I Got The Shaft

So, I’ve recently transitioned to a new-to-me bike. In my nearly three decades of riding, I’ve owned in the neighborhood of a dozen bikes (I could count, but I’m too lazy at the moment). This new(ish) bike is a 2006 Suzuki Boulevard S83, and even though she’s in the shop at the moment getting an electrical gremlin hunted down, I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent riding her. Don’t get me wrong – I can’t say anything negative about the SV1000 that just went away. Well, maybe something about that seat, but I digress. The SV was a bit of a departure for me – I’ve always had UJMs and cruisers. I like to refer to her as my midlife crisis bike.

Now, it’s not a knock on the SV itself, but one big hassle with a lot of bikes is chain maintenance. It used to be that nearly all bikes were driven by chains, but somewhere along the way some smart guy invented the Kevlar drive belt, and then those clever engineers in Japan started putting drive shafts on a few of their bikes.

I’ve had several chain drive bikes, two belt drives, and I’m now on my third shaftie. The belts are kinda nice in that you don’t have to lube them, but you do still need to check the slack and adjust them occasionally, and I just never quite got the hang of belt maintenance. Also, they’re much more expensive to replace than a chain when they break. Ask me about the time I slung a belt off my Sportster on Hwy 183 rolling through Austin, TX traffic…

Which brings me back to the shaft. When I started thinking about what my next bike would be, I decided a while back that one of the tick boxes on the checklist had to be shaft drive. I put over 100,000 miles on the SV. I can’t even begin to guess how much time and effort was spent on lubing, adjusting, and changing chains. Plus how much money went into chains and lube over the ten years I had her. I’m guessing it was in the neighborhood of $Toodamnmuch. Matter of fact, I think I still have a couple of partial cans of lube, and a spray can of chain cleaner. Hit me up if you want them.

Now, the shaft drive. Ah, the shaft. No adjustment whatsoever. Lube? Sure; every year or two, drain the gear oil from the housing at the rear wheel, and pour a quart or liter or whatever in to replace it. Boom. Done.

So I’ve developed this weird obsession with shaft drive bikes. Since I’ve already owned multiples of each Japanese brand plus a Harley, BMW and Triumph were already on my bucket list. Now, due to my new quirky little preoccupation, Triumph has taken third place, replaced by Moto Guzzi. Matter of fact, the third place slot is precarious for the little limey, because there are other bikes out there competing for my attention: older Yamaha Maxims, older Honda Shadows (my second bike was a 1985 Shadow 700 with a shaft drive), Suzuki cruisers, Honda baggers, the VTX, and even the venerable Nighthawk. Even the bike you see everywhere on the hipster café/custom circuit: the Honda CX500.  Hmm. Honda seems to be as fond of shaft drive bikes as I am. Maybe I need to look into them some more…

Luckily, my financial situation doesn’t exactly lend itself to impulsive purchases, or I’d have a back yard full of second hand R- and K- models, CXes, Maxims, and at least one Guzzi.

Wait. How exactly would that be a bad thing?

So, yeah. If you have some old bike with a shaft drive just sitting around taking up space, and you want to find it a loving home, leave a comment below.