According to the stats. . . . no other brand is as reliable as Yamaha. I have a good friend that has a H-D bagger. He's always wrenching on it. Not so much that he has to, but that he loves to do it. He told me that if you don't want to wrench on your bike, don't get a Harley. He also has well over 250K miles on it, and it's an '04. He goes to Sturgis every year with his wife, and pulls one of those tiny camper trailers.
Ive had some seriously reliable Harleys and have seen some real duds. Don’t take my excitement about HD adv bike wrong. I‘m super stoked they got in and put out big effort, meaning they are serious about it. I’m very happy with the S10 and hope to get some good off road miles on it this year. The one thing that will keep me off a big adv bike is a chain. If I do a chain bike it will be under 500lbs for sure. That shaft is nice
I read that the engine has hydraulic lash adjusters, therefore no valve adjustment needed at all. Other maintenance is every 5,000 miles.
That's a major leap forward in my book. I'm spending too much time lately juggling the wife's mileage so the valve check does not interrupt the upcoming riding season. Be nice to not think about that.
Nope, and 9 months ago I had the same opinion. After owning one, I've learned to appreciate the looks of the bike evolves. Pretty pleased with it now. Who knows, maybe the new Harley owners will feel the same.That's ok. . . . you didn't buy her for her beauty. . . . did you?
The short answer is no. A shaft's downside is, like you say, extra weight but also a slight rob in performance. Chains are so good now a days, that other than being a little more maintenance intensive, some companies opt for the advantages of less weight, and the ability to change gearing, if you desire.
the Vmax had a shaft so I think it’s not the power out put but as said above it’s the weight and packag of the shaft. A shaft has a limited amount or angle that it will work well in so it has more engineering envolved to make it function properly. BMW has managed 220mm on the adventure which is about the most travel I have seen on a shaft drive. The chain doesn’t have the travel limitations, is lighter, more efficient, and easier to maintain traction over rough terrain. You have squat and antisquat you have to manage on a chain drive bike which is done in engineering with countershaft height and sprocket size. On the shaft you have the same issues that presents it self on Old bikes as lift the rear under power. That’s a rotational force different than a chain and causes some issue and it gets worse with more travel. That‘s why on modern bikes you see the “traction bar” bolted on to the shaft drive bike, bmw calls it a paralever. Even with these designs over chop the shaft is hard to control. on some modern bikes when you take the rear shock off the bike you can feel a slight bind present itself as a little more resistance as you cycle it Up and down. We are will to make some small comprises in this area for the reduced maintenance and cleanliness of a shaft.
I'm sure there is love/hate about the chain. Part of the reason I bought the Tenere is because of the shaft drive. That being said, each system has positives and negatives.
If it's like the other HD Daymaker headlights, they are a JW Speaker product, and they put out top shelf lighting products.
Agreed, the last few bikes I've owned my least favorite maintenance task has been valve clearance checking / adjusting. There's no reason for it today. Both of my cars (2011 Rav4 four cylinder and 2013 Mustang GT, V8) have in-head hydraulic lash adjusters. Since the adjusters are in head, they are not part of the reciprocating mass of the valve train, and therefore should not contributed to limited RPMs. The aforementioned Mustang V8 redlines at 7K RPM. Honda even had similar lash adjusters way back in the 80s installed in the 700 Hawk GT.
