Chain drive, why do we want it again?

I never understand why anyone would want a chain drive motorcycle in this day and age, but I guess found one possible answer today. I try to walk or hike between 10 and 20 miles a day and today at about the 10 mile mark it was not all that hot of a day, but near 85 degrees on a pretty good upgrade I see this motorcycle rider with his jacket draped over the seat and pushing a motorcycle uphill carrying his helmet as he pushed. I could see the chain dragging the street. I walk about 4.5mph so I don't fool around. Took a good long ways to catch this guy and I see it's a new Triumph of some kind. Now I don't know new for sure, but everyone says modern chains are good for 120 thousand miles and stong as superman even in 520 size. Ha, this guy got some good exercise today. I felt sorry for him, but been there in 1978. Why in the world do they still fit chains to motorcycles. :sick:

120k on a chain? Would be stretched out like a wizard's sleeve.

good point...but shaft has input on the bikes handling ,take off and down shift ,that i dont like ....but thats just me...good for you walking....never had a chain bust on me....

RonKZ650 wrote: I never understand why anyone would want a chain drive motorcycle in this day and age, but I guess found one possible answer today. I try to walk or hike between 10 and 20 miles a day and today at about the 10 mile mark it was not all that hot of a day, but near 85 degrees on a pretty good upgrade I see this motorcycle rider with his jacket draped over the seat and pushing a motorcycle uphill carrying his helmet as he pushed. I could see the chain dragging the street. I walk about 4.5mph so I don't fool around. Took a good long ways to catch this guy and I see it's a new Triumph of some kind. Now I don't know new for sure, but everyone says modern chains are good for 120 thousand miles and stong as superman even in 520 size. Ha, this guy got some good exercise today. I felt sorry for him, but been there in 1978. Why in the world do they still fit chains to motorcycles. :sick:

Well here's the answer to your question. Apparently drive shaft technology is crap now days and fixing the problems is VERY expensive and not permanent. The following is just a sample of complaints of drive shaft failures on Yamaha V-star 1100 bikes. Typical repair costs are around $3000. These bikes are only a few years old, imagine how many issues they would have by the time they were 36 years old like my bike! Keep in mind these complaints are all from a single forum ( www.motorcycleforums.net/forum/v-star-sh...dle-drive-shaft.html )! I'm positive there are many other drive shaft related failures not mentioned in this forum and many drive shaft failures for other models as well; I don't believe Yamaha is the only company with drive shaft related failures. I'll stick with the chain; for $3000 I can buy enough chains and sprockets to last many lifetimes, and I can replace the chain & sprockets between breakfast and lunch. Ed

jtk63
vstar 1100 middle drive shaft
hello, I have a 2006 vstar 1100 classic with 13k on it just wondering if there are
other owners that have had any problems with the middle drive retaining nut
coming off the end of the shaft and totally destroying the drive shaft
cv joint, I did not purchase an extended warranty the dealer said the price
for the repair was going to be close t $3,000 and yamaha will not cover the
cost stating that the problem has nothing to do with the design of the unit
sometimes it just happens to a few bikes regardless of the year and mileage of the bike.
Thank you to replies to this post
Mike


Gary Reed
i just had that happen to my v-star , the middle drive shaft actually broke , the nut did not come off , it cost me $2671 to get fixed , but there was good news as of today , i was at home getting mad about the whole thing and filed a complaint with the NHTSB , i then fired off a letter to Yamaha informing them of what had happened to my bike and that i filed a complaint , i also told them i was thinking about a class action suit to get everybody in North America involved who's bike it had happened to . Well next thing you know after a couple of days i got a call from Yamaha , and just today i got a check from the dealer that fixed my bike for the sum of $2579 , refund for what i had paid the dealer , looks like it only cost about $100 bucks to get fixed , it seems that Yamaha redesigned that middle drive shaft to be a bit more beefy , so they know there is a problem with it , all i can say to you is try doing what i did , Yamaha may cover that expense for you.

