated to a specific year/model for them as well.
Surprising, since BMW is known to be durable and well-engineered.
I definitely have 2016 FJR1300 in my view to replace my V-Strom. If I can ever get around to finishing the '87 Super Magna (shaft drive as well), it will replace my Vulcan until I get either a 2017 Victory Octane or an Indian Scout Sixty.
I always felt BMW, H-D and Ducatis were a bit overhyped and overpriced, anyhow.
Imho, Indian/Victory are way better American cruisers for the money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by revrandy
I just bought a BMW with a shaft drive. It has been meticulously maintained, recently had the clutch replaced and the splines show virtually no wear.
As for the chains, they can be a problem. Had an R6, new chain installed by dealer, about 50 miles later cruising down I635 in Dallas the chain breaks, took out pieces of the engine and sprockets with it - lovely at 65 mph. Dealer maintained not my problem as didn't happen when they test drove it - so out $$ to repair the bike. Sold it not long after and have never looked at a Yamaha since.
To me, it sounded like the Dealer screwed you. Regardless, I wouldn't blame and hate Yamaha for a chain failure. Assuming you didn't do anything yourself, it must be either a defective chain or a damage occurred during the install because there is no other logical explanation of a new chain failing after 50 miles, am I wrong?
I, honestly haven't heard anyone with a Japanese bike having any shaft drive issues. I did hear some about BMW having such issues but I thought it was isolated to a specific year/model for them as well.
Surprising, since BMW is known to be durable and well-engineered,am I wrong?
Well if you asked BMW about driveshaft/final drive failure the line would be, "Vee haf no prroblems"
They were many complaints about surging with R1100's which was also denied by the factory, an aftermarket cure was to dual plug the heads. (something around since the R71) When they came out with the R1200 they dual plugged the heads. Yes they last along time, almost like a cult thing, they're still using solid valve lifters, reccomending adjustments about every 12K miles. The LT1200 had an overhead cam and "shim under bucket" valve adjustment. There was about a .004 adjustment range, it was supposed to be checked at 60K miles, seemed very complicated to change. At least Harley has been using hydraulic lifters for decades.
I've owned 3 BMW motorcycles over 40 years of riding and haven't kept any of them more than a year or 2. They all have issues that you simply don't find in Japanese or modern English Triumphs. BMW riders are kind of locked into a HD type ridership and ownership lifestyle mindset.
I just picked up my first belt-drive bike a couple weeks ago, an Indian Roadmaster. Are chirps/squealing from the belt, especially when cold, common? I cleaned it and checked/adjusted the alignment a week ago-was pretty bad. Also had the dealer check it. Still some noise. I suspect it's typical, just new to belt drives.
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