Ward, no probs with the Carbs. As for the Chain, get a ScottOiler, and even the weekly or however often chain lube is just a memory. As for WHY the Carbs and the Chain. Probably cost would be the main reason, in order to keep the price lower in the US where the main market for these bikes was probably intended to be. And probably somewhat for the same reason Harley still uses a belt instead of a shaft. On a bike like this, from a purely aesthetic perspective a shaft just looks ugly (IMO). Were I to have bought a BMW or Honda touring bike or something like that, I'd have thought nothing about a shaft (used to have a shaft driven Honda Sabre). Fickle, silly, yep, but that's bike buyers in a nutshell. Unlike cars, which are more like appliances to most people, bikes are very personal possessions and more susceptible to the whims of people. But, EFI is coming, and I wouldn't be shocked if a shaft drive made its' way down the pipe someday, but I've never had any problems with my chain, so I don't really worry about it. Just check it over from time to time, clean it when I clean the bike, and forget about it.
