So, I have an SV650 and after 23k miles and two years of riding I am due for a new chain + sprockets. Not to mention that the rear wheel is always filthy dirty and I have to clean and lube the thing every week. How does everyone else feel about chains? At this point I would love shaft or belt driven sportbike.
I've owned four chain-driven bikes. With modern chains, it's really no big deal. I would wipe down my chain every now and then with 80w90 gear oil, then after a few minutes, wipe off the excess. Never was much of a problem. Now, if there was a product that would keep bugs and road grime off a bike, that would be something...
I love chains. Best devices ever. I converted my car to chain drive. How do you think this news will affect your experience with the SV?
If you didn't lube it every week it wouldn't be so dirty. People make chain maintenance out to be far more critical and difficult than it needs to be. I like chains, since I like having the ability to easily and inexpensively change the bike's effective gearing.
Instead of lubing them use Dupont Teflon spray (Home Depot, Lowe's, whatever). It's the same stuff as Chain Wax and it won't fling all over your wheel. Also, are you sure you need sprockets? I usually switch out sprockets every other chain. You're likely OK unless they're ramped.
Well I figure I should lube the chain every 500 miles or so which is every week when I use the bike to commute to work. Good point about having the ability to change the gear ratio. Also, chains are relatively inexpensive and easy to service when compared to shafts. I'm not saying chains are garbage and we should do away with them, just saying I'm getting tired of new chains and sprockets every two years + all the grime + the lubing/cleaning
It's just a matter of affordability. Shaft driven bikes requires zero maintenance but they are expensive and heavier, chain is simpler, cheaper and lighter but requires basic maintenance. There's a reason one of the best selling bikes of all time BMW R1200 GS is shaft driven.
Yep I use the dupont spray. the best one I have used so far. But still, the back wheel gets dirty (I do not clean the bike very often either). And yeah the back sprocket isn't looking very healthy.
For BMW maybe but in terms of numbers sold compared to other bikes the R1200GS are tiny in comparison. There are bikes that have sold in the tens of millions, the GS in tens of thousands. Still a great bike but a little perspective is OK. I have owned chain drive bikes, belt drive bikes, and shaft drive bikes and I chose to live in Shaft City.
I would love an enclosed chain drive bike, like the old xv-920's. The chains will last hundreds of thousands of miles, with no mess, and almost no maintenance.
You mean hundred of thousands: "The R1200GS is the best selling motorcycle that BMW has built, on 3 August 2007 it produced the 100,000th model." Source Wikipidea. It's over 250000 as we speak. There's a reason I said ONE OF THE best selling motorcycles of all time.
250,000 units is still just .004% of the best selling motorcycle of all time number. I can appreciate your point though.
I used to be a "Shafts only" guy, but there's really not a lot of choices these days in shaft driven bikes for cheap bastids like me... so I bought a bike with a chain. No big deal. I was riding 500 miles a week just going to work too, plus what I did on the weekends. I would use the teflon about once a week. I had a special brush for cleaning the chain and another brush for cleaning the rear wheel. It was a little more work than the shaft driven bikes I have owned, but not much. Only needed an adjustment once between tire changes. I still prefer a shaft but I will not turn up my nose at a chain.
Wd40 and a rag for the wheel. dupont teflon and a rag for the chain. boo freaking hoo Though it does suck more if your bike doesn't have a centerstand.
Chains are great. I clean mine after it gets wet or I ride in the dirt but that's about it. No interest in a shaft drive.
When I first bought the Aprilia, my MC jack wouldn't work because of the v-twin exhaust arrangement. I would have my wife push the bike down the street, while I crouched down with the chain lube, following behind her. We live in deer country, so I always imagined the neighbors looking out the window saying "It must be mating season again."
I too use the Dupont teflon chain saver dry or the teflon multi-use spray. I hit my chain every 300-500 miles (so typically once every week to 10 days) and my wheel looks fine. But I also make it a point of aiming at the rear sprocket and then at the chain in front of the tire. This seems to keep it off my rear tire. Since I've been riding on the street (legally at least) some 21 years I've owned 8 bikes; Three had shaft drive and five were chain. Shaft is cool, at least until something on it goes sideways, and then not so much. I am partial to chains, as its low enough maintenance, a bomber chain and sprocket combo can be had for less than $200, and I get at least 30K miles out of the set. That works for me. I mean I guess I could toss 150K miles of chain and sprocket money in an account and hope that covers what it would cost to fix a shaft drive setup if it pukes...
