I have had belt drive on lots of motorcycles and I am a big fan it s clean tidy no lube needed and they tend to last a very long time .

I'll pick up a second hand one with low mileage in a couple of years.

Ferret wrote:I have had belt drive on lots of motorcycles and I am a big fan it s clean tidy no lube needed and they tend to last a very long time .

I hope so....I don't want to think about the cost of replacing it! Still can't see what was wrong with the previous chain-in-oil-bath arrangement - change the oil every 12000 miles and it lasted for ever. And I can't feel any difference in riding between the belt and chain like Yamaha promised.

I've had a belt drive bike before. As a commuter hack I liked it as there was less maintenance and sooo much cleaner. I have known of a few to snap due to flicked stone or suchlike getting caught but its very rare. So I'm not against belt drive at all, just as Mr G says, not sure what the advantage is over the chain in bath arrangement? Also think that gives a cleaner look over the belt drive too.

Taipan wrote:I've had a belt drive bike before. As a commuter hack I liked it as there was less maintenance and sooo much cleaner. I have known of a few to snap due to flicked stone or suchlike getting caught but its very rare. So I'm not against belt drive at all, just as Mr G says, not sure what the advantage is over the chain in bath arrangement? Also think that gives a cleaner look over the belt drive too.

They switched to a belt to save weight. The Tmax mk1-3 actually have two chains and sprockets in the oil It seems Yamaha have focused on weight saving as to (really) upping the displacement. There's a good website that talks about the T-max's development, it focuses on the mk1 then the mk3 - where Yamaha started to work on weight saving and finally the mk4. To build the much wanted 750cc tmax would require a whole new frame and I bet it wouldn't be cheap to buy either.

This website gives the info on the Max and it's development.

http://www.yamaha-motor.eu/designcafe/e ... &id=480934" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Drago wrote: They switched to a belt to save weight. The Tmax mk1-3 actually have two chains and sprockets in the oil It seems Yamaha have focused on weight saving as to (really) upping the displacement. There's a good website that talks about the T-max's development, it focuses on the mk1 then the mk3 - where Yamaha started to work on weight saving and finally the mk4. To build the much wanted 750cc tmax would require a whole new frame and I bet it wouldn't be cheap to buy either.

But they claim it reduces vibes, which were insignificant anyway, and improves feel - but it doesn't. The whole thing was also supposed to be more efficient, but I've not noticed any improvement in fuel economy over the mk3. I'd rather have suffer the extra kg or 2 for long term dependability!