| Author | Message | ||
     Muppet |
My first belt lasted 8,000 miles, the 2nd one, fitted by a Harley dealer in France last year (when the first broke) lasted just 11,000. Luckily for me I was carrying a spare and managed with the help of a couple of buddies to change it on the roadside - I was in Austria at the time. I starting to get a bit pi**ed off with this, I don't want to be doing roadside changes every year. ALl of my riding is done on European tours, I rarely ride the bike at home in the UK so I want reliability. Granted my riding style may not be the easiest or kindest to the bike, I do a lot of touring solo & 2 up and road demanding roads, high passes and fast twisty country roads where a lot of on/off throttle & brakes is the order of the day, but hell this is supposedly a lifetime belt, an average of 9.5k per belt is pretty pi** poor in my opinion. I know my dealer will get the belt replaced under warranty, but I'd rather have reliability than warranty. Sorry for the rant, I know this subject is done to death and I don't want to be negative, I love the bike but I need a solution. Those of you running the Trojan Horse belt tensioner, have you experienced any breakages since fitting it? | ||
| Hughlysses |
The 2009 belt is supposed to be improved based on lessons learned with the 1125R. I guess the only other thing you could do is check and make sure there's not some obvious cause like a rough place on one of the sprockets or the idler pulley. | ||
| Teeps |
Muppet Posted on Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Those of you running the Trojan Horse belt tensioner, have you experienced any breakages since fitting it? Oh boy, here we go again. | ||
| Stevem123 |
Well I have 31K on my original belt and on my original wheel bearings. I definitely do not baby the bike as anyone who rides with me will tell you. Those with the failing belts must have something causing unusual wear or are somehow getting stuff jammed in the sprockets. Just my opinion. BC Steve | ||
| Muppet |
Teeps, sorry if I've stirred up any bad feelings? I just don't have time to check on the board every day and have less time to trawl back through old posts about this, so please give me a brief resume of any issues with the Trojan. | ||
| Rahbert |
My bearings gave up the ghost at 1200 miles. No unusual wear on the pulley. My belt snapped at 5400 miles. I do ride a gravel road. So what its an adventure bike, it should be able to take this. Now at 5500 miles I'm awaiting a new rear tire (no Eastside does not keep Uly tires in stock). Some adventure bike.... | ||
| Red_chili |
A worn out tire makes it not an adventure bike?  I have never had a tire last longer than 6K on ANY bike, and my dualsports go through them far faster than that. Unless you are saying it has too much power to be an adventure bike... To the OP, sounds like something else is going on besides the belt. Ask Snowscum. Subtle pulley issues. | ||
| Adamd |
What exactly does "I don't baby my bike" mean? I hope this helps... My belt lasted 11000kms I power wheelie 1st on average at every 5th stop sign in first gear. If I don't wheelie, I pull pretty hard. I power wheelie over bumps on back twisty roads, 3rd gear maybe... I clutch it up in 2nd and 3rd gear to wheelie at least 10 times a month.... can you say 60mph wheelie? I pull stoppies every once in a while.. Not a whole lot. 10x a month. Not turned on by them... offroad? Yes on the first belt, 2000kms of dirt road. No on the second. Ride in rain, yes. Almost always... 8 days a month, 50kms each time. No burnouts. Can you say squid? Damn right. Have I looked at a chain conversion.. yes. Still on the fence, cuz I know this belt won't last the life of my bike. I think I'll be lucky to hit 20k. Read up on the chain conversion.. no cush drive, bad on bearings, chain has to be run loose.. (Message edited by adamd on September 02, 2008) | ||
| Cityxslicker |
You are right on time. If you are riding that bike on the dirt, expect to loose a belt every 8-9k, I am on my 3rd. | ||
| Stevem123 |
Well to clarify a bit on the not babying it; Do I pull wheelies? HELL YEAH! 1st, 2nd, and 3rd! I have a reputation to keep you know... I also have a 2001 S3T and for a time I popped several of the old sportster type belts. Tried the chain conversion and hated it! Chain was noisy, dirty, too much maintenence, and chewed up the swingarm... Went back to the belt with the newer goodyear hybrex version and new pullies. No problems since! I did find a small spot on the old rear pully that had the hard anodise coming off and I think that was the cause of popping belts on the S3T. Check your pullies for any small imperfections or chips and/or run-out issues and I'll bet you find the problem. The new belts are Damn strong! BC Steve | ||
