Belt Drive for Tiger?

I've had all three and I reckon that each has it's merits, depending on the bike.

My belter was a GPz305 back in the eighties on which I despatched. A wonderfully efficient drive system, it hardly ever needed adjusting and the only maintenance required was a dusting of talcom powder every now and then. I lost heart with it when it decided to take on a stone and lost.

With a chain, if it snaps, you can usually get a replacement fairly quickly and feed it through. I think I was waiting about ten days for a new belt from the big K. When I PX'd for the Gpz550 I immediately remembered why I hated chains!

I've had three Guzzis and I thought 'ah, this is more like it' , as you do. Despite rigourous attention to serving I managed to chew up the rear drive box of my Monza which in fairness was quite easy to repair. So ever after, I've not felt 100% comfortable with shafts either...and of course, you'll be lucky to find a replacement on the shelf at your local bike shop.

Times have moved on haven't they? O rings, Scottoilers and the like make it far more sensible than it was to lash on that ancient oily device that the Tiger boasts.

Jon

Trotts, my 305 blew up at 12,000 miles and I PX'd it when it sounded ready to go again at 27,000.

Big end bearing = new crank courtesy of big K. Apparently the crank is based on the 250 and when applying the extra torque and power of the 305 they have a tendency to let go. This was despite my meticulous attention to maintenance which included dealer services plus oil changes by me twice as often as recommended....but at that time I had a reputation for finding weak the spot on a vehicle!.

A real shame because in every other respect it was an excellent design and probably the most efficient bike I have owned. They are very cheaop on the second hand market nowadays!

As far as the belt goes, this was a little wider but no where near as wide as a HD. It's only Kawasaki, Buell and HD who have made a go of it but in recent years none of the technically advanced Japanese manufacturers seem to have bothered at all.

Jon