| Author | Message | ||
     Debueller |
Was right in front of my house today after a ride & was shifting from first to second gear while riding a wheelie and it felt like I hit neutral...but there was no neutral light. I looked back and my drive belt was laying in the road about 100 feet behind me. I guess I'm going to mellow out on the wheelies. I'ts too bad because I've never had so much fun with a bike in my entire life. Lifetime belt?....hardly, the bike has only 7700 miles on it. Thankfully I only had to push it about 100 yards. I hope it's covered under warranty. | ||
| Stevem123 |
Keep us informed on the warranty issue. I have about 5K on mine now and so far so good. (knocking on wood) I went through 3 belts within two years on my tube-frame S3T before I gave up and put a chain drive on it. I don't like the messy, heavy, noisy chain drive but at least it won't leave me stranded somewhere. Installing a belt on a S3 requires dropping the rear part of the motor out of the frame and there's now way in hell to carry the tools needed to do that on a trip! At least it looks possible to change roadside on the Ulysses but it would still be damn hard to do.... Are you accustomed to banging it up by doing the roll-off to load the shocks and then hammering it, or do you power it up? I know my older S3 would snap the belt if I banged it enough times......  BC Steve | ||
| Windaddiction |
Mine was done under warenty after I broke it ( 6000 km on it ) I was doing a wheelie too !! Make sure they fix it for free ! | ||
| Debueller |
I usally 2 finger the clutch to bring it up. I dont think I'm "sidesteping" it, but maybe I am...it comes up so easy. Sometimes I just lean back in first or second gear and snap about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. Frankly, it feels more gracefull and effortless than ANY bike I've ever riddin. I've owned many bikes (all chain or shaft driven) and wheelied most all of them with no ill effects due to abusive habits. I don't think I should have to to change my technique and riding style just bacause of the belt drive. It's going to the dealer on Mon. I'll keep everyone posted. | ||
| Stevem123 |
Hey Debuller, I wasn't chastizing you or anything like that and I agree with you totally that it should be able to handle the torque. My wheelies probably aren't as graceful as yours but you are right on the money about it being very easy on the Uly. I haven't been as rough on my Uly as I am on the tuber. I hope I don't have belt probs on this one. It is a much better system with no slack in the belt and the belt itself has been re-designed to be much tougher than the original ones. Maybe yours just had a bad spot in it that got past QC guys or maybe a flaw in the kevlar fiber gave way. Who knows? The main thing is the new drive belt has been touted as virtually indestructable by the factory so I'm sure they will take care of you on this. Keep us posted and good luck getting it fixed soon! BC Steve | ||
| Debueller |
Steve, I know you wern't chastizing me. I'm just frustrated with myself because I knew about the issues with the Buell drive belts. I guess I just needed to find out for myself what the limits are. The dealer has been good to me....I don't think its going to be a problem. The thing that hurts the most is that after work today I was going to ride out to meet some friends for a burger and maybe a beer.  Now my bike is going to be down for a few days I absolutly love my Uly, and can hardly stay off of it. It is the funest bike I've ever owned. When I'm not able to ride it I feel part of me is missing  | ||
| Mramsey |
Are drive belts expensive? It may be worth changing them out when rear tire is changed. That's what I was thinking about doing with mine but I haven't priced a belt either. | ||
| Debueller |
I think they are about $125. Kinda doubles the price for a tire change. Especially since my first D616 only lasted 5600 mi. I'm considering carrying a spare but storage space is already at a premium. I am a little unsure about tightly rolling one up anyway. I'm still on a learning curve reguarding belt drives. I still need to decide how to avoid this in the future. | ||
| Debueller |
Just a thought....if you changed out a good drive belt during a tire change you could use it for a spare. If was rolled too tight, so what, it would probablly still get you out of the woods and maybe all the way home. This dosen't address the cost or storage issue, but it would give me peace of mind. I am reluctent to go this route when the bike is still under warranty....the factory needs to bear the costs of failed parts. | ||
| Windaddiction |
You can't just change a belt on the side of the hiway. A better alternative would be to get a geniric belt that you can clip together, it wouldnt be strong or pretty but it should get you home. Luckily when mine broke I was back in town, earlier that day I was over 100 km into the bush. | ||
| Debueller |
If I'm not mistaken the most difficult part of a roadside belt replacement is holding the back of the bike up for rear wheel removal. There is a removable section of the swingarm to pass the belt through. The rest is just bolts and guards. I din't savor the thought of breaking a belt 1000 miles from home, 100 miles from a Buell dealer, or 40 miles from even a paved road. In those situations I will not be "poppin' any wheelies" anyway. There will be steep, rocky roads though. Maybe I'm overreacting and these issues with the "new for 2006" belts are just flukes. The temporary belt thing sounds intersting. It sounds like the simplest way to get me & my bike to the nearest place for a more permenant fix. Where could I get more info. on it? Does it pack small? Thanks. | ||
| Dave |
Issues with Buell belts? I have almost 50k on the original belt on my S3 (knock on wood) About 5300 on my Uly. I guess there is a fine line between use and abuse. I'm a firm believer in the occasional wheelie...or maybe more than occasional. DAve | ||
| Windrider |