| Road_kill |
+1 on checking pulleys. If front and back are not turning in the same plane there will be excessive, cyclic strain on the belt. On my '85 HD FXRS, you can adjust the rear axle and/or engine mounts to do the trick. On the Uly, I don't see how to - everything seems fixed. | ||
| Krowbar |
BC Steve - how much deflection do you have in your belt? i.e. how far can you push it with your thumb mid-way between the sprockets/pulleys? Has the amount of deflection been consistant over the life of the belt. I was at a HD/Buell dealer today. And did an informal belt deflection survey. Had an '08 XB12X new - no deflection at all hard as a rock, '08 XB12XT - new about 1/8" deflection. Had two new Lightnings an '08 and an '09. Both had about 1/4" deflection. Had a 2007 Uly rental bike. Don't know the miles. Had about 1/2" deflection. I don't own a Uly yet. The belt/bearing thing is keeping me away. It seems to me that the belt is too tight on some bikes causing the failures. Are the new belts thicker than the old belts? Has anyone tried slotting the idler pulley to put a slight amount of deflection in their belts? Awesome bike otherwise. Rode an '07 rental for two days. (Message edited by krowbar on September 02, 2008) | ||
| Stevem123 |
Hey Krowbar, Honestly I really don't have a good answer for you on that one since it is fixed with no adjustment I really haven't paid any attention to the slack/deflection. I do believe they have a little (very little) stretch over time. With that said, Don't let the few broken belts here cause you to refrain from taking the plunge. As with any online forum you will see skewed info on problems because that's mainly what the forums do is talk about problems. The main fact to consider here is that this forum is only a small sample of total owners of any particular make/model. There are way more owners with no problems that don't post here that aren't accounted for when considering a statistical average of breakages. Even with those breaks posted here the total percentage for all production numbers is I believe very small. I wouldn't let things on this or any other forum sway me from purchasing what I like. If you like the bike then go for it! The belt is easy to change in comparison to my S3T which requires significant work that can't be done on the side of the road. I do carry a spare on the Uly but I haven't had to use it in over 31K miles but at least if I do need it I can change it on the side of the road in about 20 minutes tops! I love the Uly and my S3T is gathering dust in the garage! BC Steve | ||
| M2nc |
I have 36K miles on the Uly with the original belt and 46K miles on my M2 on the second (an 06 Goodyear belt). The original M2 belt stripped teeth at the drag strip at 6 years of age and 32K miles on it. Both my Buells are ridden a mix of cruising and sport riding. I ride gravel and dirt roads when the opportunity presents itself. I pull some wheelies but have to admit they are usually unintentional. I now carry a spare belt when traveling any distance alone. The M2's belt was a challenge to change, but the Uly is much easier with the removable swing arm section. I stretched the chain on my Honda and tore up the sprockets at 21K miles. Like the M2 it did limp home so in neither case was I left on the side of the road. I replaced the front wheel bearings last tire change (29K miles)when one of the bearings felt a little rough. I change my own tires so I get the chance to inspect my wheel bearings and make sure when installing the axles I do not over torque them. I read these occurrences of failed bearings and belts and like everyone else I get spooked. That said if I was isolated and could only rely on my own experience, my Uly is a very reliable bike and do not mind jumping on it and riding across country. | ||
| Red_chili |
Letting belt and bearing periodic replacement keep you from buying the most fun and most universal motorcycle on the planet doesn't seem reasonable! Just do it. And leave the chain lube and spare rear drive on the upper shelf. | ||
| Snowscum |
My tensioner was at fault but my belt was heading off course and getting chewed up on the covers. So it that isnt happening then the spring isnt keeping enough tension and maybe slipping. I have no idea if your belt is snapping with no wear. | ||
| Arcticktm |
What spring? Isn't the tensioner fixed? | ||
| Red_chili |
Unless you bought a spendy English part. |
