Belt or shaft?

[Journeyman]

How many miles on that drive shaft? And, do my eyes deceive or are the splines dry, i.e no lube?

77,000. I lube the splines at every rear tire change, which is every 4,000 miles. Admittedly, I skipped the last one because I was busy with moving, so about 8,000 miles between lubes. I've read many posts where people inspecting their drive shafts are surprised at the "rust," but according to some it's actually what molly lube looks like when dried out. I dunno, so won't argue it- just what I heard. Been using a spline paste from Beemer Boneyard, but may have been going too thin. I just bought some powdered molly that I'll be mixing in with some basic molly grease and slathering it on from here on out- every 4,000 miles.

 

[mexican]

Chains on a dirt bike?.....fine. Chains on a street bike?..... Not a hope. Just one tiny link lock away from disaster.

Chains are built very well now days, a few years back we took a long trip with the Rocket crew and we had all 3 configurations, wife riding a Spyder with belt, daughter riding a Ninja500 with chain and i was riding the Rocket with shaft, total trip was about 4000 miles, starting in Tulsa, to SD, Montana, Wyoming including Yellowstone and everything in between, many here remember that trip im sure.
zero problems with the bikes. i would trust all for sure

 

[Torquex2]

Chains are built very well now days, a few years back we took a long trip with the Rocket crew and we had all 3 configurations, wife riding a Spyder with belt, daughter riding a Ninja500 with chain and i was riding the Rocket with shaft, total trip was about 4000 miles, starting in Tulsa, to SD, Montana, Wyoming including Yellowstone and everything in between, many here remember that trip im sure.
zero problems with the bikes. i would trust all for sure

4000 miles ? Wow. I don’t ride that far per year anymore. I have chronic “ tailbone syndrome “. For every 30 minutes on my bike, I need 10 off of it.

 

[Gregger]

Chains on a dirt bike?.....fine. Chains on a street bike?..... Not a hope. Just one tiny link lock away from disaster.

I put close to 60,000 kms on my chain equipped America with only regular cleaning and minor adjustments. Drove it across Canada. Replaced the chain around 35,000 kms. as part of my general maintenance. Sprockets never showed signs of wearing. I'd trust these new X ring chains anywhere but I would prefer a shaft anytime because of the reduced maintenance. Never owned a belt drive so can't comment.

 

[Dr.D]

My Harleys and Indians have belts and the Rockets have shafts and I’ve had no problems with either. I think shifts rob a bit more power delivered to the wheel but are enclosed and very strong. Chains are light but require more maintenance but effective on the drag strip. All have their place or application.

 

[RhinoOK]

Have had chains and shafts but have never owned a belt. If you put miles on your bike, shaft way mo bedda than a chain.

 

[Guffer]

Chains are built very well now days, a few years back we took a long trip with the Rocket crew and we had all 3 configurations, wife riding a Spyder with belt, daughter riding a Ninja500 with chain and i was riding the Rocket with shaft, total trip was about 4000 miles, starting in Tulsa, to SD, Montana, Wyoming including Yellowstone and everything in between, many here remember that trip im sure.
zero problems with the bikes. i would trust all for sure

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that BMW were developing a maintenance free chain - no lubing, no tensioning, etc. That was a while back. Haven't seen anything about it since.

 

[Torquex2]

Have had chains and shafts but have never owned a belt. If you put miles on your bike, shaft way mo bedda than a chain.

Ivy now had two shaft drives, and one belt. Although I didn’t have any issues with the first shaft bike. The entire bike itself was a complete gutless piece of ( Kawi 1500). My second purchase was my still owned, n driven Kawi VN2000 belt drive. It has the largest belt of any bike. And is literally the same belt as is on the Polaris Slingshot. After this, it’s 16th season on the road, I’ve still not changed the belt. Definitely overdue. But is a testimonial to its quality. As for this most recent drive shaft purchase....The jury’s still out .