Wil Santiago
I own an 2006 Vstar 1100 and I did get the extended warranty. I took it in to the shop and after 2 months of disassembling and reassembling, replacing this and that, they still can't figure out what's wrong. It was making a loud ZOOM when I released the clutch after shifting/downshifting (the higher the speed, the louder noise). Last thing they thought it was the drive shaft and so they just replaced it and it's still making the noise. I'm about to invoke the Texas' Lemon Law now. Any ideas out there?

Vstanomore
The bolt in the middle shaft broke on me too. The nut was rattling around and then the rear wheel locked up. Yamaha says they have no recall. They appear to be guilty of knowing about a defective bolt that definitely causes major failure in the bike and probably has caused injury to riders. Any body know of class action suits or individuals who have sued them? The cost to fix mine was quoted at $3500, but I may not do it. My other option is to buy a used engine, but then I'd still have the defective bolt.


Mr.Mohr
2002 Yamaha Vstar middle shaft defect - BROKE at 39K miles

I bought my 2002 Vstar with 2k miles on it in 2003. I am a casual driver and have always been careful and easy on the bike. I too had not had any problems with the bike other than the starter clutch... that was until a couple months ago. On my way home from work I went to slow down for a turn and my bike made a god awful noise. It turned out to be the same defective middle shaft which had broken off above the bolt on the threads.

Yamaha dealer locally said over $2500 to fix the bike. There was no way I could do that... I contacted Yamaha and after leaving me on hold for a half an hour they told me that the bike was too old and they wouldn't do anything about the problem. I have started a facebook page and if you have had this problem please feel free to go there and post your story. I would like to join any class action lawsuit since I was very disappointed in how Yamaha dealt with me.

Marty08
I purchased a new 2006 Vstar 1100 in March '08 with 0 miles. In July 2011 the middle drive shaft nut broke. At that time it had 4,387 miles on it. It has been parked in storage shed since then because Yahama says it is over 30 months old and they are not responsible for repairing or paying for repairing this issue. I wrote a letter to Yahama explaining the problem. A few days later I received a call from someone from Yamaha Cooperation in CA. He said that they could not help me with this problem since the bike was more than 30 months old. It was over 30 months old when I bought it off the show room floor with no miles on it. I think Yahama should stand behind their product since it has apparently happened numerous times to other Vstar 1100 models.

VicH51
My girlfriend just purchased one of these bikes. After bringing it home it had allot of oil leaking from a nut just beneath the main transfer case. I test drove this vehicle and noticed right away unusual noises coming from the engine which are not common with other V-twins I have ridden. I finally convinced her to return this bike to the dealership where she purchased same with over 13,000 miles on it. We left the bike with dealer and she was notified two days later of the mid-drive shaft assembly breakage. Although the dealership is paying for this repair for obvious reasons, I have requested her to return the bike for a total credit of the bike and purchase another of equal or greater value. I have even offered to pay the excess amount on a brand new bike of here choosing. After reading all the reviews on this particular model, it is a lemon with obvious design flaws and should be recalled for appropriate replacement irregardless if it has broken yet or not. My concern is that it is a safety hazard and there is no amount of money I would not pay to keep her safe from this particular model. I would like to know if anyone has experienced additional breakage of this shaft even after the upgraded repair. After the repair, should this particular dealership not accept our offer to accept this bike in return this bike for the purchase a new bike, I do not feel comfortable with her or anyone continuing to ride this model. I have read horror stories from the shaft locking up from 30-65 mph from riders I can only assume have eaten the total cost of the bike as a loss. Due to the seriousness of this deficient design by Yamaha, should there not be a class action suit in the works before someone becomes seriously injured or killed? I have owned older Yamaha Drive shaft models in the past, but they did not have this cheesy assembly nor had I ever heard of any problems with any of them. This problem with the 2006 VStar Classic 1100 is without a doubt "poor design," it has happened to bikes with mileage as low as 4000 miles. We were told by the dealership that this issue is caused by hard acceleration... What the heck is that? One should be able to smoke that rear tire at will and as often as they like and they drive shaft hold up for the life of the bike... V-twins are the slugs of the road, how hard can you really accelerate to cause such a breakage? Well, the dealership is covering this $1500 repair with "No Warranty..." One can only assume that the dealerships are aware of State Lemon Laws on used vehicles purchased within the last 30 days. My girlfriend is lucky in this respect, however, I just do not have a warm and fuzzy about this bike. What is the fate of other riders who did not have the law on their side? I think all who own one of these Yamaha's need to band together and file a class action suit today, why eat the cost of something which is obviously so flawed that the same thing happens to so many. I know as well as everyone else on this forum that most never cry out "FOUL."
Vic51


