FINAL DRIVE WATCH VIDEO Chain, belt, or drive shaft. You wouldn’t buy a bike based solely on what kind of final drive it has, but it’s worth knowing how the systems differ. The earliest motorcycles were all belt driven, but today you mainly see belts on cruisers and the occasional e-bike. Compared to a chain and sprocket system, belt drive is smoother, quieter, and since it doesn’t need any messy lube, it’s a whole lot cleaner. And besides the occasional visual inspection belt drive doesn’t require much in the way of maintenance. Belts last a long time, too—100,000 miles isn’t out of the question for a properly maintained belt. If belts are so great, why don’t we see them on more bikes? Packaging and difficulty of replacement are the biggest drawbacks. Belts can’t wrap as tightly as chains so they need to be run on big pulleys that wouldn’t necessarily fit on smaller bikes. And when it comes to replacing a drive belt, the process usually entails removing the swi...