| Author | Message | ||
     Portero72 |
Snapped my belt today at 33k miles. Classic belt snap-low speed turn, hard on the gas on the way out, suddenly I'm coasting. MAY have done a minor wheelie or three that morning. Luckily, a good friend and fellow Bueller drove out with his truck and bailed my ass out(THX, Christian!). Hope Al has some in stock! Here is a shot of the damaged goods..  | ||
| Portero72 |
Not a bad place to break down...I had water, shade, and a couple pals to hang with! THX, P-Trice and Patrick!  | ||
| Portero72 |
Of course, any tips for a guy installing this belt himself, with no scissor jack, would be greatly appreciated. | ||
| Gunut75 |
Just loosen the axle while on the kickstand. It can be done on the side of the road. No scissor jack required. I dont take the idler pulley off either. Takes a little muscle, but it'll go. | ||
| Uly_man |
I had two go exactly like this and they had no other damage to the belt. I was on my third at 14k miles. Its not nicks, or even big lumps out of the belt that is the problem, it is stress in the core of the belt and that stress depends on how the bike is being used. From what I have seen/read lots of flat miles are ok but lots of bumps/rear suspension travel kills the belt quick which is why UK Buell belts do not last very long. A FST helps though. (Message edited by uly_man on July 10, 2011) | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Instructions? We don't need no steenking instructions: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52 0934 | ||
| Gunut75 |
I carry a tool kit on my XB12R that can disassemble 90% of the bike. I can still get my gloves under the rear seat. Hope everything went well. Cheers! | ||
| Portero72 |
On another note, anyone know where I can source a new belt? American Sport Bike is down and I would HATE to give my cash to a dealer.. | ||
| Svh |
American Sport Bike is back up | ||
| Portero72 |
awesome. thx | ||
| Xdigitalx |
dumb question but this was my first thought after my belt broke...  if you were to rivet some heavy duty strips of ??*?? like this... for a short ride home maybe? Super strong rubber, make it into a kit with mini rivet gun and all.... travel under 30 mph ride the clutch ?? (i know all u engineer types are laughing) | ||
| Pontlee77 |
Here in Spain usually the insurance has the tow away truck service included, doesen't matter where you are as long as you're on a paved road. | ||
| Froggy |
Some insurance plans in the US offer the same, but it isn't universal. I still recommend having a second towing plan as a backup. | ||
| 7873jake |
xdig, they used to make a kit similar to your idea back when cars had v-belts and the thickness was more substantial. I've not seen one for the current serpentine belts. | ||
| Motorbike |
Xdigitalx, nothing wrong with trying to come up with new ways to fix things, especially for emergency repairs! One problem I see with that is that it would really jump when the patch/repair hits the idler pulley. As it does that, the tension would increase then decrease, although I'm sure the repaired belt would be less tense than a non-broken one. Keep thinking though. | ||
| 7873jake |
Completely agree and hope I didn't sound like a "its already been tried" curmudgeon. That's not at all what I'm interested in being. His idea and pic has had me thinking all day about what sort of material would be best/effective for the patch strip(s). | ||
| Schwara |
I'm a little curious about a couple of things. First off, what have people actually tried and how successful was it? I'm sure that someone has tried something in a pinch ... even 10 mph riding would be better than 2 mph pushing. I was also wondering if a belt has ever been strain gaged to get a better idea about the load at different speeds and in different gears. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
yea...the pic is rough,.. I know there has to be some type of material out there that would hold it for a short ride at least. (without damaging anything) like...on a flat road with no bumps... at 3x walking speed... is better than pushing it. Super strong rubber.. and some industrial glue,.. stronger than tire repair? maybe with a hand tool that counter sinks the rivets just enough. I don't know,.. In my mind I have pictured everything from rubber strips to stainless cable to aluminum strips, stapled riveted and glued. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
and maybe a clamping tool that pulls both ends of the belt together an holds it in place using the belt teeth,.. and clamping down onto the belt as well, and that would hold it together until the glue dries. Is there type of rivet, rubber and glue that could repair like this and have the type of strength needed for a even temp fix for a short trip? | ||
| Uly_man |
Nothing I have seen tried, as a roadside belt repair, is safe for rider or bike. If you are going on any sort of long ride/trip its just as easy to take a spare belt and have roadside recovery if you can. Having a belt to hand at home is a good idea as you are going to need one sooner or later anyway and thats a FACT trust me. The belts are Buell only and nothing else comes close to fitting. Many have tried and failed. The belt is said to have a constant load but it does not, unlike the BMW version, which is why the FST was devised and recommended for use. Oh and if you get 33k on one your doing great as I only got 7k out of two of mine on the 06 bike. 33k is at least as good as a chain system with none of the maintenance problems. (Message edited by uly_man on July 15, 2011) | ||
| Xdigitalx |
Yea,.. I just thought there might be a way to repair it enough for a few miles. I do not have 175.00 for a spare but I do have a broken one just sitting here. If it can be inexpensive to make a hoaky repair kit that will last 4 miles or 20 min, I would take it until I can afford a spare belt. | ||
| Growl |
Harley offers an emergency belt for their bikes so the concept is doable. However the Uly, with it's longer suspension travel, puts greater shock loads on the belts, I believe. Note that the Harley emergency belts are for convenience, not much if any less expensive than standard belt. | ||
| Portero72 |
I ordered my new belt from American Sport Bike Tuesday, got here Friday, its going on tonight. American Sport Bike rules, and wish me luck. | ||
| Portero72 |
Installation went pretty well. Used a car jack on the rear of the muffler to get the tire off the ground. All told, maybe took me 90 minutes, taking my time. While I was in there, I checked the rear bearings and found them smooth and easily turned(34k!), but coated the seals with grease anyway. I think EG gave me that idea. Axle still had a nice coat of grease, so I left it alone. The first several miles felt like low rpm vibration was more apparent than normal, but went away quickly and may have been in my head. Success! That sucker is tight! | ||
| Scooter808484 |
Note that the Harley emergency belts are for convenience, not much if any less expensive than standard belt. Also, to put most, if not all Harley belts on, you have to pull the clutch, primary case, and half the swingarm. Not a roadside repair by any stretch. I always figures I could get the Uly belt on , if it was "prestretched" quicker than I could change the rear spark plug. |
