Chain Drive vs Belt Drive vs Shaft Drive in Motorcycles | Which is Better?

[Music] riding a motorcycle is indeed a blast especially when you have an open stretch of road ahead and a series of bends on but ever wonder what makes these motorcycles fun this is where the engine takes most of the credit but it is the drivetrain that puts the power from the engine down on the track it's all too common to see a pair of sprockets connected through a chain driving the rear wheel of a motorcycle however it's not the only final drive system used on motorcycles in the market currently there are three types of drive trains in the two wheelers chain drive belt drive and shaft drive which fares better of the lot in this video we will know about all three final drive systems for a motorcycle in detail along with their favorability for various applications and their respective pros and cons so be sure to like this video subscribe with a notification for more videos like this in most of the motorcycles chain drive is used to transmit the power to the rear wheels this drivetrain requires two sprockets one on the output shaft of the transmission and the other on the wheel the sprocket size differs depending upon the engine's power and torque output for reference ktm duke 390 uses a bigger wheel sprocket than a royal enfield interceptor 650 this is the drive system that an overwhelming majority of motorcycles implement chain and sprockets are the most efficient at transmitting power with only one to four percent transmission loss that's significantly less than bell drives chain drives are very simple in their functioning and are very cost effective to run and replace too but do you know why chain drive is used in majority of motorcycles firstly a chain drive is cheaper to research and manufacture these are highly efficient in power transmission chain drives can operate in any conditions be it wet or super dry can withstand high power and high speeds fairly convenient to repair and install chain drive experiences less slip one of the very annoying disadvantage is that a chain drive requires frequent lubrication this drivetrain is a bit heavy the rider can experience speed fluctuations the driving and driven sprocket must be perfectly aligned to reduce power losses they have a lower service life almost every motorcycle on the road is chain driven so specifying one would be tough a belt drive system isn't as common as a chain drive system in terms of popularity it stands at a distant second position talking about this drivetrain usually cruisers are the ones that are belt driven most of the motorcycles in the harley-davidson's lineup are a prominent example the principle remains the same as the chain drive instead of chain the two pulleys are connected by a belt which has a teeth one on the output shaft of the engine and the other on the wheel a belt connects both the pulleys and it snuggly fits on the grooves of the pulleys the belt is made of a rubber but mostly a very strong synthetic material which lasts a very long time you can expect a well-maintained belt drive on a motorcycle to last in excess of one hundred thousand kilometers or even more unlike chain drive which requires very frequent cleaning tightening and maintenance belt drives are relative maintenance free they run clean as they don't have to be lubricated with sticky lubes and don't require cleaning either bell drive systems also run much smoother with much less jerks as compared to chain drives and producing comparably less noise also they weight way less than a chain drive so if a belt drive system offers so many advantages then why aren't they used more commonly well they have their own downsides belt drive systems are essentially costlier to produce than a chain sprocket system secondly the power loss during the transmission depending on how the system has been set up ranges from nine to fifteen percent which is quite high compared to a chain drive system also while a belt drive system does not require regular maintenance if ever the belt or any other components of the system give way they are much more expensive to replace than the chain and sprocket setup to start off shaft drive systems are the most expensive of the three systems we have here and buy some margin they are however the sturdiest of the three very smooth and hardly ever need any maintenance if designed and engineered well driveshafts often last the life of a motorcycle without requiring any servicing or maintenance this system as the name suggests comprises of a shaft that's connected to the gearbox output via a universal joint which is essentially a coupling that facilitates transmission of rotary power at any selected angle at the other end the shaft is connected to the rear wheel hub by a spiral bevel gear the bevel gear turns the direction of rotation of the shaft by 90 degrees to make the wheel turn this entire drive system is bathed in oil for lubrication and sealed to protect it from any external elements which makes it totally maintenance-free since shaft drive systems are heavy expensive and by themselves require more torque to work efficiently they are not used on low capacity or economy-oriented motorcycles they are used on large capacity motorcycles which produce good amounts of torque also since shaft drive systems are very sturdy and reliable they are often used in motorcycles built for the purpose of adventure sports touring or adventure touring in essence these systems lend themselves very well for applications where the motorcycles have to run for very long distances or in treacherous conditions where minimizing breakdown possibility is top priority so if they're the sturdiest then why don't all expensive bikes use them since cost doesn't matter so much for the exotic machines well to start off they are way heavier than belt or chain drive systems which limits their usage in high performance supersport machines where weight saving is crucial secondly these systems lose a lot of power during transmission they are the most inefficient of the trio we have here and may bleed from 20 to 25 of the power by the time they transfer to the rear wheel this is not good for performance oriented motorcycles where it's extremely important to make every horse count we hope this detailed piece of information on various motorcycle drive systems answered most of your queries if you still have any questions pertaining to these drive systems do share them with us do not forget to share this video with your friends who might find it useful click this video to find out more about belt drive's system you

Channel: The Engineers Post

Views: 3,915,622

Keywords: chaindrive, beltdrive, shaftdrive, drivetrains, motorcycledrives, finaldrivesystems

Id: 4nNq58xzo7g

Length: 8min 20sec (500 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 05 2021