what motorcycles have shaft drive

Best answer


BMW maybe best know for shaft-driven motorcycles, butMoto Guzzi, Triumph, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Hondahave also developed their own version of the system too for motorcycles. However, the company that initially developed the shaft drive system for motorcycles, FN, is no longer around it went into liquidation in the 1960s.

People also ask


  • Which motorcycles have the best shaft drives?

  • Of all the shaft-driven motorcycles ever produced, BMW far outweighs the competition. The company first introduced shaft drives to their models on the R32 in 1923, and since then the shaft drive has been an integral part of their touring bike line-up. The system has proven to be reliable and robust for thousands of miles.

  • Do motorcycles have chains or shafts?

  • Motorcycles traditionally use either a chain or a shaft drive to transfer power from the engine to the rear wheel. Both chain drive and shaft drive motorcycles offer their own sets of advantages and disadvantages, but chain drive motorcycles are by far the most common on the market today.

  • What is a shaft drive bike?

  • First, one has to understand what a shaft drive is. Like in chains, the chain is the link between the engine cog and the rear wheel to transmit the power to the rear wheel of the bike.

  • What is the difference between belt drive and shaft drive motorcycles?

  • A rare few motorcycles use a belt drive. The chain drive system is made up of two sprockets, one on the gearbox and one on the rear wheel, that are connected by a chain. In a shaft-driven system, a shaft connects a gear inside the gearbox to another gear inside a hub on the rear wheel.