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[jotjotde]

In spring I had the sprockets changed at 17,700 km and decided to get a Regina HPE chain. Yesterday I reached 27,700 and want to share my experience.

For my '22 Ribelle RS I needed a 525 chain with 112 links. IDK if non-RS needs more links because of the larger front sprocket.

BMW offers this chain for their bikes as an option. The price for the Regina HPE is about double what a DID would cost. HPE stands for high performance endurance.

This chain came (early commercials) with the claim of being maintenance-free. As far as I understood they changed that to being now 'low-maintenance'.

The latter I can definitely confirm. I clean the chain every 4 weeks or so by using dry lube spray as 'cleaner', i.e. I spray on one coat, spin the wheel a bit so the lubricant is spread and then wipe off the surfaces. Thats's it. The rollers look as on the first day and the sprocket teeth are also still looking very good.

The claim of the chain being not-lengthening I cannot confirm. I had to re-adjust twice (1/16 turn of the screws), but that is considerably less than with the OEM chain I had before.

For me as a dry-weather rider, this is a major improvement worth the money. Less time spent cleaning and maintaining.

[Pard]

Excellent review.  Thanks!

[chisquare]

Among all the one-sided glowing or damning reviews on this chain on other sites, a pleasantly nuanced and informative assessment. Thank you.

[flynnstig82r]

Thank you for this!

Why can't the other reviewers understand that we all want a review of the actual product, not BMW's marketing claims?

[ColdSoda]

Good feedback, I'll likely go this route when its time based on your experience.

[JaimeC]

I think BMW originally said it would last as long as a shaft.  This from the company who decided the drive-shafts in their GS Adventure bikes are "wearable items" that need to be periodically REPLACED!!

[Richard230]

I think BMW originally said it would last as long as a shaft.  This from the company who decided the drive-shafts in their GS Adventure bikes are "wearable items" that need to be periodically REPLACED!!

Especially when they break as mine did on my 1991 K100RS at 48K miles. 

[JaimeC]

I think BMW originally said it would last as long as a shaft.  This from the company who decided the drive-shafts in their GS Adventure bikes are "wearable items" that need to be periodically REPLACED!!

Especially when they break as mine did on my 1991 K100RS at 48K miles. 

Dang!  I had 158,000 miles on the original driveshaft on my 1985 K100 when it was stolen in 1995.  Currently still have the original driveshaft in my 1999 K1200LT with 237,000 miles...

[DonTom]

  Currently still have the original driveshaft in my 1999 K1200LT with 237,000 miles...

Around that many miles on my 1971 BMW R75/5 as well. Still has the same shaft when I purchased the bike new in May of 1971.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[JaimeC]

  Currently still have the original driveshaft in my 1999 K1200LT with 237,000 miles...

Around that many miles on my 1971 BMW R75/5 as well. Still has the same shaft when I purchased the bike new in May of 1971.


-Don-  Reno, NV

Other than "Faulty Manufacturing" I can't explain what might've happened to Richard's driveshaft.  As for the GS driveshaft failures, those began with the new generation of GS bikes.  The added suspension travel and para-lever rear-drive setup apparently stresses the metal more than on the pure street bikes which don't get nearly as much off-road abuse.  Still, replacing a driveshaft is a helluva lot more time consuming and expensive than replacing a chain.  I have NO idea what goes through their engineers' minds any more.  I gave up on the brand five years ago and wouldn't touch ANY new vehicle with that "Roundel" logo on it no matter how many wheels it has.

[Richard230]

  Currently still have the original driveshaft in my 1999 K1200LT with 237,000 miles...

Around that many miles on my 1971 BMW R75/5 as well. Still has the same shaft when I purchased the bike new in May of 1971.


-Don-  Reno, NV

Other than "Faulty Manufacturing" I can't explain what might've happened to Richard's driveshaft.  As for the GS driveshaft failures, those began with the new generation of GS bikes.  The added suspension travel and para-lever rear-drive setup apparently stresses the metal more than on the pure street bikes which don't get nearly as much off-road abuse.  Still, replacing a driveshaft is a helluva lot more time consuming and expensive than replacing a chain.  I have NO idea what goes through their engineers' minds any more.  I gave up on the brand five years ago and wouldn't touch ANY new vehicle with that "Roundel" logo on it no matter how many wheels it has.

