Has anyone ever seen a set up like this before? What’s the purpose of it? Could I just flip the clutch around and connect the chain directly to the drive sprocket, or would it be best to leave it this way?
Yes you could.... But likely it was done for a compound reduction of gearing...
But mostlikely the motor couldn't go over all the way to connect to the rear sprocket... Hence the jack shaft....
But what ever the pressing issue is... That rear sprocket chain desperately needs to be tightened and/or links removed.... No way it should be driving like that... Kinda dangerous...
Thanks for your input. To answer my own question… Yes, all I had to do was flip the clutch around and make a few modifications to the drive wheel. Now I got rid of the jack shaft.