Got a rough number as to how many km?  I've heard 100,000km for the life of
the belt (as opposed to chain, up to 20,000 if you're lucky).  100,000km
used to be a fairly long life for a bike, although my brother has a Honda
Hornet with 180,000+ on it.

HD use a toothed belt similar to Kawasaki, although it seems to be thinner &
wider.  The main complaint I've heard is pieces of gravel (blue metal)
causing the damage.  That stuff tends to be a bit hard & sharp.

I don't think the Japanese have used belts for about 20 years, Ducati had a
play a few years back.  I don't think BMW bother with shafts either.  Shafts
never need adjusting.  Oh well, back to chains & forks...

I did see a scooter with a train of gears a couple of years back, that was a
bit different.  I wonder how noisy that was.

Tony

(Speaking of BMW, an addition to the ABS thread a while is that BMW
motorcycles have a on/off switch for ABS; on for roads, off for dirt.  Or
permanently off if you're one of those types.)


> I use to ride a Kawasaki 400LTD that had a belt drive.  I 
> rode that bike until it was on it's last legs, and I never 
> had to replace the belt.  I did have to adjust it 
> ocassionally, but I never replaced it. 
> You could tell when it needed adjustment because it would 
> skip a tooth and pop (bang) loudly (similar to a shotgun 
> blast) when it was a little loose.  When that happened a few 
> time in a row, I'd adjust the belt and I was good to go for 
> another 3-6 months, depending on how hard I rode it.
> 
> Belt drives are much quieter than chains or shafts, and true, 
> they don't sling as much crud onto the wheels.
> I prefer them to chains, but the Honda Goldwing I had before 
> that with it's shaft drive was even better, but was somewhat noiser.
> 
> I guess bottom line for me is either belt drive or Shaft 
> drive are preferred over chain drive.  And I probably Would 
> take a belt drive first, then shaft, then chain.
> 
> Just my opinion and preferrences though.
> 
> 
> 	
> Regards,
> 
>

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