Is BMW killing it's famed shaft drive? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is BMW killing it's famed shaft drive?

Chris-CJ

Chris-CJ

Well-known member
Forum Sponsor
Not now, but a future "may be"...
What if there was a chain that never needed adjustment or lubrication?
That pretty much negates the advantages of a shaft drive, plus it is lighter and drive ratios can be easily swapped.
And, wait for it ....
This chain is offered by BMW as an option for the S1000 bikes!

newatlas.com

BMW claims its new motorcycle chain never needs lube or adjustment

In days gone by, motorcycle riders needed to be half-competent mechanics to reliably get where they were going. That's changed a lot in the last few decades, to the point where a lot of riders get by without ever laying a spanner on their own machines. But there are still chains.
newatlas.com newatlas.com
 
Chris-CJ said:
That pretty much negates the advantages of a shaft drive,
Click to expand...

I've never thought shaft drive was overall "better" than chain... Just different.
When it comes to power transfer, chain is much better than shaft so... 'Depending on your priorities, chain is an advantage over shaft.

I'm not concerned with racing anyone and like the cleanliness and ease of maintenance of shaft drive so... That's the advantage for me I guess
 
$340 US - that's 2 and a half good quality conventional o-ring chains.
Will it (and the sprockets) really last 2 and a half times longer ? We shall see.
 
I would buy it if it really doesn't need lube or adjustment.

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk
 
OK, the chain will last nearly forever....

What about the front and rear sprockets?
 
Isn't the longevity of the chain and sprockets also influenced by correct alignment and adjustment?

It kind of sounds like marketing department-driven BS to me, but what do I care. I'm not gonna buy one.
 
LOL. There is no way any chain will last as long as shaft drive. It would have to be totally enclosed at best. Shaft drive is going to last longer, but you still have joints to repair. The shaft is enclosed and doesn't get grit into it. True, chain is the most efficient means of power transfer, but that's not important on anything but a race bike. Next to shaft, belt drive is best (mine is 21 years old, 50,000km still like new). Sounds like a cost cutting measure at BMW. Competition is getting tougher.
 
From what I've been hearing ... a chain drive will probably last longer than a BMW shaft drive. (heard plenty about having to service the final-drive gears or bearings at intervals that I would consider to be alarmingly short considering how expensive they are to fix)

BMW shaft drives will stay around in the bikes that have the flat-twin engine layout at a minimum. Since those inherently have longitudinal crankshafts, it makes no sense to do anything other than shaft drive.
 
Roadghost said:
Sounds like a cost cutting measure at BMW.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at adding a ADV-ish bike to my stable.. 'Have been doing some reading.

'Found out today that the engine for the 850GSA is made in China...
WTF BMW...?

Apparently bikes were recalled even before they hit the market.... 'Some issue with the oil system...
 
Shaft drive suits a longitudinal engine layout.
 
Mad Mike said:
Or a solution to BMWs undependable shaft drives
Click to expand...
What?
I got rear ended on one by a truck and I'm still riding it,
the speedometer sensor it highly unreliable.
 
Lightcycle said:
Depends on the model and year.

Went through four shaft drives on my bike. Final drive failure is a well known problem for certain R models.
Click to expand...
Does this 'undependable' problem only happen with one specific model or year? That would make the solution pretty simple.
How about all the ones with a longitudinal engine before they tried to get too fancy with adding knuckles and hinges in the middle.

The blanket statement was "Or a solution to BMWs undependable shaft drives" that's painting with a very wide brush and as a BMW owner of 34 years riding an OEM shaft drive model, it's a hard read to ignore without question.

Curious the picture of the BMW chain linked above that never needs adjustment has all kinds of axle adjustment :unsure: wouldn't BMW be able to save a ton of money by giving it a fixed rear axle? Something don't seem quite right about BMW announcing a forever chain like that, but if they stop making longitudinal engine motorcycles and introduce traverse powered bikes with fixed rear axle chain drives that never need service, (y) that would really be something!
 
Last edited:
Mad Mike said:
Or a solution to BMWs undependable shaft drives
Click to expand...

Well if they're unreliable they must have redesigned them on the cheap because their final drive system used to be the most reliable in the industry. In an age where people are changing cheap wheel bearings every 60,000km I suppose it's not hard to believe.
 
Trials said:
Curious the picture of the BMW chain linked above that never needs adjustment has all kinds of axle adjustment :unsure: wouldn't BMW be able to save a ton of money by giving it a fixed rear axle?
Click to expand...

I kinda like being able to swap out between a 14t and a 15t on my bike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom