The shaft drive is perpendicular to the direction of the vehicle in the direction of rotation, rotation will appear transverse torque, so that the car like the axis of the rotation of the opposite direction tilt, the higher the speed, the greater the torque, so the shaft drive is not suitable for high-speed cars, you can check, the speed of the car basically did not use shaft drive.
and the direction of the sprocket wheel and the direction of the car, the torque generated just to lift the front, the impact on high-speed driving is not big. Shaft drive is characterized by durability, high manufacturing cost, high material requirements, and difficult processing. Chain drive is characterized by low cost, simple maintenance and not durable.

The axle drive mode of motorcycle is developed in the 1923.
However, the power consumption of shaft drive is 10% more than that of chain and belt mode transmission. Because it was consumed by the internal cardan shaft.
 
But its smooth power transmission and longer maintenance cycle and life, making in the shaft drive locomotive is a popular transmission mode.
 
Shaft drive advantage is not to be stretched and need to adjust the track, oil-free pollution can basically maintenance-free, and low wastage drive efficiency. But there is no chain of shock absorption effect, the body vibration directly to the knight's body. Increase the throttle when the rear has a hair torque phenomenon (torque reaction phenomenon-rapid acceleration or deceleration when the body will rotate to the axis of the opposite direction of rotation). MotoGP no one uses shaft drive. and the axle transmission is relative to the chain drive heavy. But today has developed a new type of shaft drive to reduce the tilt of the damping system (because the shaft drive both ends are equipped with umbrella-type gears, rotating will not produce torque reaction phenomenon). Both ends of the shaft drive are equipped with bevel gears.
YAMAHAXV400 Shaft Drive Both ends are equipped with an umbrella-type gear, so rotating will not produce torque reaction phenomenon.
Chain drive Advantage is a wide range of cheap applicability, and in the engine braking, because the chain has many gaps, it can absorb vibration. The disadvantage is that the chain and gear friction easy to make the chain slack, gear wear, high noise.
The structural characteristics of the belt:
Its face for its two oblique side, there are a lot of belts in the inner layer to make the tooth shape, because of the belt in the belt at the angle of the position of the force when the design. Belt movement when the outer layers are stretched, the inner layer is mainly under the role of extrusion force, it will be made of the belt inside the tooth-shaped, more suitable for the belt in these working positions when the force, thus prolonging the life of the belt.
Advantages and disadvantages of belt drive:
1, Advantages: ① mitigation impact, absorption vibration, less noise, low cost, maintenance more convenient, ② change the transmission ratio.
2, disadvantage: ① belt transmission is easy to slip, the transmission ratio is not accurate ② heat resistance, poor overload resistance, easy aging ③ transmission resistance, especially in the cold car ④ make bearing lateral force too large.
To put it simply, the belt drive has the advantages of a wide range of changes in the center, simple structure, smooth transmission, there is a buffer load and security protection, the disadvantages are large diameter, low efficiency, inaccurate transmission ratio, short service life. In addition, the belt drive, the transmission ratio is inaccurate but can overload protection. Gear drive with accurate transmission ratio but no overload protection. The gears can be reversed and the belts are not available. Belt drive mechanism maintenance is simple.