Sick of chain maintenance??? GO BELT!

[DirtFlier]

I'm at 19+k on my 2013/DCT with stock chain & sprockets. Only adjusted it twice but the first one only took it to the tight side of spec to see if that made a difference in shift smoothness. This last adj was necessary.

 

[Alias]

What chain make and model do you use?

2012 NC, origional stock chain.

 

[Ferndiego12]

Just my 2 cents worth...I have owned motorcycles with all 3 final drive types (chain, belt and shaft). All have pro's and con's in performance and maintenance. I just want to point out one comment that was stated earlier in this thread that basically stated that shaft drive was zero maintenance..... This is false....I will agree that there is much much less maintenance with a shaft driven motorcycle, but there are a few key maintenance items that are often overlooked and neglected by some owners of shaft drive motorcycles. These items are the splines on the output of the gearbox and the input of the rear pinion gear. It is a bit of a job on most motorcycles to periodically lubricate these and as a result many owners forget them and in some cases lead to severe damage to the splines. One case I just recently witnessed was so bad the the bike would no longer move as a result of the splines on the pinion gear being completely worn out. I can see where these can be neglected since most owners just check the oil level in the rear end and change it once in a while. As for my personal preference, for my NC700X , I will stick with the chain set up. With some regular cleaning and lubrication (as much of a pain as it is), it should last for at least 2 years of riding for me, at which point for around $110.00 it can be easily replaced. Belts are OK, but tension and alignment are super critical and in my opinion not the best for the NC700X which was designed to have a chain. Sorry for the long winded post ....

 

[Brillot2000]

2012 NC, origional stock chain.

You must not ride this bike often.

I took good care of the chain on my bike and 13k miles later it gave me the finger. It has an excessive amount of movement to the left and right, some links are now sticking, and it is starting to climb up the rear sprocket. $110 in chain and sprockets are required to remedy this issue. I have all these items, all of which are JT Sockets and and their X-ring Chain, an OEM supplier to Honda for decades.

I will probably replace everything later in this week myself. I recently got a 2010 NT700V (NaTalie) and I have been putting my time into outfitting this bike with Farkle and learning how to remove all the bodywork. This bike is going to be my primary commuter and will be ridden at least 4 days a week and then supplimented by one of my other 2 bikes on usually Fridays.

 

[Alias]

You must not ride this bike often.

Purchased this bike 10/28/16 with 8,758 miles on it. It now has 17,760 miles on it. Considering it's not the only bike that I ride, 9,002 miles in 13 months seems OK to me.

 

[rjarrell]

Harley Davidsons suffer from a lot of rear wheel bearing failures. Belts require tension to work properly. Wondering if the NC 700 counter sprocket, swing arm and rear wheel bearings are designed for this constant tension

 

[lootzyan]

...Wondering if the NC 700 counter sprocket, swing arm and rear wheel bearings are designed for this constant tension...

Added load from the belt tensioner would be, in practice, insignificant in comparison to the radial load already applied to bearings from pulling belt and the opposing forces.