My bike had the Para-Lever rear drive design. What broke was the front U-joint. The rod going from one side of the "U" to the other broke in half, The broken part spun around and took out the adjacent swing arm bearing and inside of the swing arm housing. Everything had to be replaced and the parts had to be flown in from Germany as none were available from BMWNA.

[JaimeC]

I know it had the para-lever.  So does my K1200LT.  I'd only heard of issues with the GS drive shaft and I think it had to do with the greater suspension travel (and more likely to get abuse off-road).  First I'd heard of a road-only paralever bike having a drive shaft issue.  Did BMW cover it?  In 1991 they still had three years/unlimited mileage.  When my bike came along it was 3 years or 36,000 miles; whichever came first.  Though my rear wheel bearing went at 40K miles they still replaced it at no cost.  That was back in the days with BMWNA actually gave a **** about their customers though...

[Richard230]

I know it had the para-lever.  So does my K1200LT.  I'd only heard of issues with the GS drive shaft and I think it had to do with the greater suspension travel (and more likely to get abuse off-road).  First I'd heard of a road-only paralever bike having a drive shaft issue.  Did BMW cover it?  In 1991 they still had three years/unlimited mileage.  When my bike came along it was 3 years or 36,000 miles; whichever came first.  Though my rear wheel bearing went at 40K miles they still replaced it at no cost.  That was back in the days with BMWNA actually gave a **** about their customers though...

BMW did not cover the repairs, because the warranty had expired 4 years prior. The bike had 48K miles on the clock at the time.

[DonTom]

Other than "Faulty Manufacturing" I can't explain what might've happened to Richard's driveshaft.  As for the GS driveshaft failures, those began with the new generation of GS bikes.  The added suspension travel and para-lever rear-drive setup apparently stresses the metal more than on the pure street bikes which don't get nearly as much off-road abuse.  Still, replacing a driveshaft is a helluva lot more time consuming and expensive than replacing a chain.  I have NO idea what goes through their engineers' minds any more.  I gave up on the brand five years ago and wouldn't touch ANY new vehicle with that "Roundel" logo on it no matter how many wheels it has.

Many people these days believe BMW is living off the great reputation they had in the past.


I think part of the problem is BMW keeps on coming out with more and more models. Back in 1971, they basically only had three versions of the same bike and many of the parts were interchangeable between them. Any part needed, no matter what it was, was always in stock at the BMW shops.


And no matter what breaks, you usually could fix the bike on the side of the road. if you carry the right stuff (cables, etc.). BMWs came with a very good stock tool kit that could pretty much take the entire bike apart on the side of the road. Those days are long gone with the newer bikes.


Anyway, years pass and so all the old engineers who design the bikes are now long retired. So we can no longer expect much to be the same as it was back in the 70's.


It seems BMW discovered they can make more money with less reliability and bikes that are more difficult for the home mechanic to repair. But it is not only BMW. These days it's all about profits, they do not care about much else.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[JaimeC]

Back on topic:  I've had bikes with chains, belts and shafts.  I've gotten spoiled by the latter two final drive systems and can't see ever wanting to go back to a chain.  That's the one big strike I have against Energica (not to mention the chain adds even more noise to the gear noise already produced by their motor).

The only issue I ever had with a belt was with my 2018 S.  I still think the front pulley used by Zero is too small and forces a more radical bend in the belt than its design can tolerate because with less than 10,000 miles chunks of rubber were cracking and falling off the outer layer that protects the carbon fiber fabric.  Zero did NOT consider this a warranty item so I had to buy a new belt out of my own pocket.  I now wipe down the outer belt once a month with Armor-All to keep it from drying out and that seems to be working.  It also forces me to check the belt regularly (I confess I never did that with my previous belt-driven bikes but I never had issue with those either).

I'm actually surprised by this design flaw, as it was Abe Askenazi who championed a belt drive for Zero when he was hired by them.  Considering his YEARS of experience with belt drives while working for Erik Buell, you'd think he would've taken that into account.  In fairness, the smaller/thinner belt on my 2016 S never had this problem and the belt drive was originally engineered around that belt and not the thicker one used in later years.  Still, they've had enough time to figure this out and DO SOMETHING about it!

The only chain-drive system that I liked was the enclosed oil-bath chain used by my 2009 Yamaha TMAX and 2013 BMW C650GT.  That was also pretty much maintenance-free but I never kept either scooter long enough to know how long they'd last.