Polyurathane cush drive, good idea?

[JIMMYJAMES]

I have recently spoken to a company who can produce polyurathane cush drive rubbers. I'm not sure on the price or anything yet but i think they would be a cool addition especially to big twins with all that initial torque. The pro's and cons i can think of i have listed below, what are your thoughts chaps? Is it worth me taking this any further?

Pros; -
They will last longer.
They will give a lot more.
They will make the bike smoother in traffic.
Reduced chain and sprocket wear due to reduced whip.

Cons; -
Price.

Jimmy

[JIMMYJAMES]

Whooooaaaaa!!! Dont all fall over yourselves at once, thought it was a good idea but obviously not

[adamtk]

Well Jim

To be fair I wasn't aware they did them as a Cush drive but I have used them for buses in the past on my mini.
All I can say is they are alot harder so yeah maybe would be better on the storm in traffic. They deffinatley last longer as they don't seem to rot as quickly as for anything else might aswell five it a bash if you need to replace yours if the coat is right.

Also I would bet you £1 that if you do buy them they are yellow!!!!

Hope this helps and keep us updated with costs and details!

Adam

[JIMMYJAMES]

There are a couple of places that do them in the US for race bikes but they dont make them for big twins. I will look into it an let you all know.

[Seven Of Nine Firestorm]

I don't think its worth swapping them around, when I changed the rear bearings in the wheel I thought the cush drive were also shot, but upon disasembly they were perfect, very hard solid rubber would take a lot to destroy those, the thin connecting strip between them may go but once they are in place I can't see how they can break. Just my 5 Cents worth.

[Beamish]

If they are anything like car bushes then theu are a lot stronger and will wear slower (60K miles plus) but as for noticing the difference..........I cant see it. Cant see the chain and sprocket lasting much longer either as its lubrication/maint and abuse that kill those. Good idea though and a nice bling feeling once fitted

[seb421]

I don't think its worth swapping them around, when I changed the rear bearings in the wheel I thought the cush drive were also shot, but upon disasembly they were perfect, very hard solid rubber would take a lot to destroy those, the thin connecting strip between them may go but once they are in place I can't see how they can break. Just my 5 Cents worth.

when i striped my bike at just under 16,000 miles my was shot mate! in bit and one had split in half too they was a night mare put back in, promptly got another set of D.Silvers and what a diffrence it made to the ride quality around town!

[seb421]

Dont start getting tarty cos nobody replied All it means is (and i know this is unusual for this forum) that nobody has an opinion or experience of them.

Personally, i have never heard of them.

Would be interested in the cost and exactly how much better they are, which i am sure you will let us all know when u buy them

Timbo stop PMT'ing your butt off 24/7

[Seven Of Nine Firestorm]

I don't think its worth swapping them around, when I changed the rear bearings in the wheel I thought the cush drive were also shot, but upon disasembly they were perfect, very hard solid rubber would take a lot to destroy those, the thin connecting strip between them may go but once they are in place I can't see how they can break. Just my 5 Cents worth.

when i striped my bike at just under 16,000 miles my was shot mate! in bit and one had split in half too they was a night mare put back in, promptly got another set of D.Silvers and what a diffrence it made to the ride quality around town!

i'm wondering then if the previous owner put the polly ones in mine. Could put some terostat 9220 in to hold them in place but once the plates are on they arn't gonna go anywhere.

[sirch345]

I'm thinking along the same lines as Adam and Jim (Beamish), if they're hard like the ones that replaced the rubber suspension bushes on cars then they are not going to have much/any give in them at all. That will mean putting more strain on the main drive chain so will IMO shorten it's life.

The idea of the rubber cush drive is to take out some of the sudden load onto the rear wheel via the rear sprocket. If these poly bushes are much more solid it will be more like having a fixed rear sprocket (bolted direct to the rear wheel).

The earlier Firestorms did have a problem with their cush drives not being up to the job of dealing with all the torque from the big V twin engine, hence they had a short life, but they were soon updated and that solved the problem.

Chris.

PS You may have had a better response JJ if you posted this in the "Workshop" or "Bike Chat" section.