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Which style is easier to work on for a new rider with limited mechanical experience? What are the pro's and con's of each type?

Shaft, less maint. cleaner but will rob power and very expensive to replace

Chain, more efficent, dirty, requires regular lube and adjustment cheap replacement (compared to shaft) even if replacing sprockets.

The shaft drive is lower maintenance, especially when the weather turns wet.

Most of the bikes you're looking at will come with a chain drive. It's not that big a deal, the chain just needs to be cleaned and lubed periodically.

Modern chains should be lubed regularly but don't need much adjustment. Four bikes in our family, all chain drive, the highest-mileage one (Bonne) has 16K miles, been adjusted once, and just now needs it again. Twice in 16K miles isn't bad.

Couple of other downsides of shafties....cannot change final gearing & reduced handling performance
Some of the more high tech shafts like the BMW paralever is pretty good. Even if you scrape a peg, it doesn't get too upset. I had a K75 with a conventional shaft and if you scrape something, it turned into a pogo stick.

Modern day o-ring chains are virtually maintenance free. Given a choice, I will take a chain over a shaft everytime.

jstark47 wrote:Modern chains should be lubed regularly but don't need much adjustment. Four bikes in our family, all chain drive, the highest-mileage one (Bonne) has 16K miles, been adjusted once, and just now needs it again. Twice in 16K miles isn't bad.

That's true. The modern O-ring chain is a huge advance over the greasy chains of the old days. The rollers are pre-lubed and sealed.

I use a light silicone lube (no mess) every couple of weeks to keep things moving smoothly. Takes about a minute with the centerstand.

I've also noticed that they don't need much adjustment. On my old bikes with standard chains, it wasn't unusual to adjust the chain every 500 miles or so. On my current bike, I've done two adjustements in the last 19K miles.

Balog wrote:Which style is easier to work on for a new rider with limited mechanical experience? What are the pro's and con's of each type?

You won't find many shaft drives in bikes small/light enough to be suitable for a new rider. . .

P

Lion_Lady wrote:

Balog wrote:Which style is easier to work on for a new rider with limited mechanical experience? What are the pro's and con's of each type?

You won't find many shaft drives in bikes small/light enough to be suitable for a new rider. . .

Yamaha Virago 535.

Another vote for chains. Shafts may require less maintenance but when it does have a problem you're talking $$$. If you can brush your teeth you can keep a chain going for a long time.

Gunslinger wrote:Another vote for chains. Shafts may require less maintenance but when it does have a problem you're talking $$$.

Also the condition of the shaft is somewhat of a mystery while the conditon of the chain is out in full view for anyone that cares to see.