Chain Drive and

[dontwantapickle]

from experience,.......... I can say that replacing a final drive belt is a major job.

Putting a new belt on a HD requires pulling off the inner and outer primary covers, the clutch,
the compensator, the swingarm, and of course, the rear tire.
(tip: taking off the muffler makes it easier, so do that too!)

Why? the problem is that the Belt is continuous, no master links or chain breaking.

The new belts are pretty strong, and there are some out there running with 100K on them.
the problem comes with their width. the flat belt and wide sprocket / pulley are some serious crap catchers.
if a sharp stone gets caught between the belt and sprocket, bad things happen and it gets expensive
pretty quick.

Belts are OK I guess...... for other folks, but I'm not much of a fan.
The higher costs and added effort involved (for no perceivable benefit), are not worth it to me.

Chains are cool because they are cheap and easy. They work great for dirt bikes, race bikes, etc.

However, on a touring bike, shaft drive is my choice because they are trouble free and one less thing to keep an eye on when on the road.

[Dirty Dave]

Oops. You are right of course Bob. The adjusters have to be slackened off to remove the wheel.

I remember getting an O-ring kit for my Valk having 3 rings. They do last forever unless you are super anal like I tend to be
during the long winter layup.

I'm lucky enough now to be of both worlds. BTW my new chain is very shiny.

[tlbranth]

I back the adjusters out a specific number of turns on both sides and tighten them up the same amount when I'm done. Because of my advanced age I write that number down.

[Sidecar Bob]

I'm pretty sure I tried that but it was never satisfactory because the chain always needed adjustment anyway.

[rcmatt007]

When I sold my '05 the belt had 80,000 + miles

[BlueThunder]

I can't help but think... Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I am the first one to marvel how creative one can be, the skills involved, and even the vision to see a project through. But IMHO, some things are just not worth it. Changing a GL motor to chain drive is an exercise in futility. Now, making a snow blower using a GL motor, that's an intriguing idea!

[Whiskerfish]

SNIP Now, making a snow blower using a GL motor, that's an intriguing idea!

Always wanted to do the go-cart thing. Actually located a frame once but it was sold before I got there. So it is still on the list of things to do!

[wingrider]

SNIP Now, making a snow blower using a GL motor, that's an intriguing idea!

Always wanted to do the go-cart thing. Actually located a frame once but it was sold before I got there. So it is still on the list of things to do!

I am in the early stages of building this...

0A1AA357-CE0B-461C-A308-91B996EEE4DE.jpeg (265.2 KiB) Viewed 237 times

[CYBORG]

I see a sprocket. Is it chain drive?

[Whiskerfish]

Nice but I think maybe it needs a roll cage

[FargoFour]

The other day I was binge watching Fantomworks, one of these car rebuilder TV shows. In season 2, episode 4, it has a KZ-750 shaft drive that they modify to chain drive and put a mono-shock swing arm on it.

I didn't see the part about how they did it but the end result was pretty cool.

Bud.

[wingrider]

I see a sprocket. Is it chain drive?

That one is...I am not sure what I am going to do yet, the engine will stay a shaft drive, but it may drive something with a chain.

Nice but I think maybe it needs a roll cage

I am debating making one!

[Track T 2411]

I see a sprocket. Is it chain drive?

If you look real close, you can see the final drive below the wheel barrow. The builder mated a sprocket to the final drive which in turn drives the rear wheels.

[CYBORG]

That seems like a reasonable solution to a somewhat complicated problem.

[82_GL1100]

Has any one converted a gl1100 to chain? I have seen a gl1500 http://steelcreations.com.pl/en/cooperation
But nothing else. Any ideas? Hopefully this hasn't been asked a hundred times.....

Thanks,

Draw

You might want to take a look at the Motus MST (https://motusmotorcycles.com/home). They have done exactly what you are talking about. There are lots of good reasons to go with a chain vs a shaft. Lower un-sprung weight, less shaft-jacking, etc.

The good and the bad of owning and playing around with 35+ year-old bikes is that everything is out-of-date. Everything we touch can be improved. No matter how much we touch, we still have 35+ year-old bikes full of old tech that "needs" improvement.

Some of the comments on this thread were just depressing, especially for a "Tech Discussion". If this was a "Finance Discussion", I would opine that the conversion might not be the best use of time and resources. On the other hand, if you have the time and resources to tackle the project, I think it would be great to learn about the process and see the results.