Shaft Drive Questions

 Well, let's say I pick up a shaft drive bike next year ... maybe an Aero or
C50 ...

A couple questions:

a)Is there ANY maintenance required on a shaft drive?  Do I just replace
tires and brake shoes forever and I'm all set?

b)What is the nature of the interface at the wheel?  Does one just pull the
axle like a chain drive and the wheel comes off?  Or is it more complicated?
(The reason for the question is that I'm not sure if there are gears in
there or what.)  And when I remove the wheel, will there be a gear or
something on the part removed?

Thanks, The Lizard

 Jujitsu Lizard wrote:

You should change the oil in it now and then.  The owner's manual will
give you the intervals.  On some, like the Concours, there's a little
bit of other lubrication you should do, but it's easy to do whenever you
change the tires.


On my Concours, you pull the axle, and the wheel has to be pulled a bit
to one side to get it off.  IIRC, you took apart a chain drive and found
the rubber dampeners, it's similar to that, in the way it comes out.

There are gears, but in my experience, they are in a gear box, and not
readily accessible.  (Calling it a "differential" would be incorrect, as
it only turns one wheel at one speed.)

--
"Outback" Jon  -  KC2BNE
outback_jon@ver.no.sp.am.izon.net
AMD Opteron 165 (@2.5) and 6.1 GHz of other AMD power...
http://folding.stanford.edu  - got folding?  Team 53560

2006 ZG1000A Concours "Blueline" COG# 7385 CDA# 0157

 
Maintenance depends on the individual bike. There may
may be oil changes to the final drive (see below), possible
lubes of U joints and/or splines. You really need to research
individual bikes to compare the maintenance.

The interface at the wheel on a BMW at least is called
a final drive. The shaft drives a sealed unit containing
a pair of bevel gears.

On a single sided swingarm, the wheel bolts to the final
drive in a manner similar to an auto wheel.

On a two sided swingarm, the wheel will slip into a set of
splines or other device to drive the wheel and a spacer will
sit between the wheel and swingarm to hold the wheel in
place. The arrangement will be otherwise similar to a chain
drive.

If you research the reeky archives, they will give you a good
idea of the handling of shafties and their inability to countersteer
and/or wheelie. This is a complicated subject and difficult
to explain in a single posting.

 
The Aero I rented did just fine.

As far as the wheelieing, I did find a link that explained how the torque
affects the suspension and why.  But since I operate so low on the
performance curve (I'm an old-lady rider), it doesn't matter to me.

The countersteering ... I don't understand.  I wasn't aggressive, but I
didn't notice any anomalies in the handling of the Aero.  I did go around
the occasional dead animal or pothole.  No issue.

The Lizard

 e:



Claiming that shaft drive motorcycles won't wheelie or countersteer is
a
TROLL.

Next, somebody will start talking about the fabled "Spagthorpe"
motorcycle that never existed, except in a bullshit story about
removing rust from old motorcycles using molasses mixed with jam.