the new vulcan 900

[ZooTech]

There is no "tear down" required on my Valkyrie. Just pull the rear wheel (tire change) and the splines are accessible, just clean them and regrease. The fluid in the final drive unit is also easy to drain and refill whenever it is required.

I'm not talking about greasing the wheel splines, Paul. I'm talking about greasing the U-joints on either end of the shaft itself and the splines up near the engine where the shaft mates with the transmission. That requires removal of the wheel and rear differential, and disassembly of the shaft carrier. If you think your Valkyrie is exempt from this maintenance then I wish you all the luck in the world.

That doesn't really sound right to me, unless he had modified the engine. Typically the kinds of bikes that have belt drives don't put out a whole ton of power, and those belts have braided steel and kevlar in them, very very strong to say the least. Now if he'd greatly increased the power, or reduced the size (width) of the belt I can see it snapping, they do give out eventually, but a new one shouldn't die that fast, and not twice in a row.

The Boss Hoss uses a belt drive, as does the Yamaha Warrior and plenty of other high-power bikes. There is no reason why a properly installed belt shouldn't last 50k miles or more with nothing more than a couple adjustments due to stretching. If the pulleys are aluminum, replacement would likely be required due to normal wear on the teeth.

[paul246]

There is no "tear down" required on my Valkyrie. Just pull the rear wheel (tire change) and the splines are accessible, just clean them and regrease. The fluid in the final drive unit is also easy to drain and refill whenever it is required.

I'm not talking about greasing the wheel splines, Paul. I'm talking about greasing the U-joints on either end of the shaft itself and the splines up near the engine where the shaft mates with the transmission. That requires removal of the wheel and rear differential, and disassembly of the shaft carrier. If you think your Valkyrie is exempt from this maintenance then I wish you all the luck in the world.

That doesn't really sound right to me, unless he had modified the engine. Typically the kinds of bikes that have belt drives don't put out a whole ton of power, and those belts have braided steel and kevlar in them, very very strong to say the least. Now if he'd greatly increased the power, or reduced the size (width) of the belt I can see it snapping, they do give out eventually, but a new one shouldn't die that fast, and not twice in a row.

The Boss Hoss uses a belt drive, as does the Yamaha Warrior and plenty of other high-power bikes. There is no reason why a properly installed belt shouldn't last 50k miles or more with nothing more than a couple adjustments due to stretching. If the pulleys are aluminum, replacement would likely be required due to normal wear on the teeth.

First, there is only one U-joint, singular.

Second, I've pulled the shaft and re-greased the splines, so I am aware of the need for this maintenance.

Third, they don't need to be done that often. I thought you were referring to the hub splines, so I misunderstood, but spare me the attitude

[ZooTech]

No attitude intended, Paul. And according to my maintenance schedule, the shaft drive must be taken apart and greased at 7500, 15000, 30000, and 45000 miles. That's four disassemblies before a belt-drive has to be replaced.

[DivideOverflow]

I would personally love a belt drive! No greasing, just replace it every so many thousand miles. Good stuff!

Paul, I think your friend's belt drive must have been out of alignment, or incorrectly chosen for the power of his bike... That is the first I have heard of people's belts breaking like that.

One of my buddies has a Warrior and loves the belt drive. I'd have them on all my bikes if it was economically feasible to change them over.

Speaking of which, I need to do chain maintenance this weekend...

[sapaul]

BMW got it right again, my shaft is sealed for life accoding to my manual.

[blues2cruise]

Kawasaki 900.
I sat on one at the bike show. It may be my next bike. I currently have a 650 V-Star. A logical step up according to many would be the 1100.
However, the Kawasaki 900 has better gas mileage and more hp than the 1100. It also comes with a windshield and bags already.
It is also only about 50 pounds more than my current bike and still 50 pounds less than the 1100.
I seem to recall it also had a better warranty than Yamaha.

[paul246]

No attitude intended, Paul. And according to my maintenance schedule, the shaft drive must be taken apart and greased at 7500, 15000, 30000, and 45000 miles. That's four disassemblies before a belt-drive has to be replaced.

I'm not sure whose manual you are referring to, but I have the Honda Valkyrie factory shop manual.

There is no scheduled maintenance on the shaft itself. None. Period.

The final drive is scheduled for a drain every 24,000 miles. Easy job.

Most of us do the hub splines whenever we replace the rear tire, might as well, the tire is out of the way.

Some of us (22,000 plus Valkyrie riders) will, while the wheel is off, undo the 4 bolts holding the final drive unit to the swingarm, pull the final drive unit off and then slide the drive shaft out. My drive shaft has never really required it, but I clean and regrease it anyway.

So it all boils down to nothing really, no "tear down", only a few minutes of disassembly and some lubrication.

I wasn't addressing the "belt vs shaft" argument, either, somehow that got woven into your last reply.

So, recheck your manual, afterall, it lead you to believe my bike has two u-joints, right?

[paul246]

b

I would personally love a belt drive! No greasing, just replace it every so many thousand miles. Good stuff!

Paul, I think your friend's belt drive must have been out of alignment, or incorrectly chosen for the power of his bike... That is the first I have heard of people's belts breaking like that.

One of my buddies has a Warrior and loves the belt drive. I'd have them on all my bikes if it was economically feasible to change them over.

Speaking of which, I need to do chain maintenance this weekend...

He wasn't my friend. As I stated, this came from a m/c magazine tech help column.

There was, according to the article, no misalignment.

They specifically addressed the fact that pulleys will wear and must be replaced along with the belt. Simple as that. Again, I'm no expert on belt drive systems.

[ZooTech]

BMW got it right again, my shaft is sealed for life accoding to my manual.

No offense, but at $15,800 I would hope such would be the case. Bikes like the C50 are built to a price point (my dad's was $6700 brand new), so you can expect to get your hands dirty from time to time.

So, recheck your manual, afterall, it lead you to believe my bike has two u-joints, right?

A u-joint up front, and a sliding joint where it mates with the rear differential, yes. Both of which need regreased periodically.

[paul246]

BMW got it right again, my shaft is sealed for life accoding to my manual.

No offense, but at $15,800 I would hope such would be the case. Bikes like the C50 are built to a price point (my dad's was $6700 brand new), so you can expect to get your hands dirty from time to time.

So, recheck your manual, afterall, it lead you to believe my bike has two u-joints, right?

A u-joint up front, and a sliding joint where it mates with the rear differential, yes. Both of which need regreased periodically.

Zoo Tech

The modern shaft drives are all, like the BMW, closed in and "sealed" from the weather. This includes the C50 you just mentioned, BTW. There is NO service interval that you keep referring to. The shaft can easily go beyond 60,000 miles before you have to even think of it. The tech experts will tell you that the only time they bother with the shaft is if they have another reason for disassembly, then they will check it and possibly clean and regrease. Just got off the phone with the Suzuki rep.