| Author | Message | ||
     Cafefun |
Just wondering if it's normal to see the white threads showing on the side of the belt? it is not rubbing on anything so I'm guessing it's normal? bike has 711 miles. noticed it today when cleaning the rear wheel. | ||
| Joshinga |
yes thats normal | ||
| Cafefun |
Thanks that's what I figured from looking at it but just wanted to be sure. | ||
| Reducati |
was just wondering the same thing..thanks | ||
| Joshinga |
as far as I know the stuff the belts are made out of is made in a huge sheet/roll and then cut down to the right size. and thats just the rough edges showing. I am a buell tech too so im pretty good at questions like these.  | ||
| 1_mike |
Josh's comment is correct. Mike | ||
| Court |
>>>>Just wondering if it's normal to see the white threads showing on the side of the belt? Yes, it's normal. | ||
| Redscuell |
Mmmm. This, though, hopefully is NOT normal:  Just happened Saturday @ 21,000 km, arriving at a light while making a clutchless downshift into 1st. Curious that the double guard over the belt kept me, and the chap who transported it, and the tech who received the bike at H-D from noticing the belt was gone! I assumed it was the trans and didn't make a close inspection. It was a fourth tech who called and said "where's the belt!?". I went back to the scene of the crime and retrieved it, on my way back from dropping off a new belt to the dealer. Thankfully a NEW belt was one of the very first spares a bought after I took delivery of my 09 R in December of last year; because the H-D dealer didn't have one. It wasn't that I didn't trust the belt (on the evidence, though, 'silly me'), it was that I didn't trust H-D's distribution network over here. USA can be a 'bridge too far' sometimes. | ||
| Froggy |
Yep always good to have a spare belt if you want to minimize downtime  | ||
| Zac4mac |
I keep one under the seat.  | ||
| Milleniumx1 |
Under the seat - I like that!! | ||
| Redscuell |
Under the seat makes sense; I think I did that at first, then got overconfident in the belt (given that I've never broken a chain; but then I'd not had more than a 750 before the 1125). I never did have a chance to tell the dealer that I wasn't using the clutch while downshifting (would've); and nevertheless the dealer declared the break "normal wear and tear" and not a warranty item. | ||
| Spike240sx |
I like the under seat idea, but what if it breaks on the side of the road. I know you can replace the belt with ease, but how are you going to get it over the rear sprocket without removing the rear axle with no rear stand? | ||
| Froggy |
I have changed a belt in my garage on my XB's without removing the wheel and axle. The new belts are tight, so I recommend you replace it before it breaks and keep the stretched old one as your roadside spare. | ||
| Ron_luning |
Spike, I wondered the same thing a while ago. There is a black insert near the top of the swingarm on the left side that is held in by allen screws. You can get the belt through that slot to position it so it can go around the rear pulley. By loosening the axle approx 15 turns (don't quote me on that) there will be enough slack so you can install a belt over the tensioner. The axle threads will remain engaged on the right side of the swingarm enough so that the bike can remain on the sidestand. | ||
| Redscuell |
My bike mechanic and dyno chap, sent me a text when he got the news from me: "Wouldn't happen with chain drive". So I'll add this to one MORE reason I shouldn't have bought a Buell !!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Just happened Saturday @ 21,000 km, arriving at a light while making a clutchless downshift into 1st. User error. ie, it's your fault. I have over 40,000 miles on belt-driven Buells and never had a belt failure. | ||
| Tasmaniac |
Red youre getting ripped off i've had two broken belts replaced under warranty although i had to pay for the fitting of the second one | ||
| Bobbuell1961 |
Red, i had one spit at about 32,000 mi, f'in around my fault,all it cost me was a belt and a phone call for a ride.on the other hand i have seen a chain brake, cost a WHOLE lot more! i love my belt | ||
| Whynot |
I'm glad to have belt drive, had enough experience with chains. Like when a Ducati throws a chain and it cracks the crankcase. Sometimes the resulting cracks and holes can be glued back together. So if you're looking to buy a used Duc, be sure to remove the front sprocket cover and clean the area down to the metal and inspect up close for any glue jobs. Verily, I speak too late from personal experience. And 'way back in my dealer days, now and then I'd see a Triumph twin come in with the crankcases destroyed by a thrown chain. So I'm thinking that I'll replace the 1125R belt at the 12K service. That's just my personal take on it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Red... I have 50,000+ miles on belt driven Buells, and I've never had to call for a truck to get home. I have maybe 15,000 on chain driven bikes, and the one time I had to call for the neighbor and his truck was when the KLR-250 spit a chain. Fortunately, the chain did not wrap around the crankcase and crack it, or wrap around the swingarm and chew that up. Though looking at that bike, the swingarm had been badly damaged by a previous chain failure. I love belt drive. It will fail on the road one day somewhere, at which point I call the neighbor with the truck and ramps, or call my wife and tell her to go take the spare belt hanging in the garage and bring it over with the tool box. I do carry an extra master link for the KDX-200 (dirt bike) when I take it out. A chain makes sense for that application. | ||
| Sportster_mann |
I have seen the damage a broken chain can cause - a belt gets my vote any day. Only problem with a belt is that it gives you no warning that it's going to go ... ...whereas a chain needs regular attention so you should know when to replace it. | ||
| Ron_luning |
For you guys that have seen a chain break, was it a clip-type or rivet-type master link? I know guys who have had the clip-type break, but never the rivet-type. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Mine was clip, but it was broken on a bike that made a grand total of 17 RWHP.... on a good day  It did break at the clip though... | ||
| Whynot |
Just about all the chain failures I've seen resulted from poor maintenance and incorrect adjustment. On the Ducati I mentioned with glued up cases (1992 907ie), the alignment is super-critical, and the chain adjusters can fail, so it might have come off for the previous owner without actually breaking. (Message edited by whynot on November 25, 2009) | ||
| Dirty_john |
Belt drive is by far the best solution for road going bikes, racers use chain drive to have the ability to quickly gear up or down the final drive, I would never go back to a chain drive bike now, after the firebolt, 1125R and the Fatbob. I have a spare belt for the 1125R and it looks like a good idea to keep it under the seat for emergencies, pity there is nowhere to put the torque wrench for correct axle replacement - but how paranoid can you get? | ||
| Zac4mac |
When I put the belt in the pic above on Loretta, I did it with the Buell toolkit and my Leatherman in less than an hour. It can easily be done "roadside". The tensioner wheel can be "worked in" with belt tension relaxed, then finally tighten the axle to pull the slack out. BTW - WARNING - if you keep a spare belt, do not hang it from a nail or hook, leave it in the box. When it breaks, it WILL be where it touched the nail. Zack (Message edited by zac4mac on November 25, 2009) | ||
| Redscuell |
"User error. ie, it's your fault. " I agree with that: I stated in my original post that it was during a clutchless downshift. You don't really think I needed your analysis, for me to realise it was my own doing, do you? | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Given that you were ragging on Buell (again) and praising chains, it seems like you are blaming the belt for the failure. What did I miss? | ||
| Sknight |
They have advantages, they have disadvantages. They both break when worn out, they cost roughly the same. You can install a new belt on the side of the road, harder to do with a chain. The only serious fault a belt has that falls short of a chain is a chain lets you know when it's worn out and ready to fail. Belts just break. Sometimes they'll start unraveling, if you see it. Normal use sees them last about 20-25K miles, I'll just change mine as part of the 24K valve adjustment and tuck the old one under the seat as a spare. |