FiremanS20
I have an 2005 Vstar, 20k and this just happened to me! (PICTURES OF BUSTED DRIVE SHAFT UNIT ARE SHOWN HERE)

However I have read of a solution I am going to try and that is to drill into the drive pinion, tap and thread another bolt into it. We will see how it turns out.

timbest
HEY COULD I GET A COPY OF YOUR LETTERS my 2006 is down yet again i put 2 new drive shafts in it already the last one did not make it 8,000 miles hell it is less then a year since i replaced the last one and i live in michigan so it sat in the garage more than it was drove. the yamaha dealer who did the drive the last 2 times wants nothing to do with it he says yamaha refuses to offer answers to his questions and he feels like he is taking advantage of us. this is my 5th yamaha and never had i had problems like this i won't be buying them again.

Mfg cost savings?

One reason would be more efficient power transfer to rear wheel.

Good Fortune!

Only new vehicle I've ever owned was a 1985 700 Shadow. But after experiencing the rear end "jack job" (lifting up when accelerating) coming out of a curve for the first time, I was MUCH less of a "shaftie" fan. Could NOT get that back tire to break loose on a bet.The only time I was glad that I was lacking a chain was riding on Daytona beach. Roll the throttle, get your butt hoisted! LOL! Yup, chain/belt drive for me!

i get the "shaft" enough :woohoo: chain drives for me..... :lol:

I would be so happy if I was smart enough to fit a belt drive system to my current Gpz550. Chain racket drives me nuts.

If your chain is making a racket, it probably needs service. Also, I've witnessed more than one broken belt but no broken chains. My buddy's Sportster drive belt disintegrated literally right in front of me, showering me with chunks of rubber. He had to go through much adventure to get a new belt that fit so he could get home.

My first street bike was a Honda Nighthawk 650.
My second was a Yamaha Seca Turbo.
Both were shaft driven, both could exhibit some pretty spooky handling when pushed. The Yammy was extra weird if the turbo came online mid-corner.
I learned to compensate, as one does, but when I got my KZ on the road, I realized that I'd been handicapped the whole time!

Shaft drive, belt drive, chain drive - they all have advantages and disadvantages.

I was used to riding a Ninja 250R with chain drive. Chain maintenance was a bit of a pain but the overall system was lightweight and simple.

The more I rode though, the more I started to think about shaft drive like on my brother's 2002 BMW K1200RS.

I stumbled upon an '83 KZ 750 LTD with shaft drive. I was psyched that other than changing the shaft drive fluid no other maintenance was going to be necessary. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for shaft drive was diminished somewhat when I started riding the bike in a spirited manner and found it changing attitude during cornering. At higher RPMs where the engine's torque is relatively high I'd come into a braking zone, get the bike leaned over, and then feel the bike's rear end twitch as I accelerated to and through the apex. I believe that twitch can be attributed to the shaft jacking phenomenon that occurs under acceleration.

Ridden in "sport" mode the twitch and shaft jacking is noticeable; ridden in "cruiser" mode it's not.

Gary

guitargeek wrote: If your chain is making a racket, it probably needs service. Also, I've witnessed more than one broken belt but no broken chains. My buddy's Sportster drive belt disintegrated literally right in front of me, showering me with chunks of rubber. He had to go through much adventure to get a new belt that fit so he could get home.

My first street bike was a Honda Nighthawk 650.
My second was a Yamaha Seca Turbo.
Both were shaft driven, both could exhibit some pretty spooky handling when pushed. The Yammy was extra weird if the turbo came online mid-corner.
I learned to compensate, as one does, but when I got my KZ on the road, I realized that I'd been handicapped the whole time!

Chain service or lack of it is not the problem.