In reading about cush drives and the 630, I read a number of comments to the effect that a cush drive is more needed/desirable if you ride more on the street. Why is that? My KLR had a cush drive. I don't have a lot of miles on the 630, but I haven't noticed it feeling that different. More vibration due to more power. Or is the main difference in making parts last longer?
Well, I am no engineer but I think that the problem is the higher grip developed by a raod tyre on the asphalt in respect of the grip developed by a knobby tyre on the dirt. It is well known that any mechanical component can only whithstand a certain amount of stress before breaking, and if the stress is applied on a regular basis it will be even more harmful and it will take less of it to break or wear something out. On the asphalt a tyre will be less likely to slip and therefore more likely to transmit to the transmission an excessive mechianical load or a too sudden change in the load, whereas on the dirt the tyre would start slipping sooner, without overloading the transmission.
What you say makes sense. I thought that since motorcycles have been around for so long, the level of wear mentioned for the 630 would have been engineered out to a greater degree. But I guess that would mean more weight, and the 630 is definitely more performance oriented than the KLR650 it replaced. I ride in a way that's pretty easy on the bike (easy to do on a KLR), so I'll see what things look like when I check the clutch springs, etc. Bike only has 700 miles on it, so I have some time. I don't have enough miles yet to judge the comfort level a cush drive might provide.
I read that, and about checking the washers. I don't have a lot of miles on the bike yet, but but I can feel the difference from my KLR650, and not just from the increased HP. I'm still getting the hang of riding the Husky smoothly, but there's noticeable driveline lash. I intend to use the bike as a light Adv bike, and I have a lot of highway miles to get to the off-road part, so a cush drive would be easier on me and the bike. I'm looking into SWM Superdual parts.
Just curious as to why you think a cush drive will be of any benefit. The 630 has very little driveline lash compared to other bikes. One of the smoothest singles I have driven and I have rode a lot including the KLR 650. You mentioned only 700 miles on the bike. Has a power up kit been installed on the bike? The 630s were notoriously lean from the factory to meet euro 3 standards and had a tendency to surge and buck at low speeds. Powerup kit richens up mixture and eases drivability .
Yes, power up done, and I have a JDjetting module for tuning the EFI. At 5000 RPM around 65-70 mph, my KLR was very smooth. Beyond 65 mph on the 630 it's too buzzy, and I have Seat Concepts seat and Grip Puppies. The OEM KLR CS sprocket has rubber vibration damping built in, and I could feel the difference in vibration using the OEM sprocket vs an aftermarket one that was all metal. Vibration dampening works and takes a load off the mechanical components as well as reducing vibration. I read everything I could find on this site, as well as ADVrider and a bunch of articles I found online. My experience with my KLR and everything I read indicated it as a plus, with the one caveat being if you ride primarily off road, you don't really need a cush drive. The downsides are cost and a little weight. The KLR has a better (and heavier) counterbalancer, so the 630 will never be that smooth, but it can be better. (I'm not sure if the 630 has a counterbalancer. It looked like it had one from the parts diagram.) I may not get one; I just think it's worth looking into. If this bike is like my KLR, it will smooth out some and get better mileage as the engine is broken in.
If you do a search of this forum you’ll see a few long threads wherein this subject has been covered extensively. Just use “cush hub” and you’ll see the main two on this, the 630/610 forum.
I don’t know about the 630, but they used to say that with an aftermarket muffler the 610 lost both the jerky power delivey at low RPMs and some engine brake.
Interesting. I thought the bike felt smoother because I wasn't on edge from the #@&^! noise. The muffler I replaced was also an aftermarket muffler. I haven't ridden this bike stock.