The temporary belt is a great idea, but I am sure it would be difficult to engineer. It would have to be open so that you could just feed it through the sprockets, It would have to include some kind of a tool that would pull both ends together and hold tension while you inserted some kind of a pin or fastener in to make it one piece. And it would have to last 100 miles or so at reduced power outputs and speeds... kind of like those donut spare tires. It would also have to be storeable in a small roll. The current belt can not be wrapped up.... they come in a big long box and the instructions say to not wrap them up or kink them. If someone could build such a belt I would buy it just for peace of mind when I am tooling around in the outback. I still think that belt drive is great. Quiet, smooth, light, very nice throttle to rear wheel response and low maintenance. It is one of my favorite things about the Ulysses. WindRider | ||
| Debueller |
I too enjoy the benefits of the belt drive. They are clean & low maint. I also think the belt drive also contributes to the excellent throttle to rear wheel response that makes the bike so much fun to ride. That response is what I think encourages me to always be wacking the throttle & fingering the clutch all the time. I'm not going to change my style to accommadate the belt drive....it's too much fun. The bike is going to the shop today for repair & I'm hoping I just got a defective belt. When the bike gets back it's time for round two. | ||
| Chadhargis |
This the my first bike with belt drive. Seems like you either get tens of thousands of miles out of them, or they break rather quickly. They don't seem to be as consistant as chains. But I must admit...I HATE chains. | ||
| Bross |
Wonder if these two failures were the result of poor handling of the belt when installed. A belt seems pretty tough, if not mis-handled before being installed on the bike. Who knows, if some noob mechanic wasn't just absent mindedly handling the belt before installation and bends it or folds it etc.??? Just wondering why most are very reliable and these few fail if they don;t find a manufacturing defect. "All belts must be handled carefully to prevent bending stress. The belt must never be formed into a loop smaller than 5 inches in diameter and never be bent backwards. Sharp bending can weaken the belt and lead to premature failure. Old belts that are taken off a bike during repairs must be reinstalled so they rotate the same direction." | ||
| Jim_sb |
Re chains, They require constant - but simple - maintenance. I clean my chain and lube it after every weekend of riding. When out for a weekend of riding I lube it every morning. If you take care of your chain it will take care of you. Some of the modern lube is very good at remaining where you put it. BUT I prefer the belt that Buell is using. Not sure how it will hold up in the long run, I guess I need to thing about getting a spare to carry. On my DRZ I carry a spare master link and a chain breaker so I can accomplish a trail side repair if I have to. Regards, Jim in Santa Barbara | ||
| Dennis_c |
I had 98 S3T with 55,000 miles with original belt with easy use ha ha  | ||
| Lowflyer |
I hate the idea of being stranded somewhere with a broken belt almost as much as I hate the idea of the kickstand bolts snapping. I guess that is part of motorcycling though. There has to be some price for all this fun. | ||
| Dave |
I was HAPPY to leave the chain on my 955i Tiger for the belt on my Ulysses. DAve | ||
| Fastfxrs |
Harley has made a drive belt repair kit for years. I'm sure buell could do the same. the price is pretty ridiculous though. Tim 40146-00 Emergency Drive Belt Replacement Kit - Fits 00-later SoftailŽ models. In-Stock: No Your Price: $109.95 | ||
| Debueller |
Thanks to everyone for their words of wisdom/experance ect. Also,for helping me putting this thing into perspective. The dealer, (Downtown H/D Buell) is going to overnight a belt for me. I think the service writer could sense my the urgentgency in my voice & agreed to overnight a belt so I could have my beloved Uly by the weekend. The thought of not having having her for so long is almost too much to bear. It it just me, or am I not O.K.  | ||
| Captainplanet |
Unless the Uly is very different from my 03 xb, you can change the drive belt on the side of the road. On an xb, you dont have to remove the wheel, just loosen the axle the required amount. It's certainly not the perfect situation to do the repair, but not impossible. I carry an old spare belt on long trips and the tools to change if needed. I think it would likely get me at least to a location to put a brand new belt on without having to call for a tow. | ||
| Dragon_slayer |
And you guys thought you had belt problems. My friend tried a new Python brand belt on his car and look at what happened!  He said from now on he is only buying OEM equipment!  | ||
| Debueller |
I got my belt replaced under warranty...no issues at all. They didn't have one in stock so they overnight shipped one in. They also did a TPS reset ($43) and a $9.95 oil change. Total cost, less than $60. I'm very pleased. Bike is to be delivered to my house today, no charge. Downtown H-D/Buell in Seattle wanted me happy. I'm going riding tonight! | ||
| Chadhargis |
Excellent customer service! | ||
| Bosh |
Yea, those Python belts are a POS. I tried one and they just stretch until they break off. I can't recommend them  . | ||
| Jlnance |
Is $9.95 their standard charge for changing the oil?  | ||
| Debueller |
They do $9.95 oil changes every day if you get there from 8:00am to I think noon. (dino, of course, syn. is $49). I asked them to do a $9.95 oil change during the belt swap & tps reset and it that was OK. The next oil change I do will be Syn 3 in about 2000mi., but I thought for 10 bucks have at it. | ||
| Bross |
...I got my belt replaced under warranty...no issues at all... Did they ever give a reason for the failure? | ||
| Debueller |
No, they did not give a reason. It was a pretty clean break except for a few threads sticking out about 3/4". But they seemed rather surprised since this was the first broken belt they had seen on the new & improved for '06 drive belt. They didn't question me at all about my riding habits or even what I was doing when it broke. They overnight shipped a new belt & I was back on the road in 2 days. |
