New to be cruiser biker. To chain or not to chain?

[juntjoo]

Brand new to bikes. Considering a newer shadow with a shaft drive for the reliability but concerning the extra power loss; how much is it? Would it be noticeable between an 03 to an 07 or whenever they switched over to shaft drive on the shadow, or any other bike for that matter? Feel free to compare other bikes like say the intruder vs the marauder, same bikes except for the drive train. Opinions? I've read 10%-30% power loss chain to shaft which sounds significant. Are those exaggerated? Thanks guys/gals

[blues2cruise]

I never noticed any power loss with a shaft drive. I had a V-Star with a shaft drive and now have a bike with a belt drive.

[JackoftheGreen]

Mid-sized cruisers just aren't putting out enough power to notice the difference. A shaft drive does give up some power over a chain, but it's only a problem when you're talking about sport and supersport. For a cruiser, find a bike with the accessories you want and the mileage and price you want, and accept whatever final drive it has. No biggie.

[juntjoo]

Cool. Thanks. I'm actually about to buy a 82 nighthawk 650. Cruising sport bike. Chain. Not thinking about the maintenance. Will just do it and get used to it.