| Author | Message | ||
     Twig |
I finally tried out rt.89 today up to the Parkway in NC today. Nice twisty back route. 240 mile ride there and back. On the way home my so called "new and improved" belt for my 03 xb9s broke on me. Believe it or not I only had 600 or so miles on it. I put it on a few weeks ago along with new tires, thinking I might be saving myself a Headache. Boy was I ever wrong! I installed it step by step from the manual,no twisting or prying. I thought it slipped on pretty easy. At least I was only 20 miles from my house...called my wife and had her bring my spare belt and a couple of tools, luckily I had most of the tools with me. I bet you don't have to guess what my next mod will be. | ||
| Cmm213 |
Twig your post is getting me worried because I just did what you did! I just changed tires and did a belt upgrade while I was at it. I ride hard so I hope I dont have the same fate. | ||
| Twig |
Luckily, there was quite a bit of traffic up and back. Otherwise, if I had been riding harder I would have been stuck in the mts. with no phone signal, and $h(t outta luck. It broke while shifting into second, just cruising along. I think I just got a effed up belt. Good luck with yours. | ||
| Cataract2 |
06 belt upgrade, here you come. | ||
| Skyguy |
That belt on the 03' is gonna be the death of someone sooner or later. did you also do pulley upgrades? | ||
| Twig |
Nope skyguy, I hope I can order the entire kit within a week or two. Finally getting some good overtime in, but to say the least, I am pretty pissed having a $150 belt crap out at 600 miles. That's just ridiculous. | ||
| Buellfighter |
With all this talk of belts breaking, why don't you go to chain drive? I switched to chain drive years back and wouldn't have it any other way! I never even rode my bike with belt drive so I'm not sure what the pros of it are. I'm just curious, that's all. | ||
| Xbjelly9s |
i have 12700 on a stock 03 belt as of today and yes they are not easy miles. just ordered the upgraded yesterday and will keep the original as a spare i hope. | ||
| 007firebolt |
How long ago was the belt purchased; if under 30 days I would take it back to the dealer!! The 06' belt conversion is the only way to go I guess. | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
14,400 on my original 03 XB9S belt | ||
| Kdan |
I switched my Stock 03 out at about 13,000 not so gentle miles and have 3000 on the new belt. | ||
| Deuceman |
14,000 miles on my stock '03 belt. Not a problem at all. Still looks and feels great even. | ||
| Jaimec |
Believe it or not, the belts have a higher tensile strength than a chain. It also provides a "cush drive" effect to protect the rear drive wheel from the power pulses from the engine (most chain driven bikes have a cush drive hub for this purpose; the Buells and Harleys do not because the belt serves this purpose). Without a cush drive, a chain will eat the sprockets alive and you'll find yourself replacing chains and sprockets on a regular basis. Not to mention the constant maintenance a chain drive requires. No thanks, I'll stick to the belt. Haven't ridden a chain driven bike in decades. Shafts or belts for me! | ||
| U4euh |
Dang Mike! You catchin my luck with belts? Wish I coulda gone with ya,but I ain't got no stinkin OT, so funds are slow movin. Glad Patty was able to get ya bailed out. | ||
| Slickster |
BadWeb Team Could someone list the options (with prices and Part numbers if possible) we have for replacing the stock drive belt system on 2003 XBs. I was ready to replace my stock belt(7500 miles) with the upgraded 2003 drive belt from Dave for approx $140 USD. I am wondering if the new 2003 belt is good enough for our safety. Other options I have read about are to replace with the 2004 or 2006 drive systems including belt idler pulley and sprockets. Which option is the best direction. Thanks Wayne | ||
| Twig |
Hey U4euh...Yep, I know how you feel now! I am lucky it broke in Stokesdale, 20 miles from Greensboro. Didn't both of your breaks happen near your house? I talked to rubberdown this morning, and said he will give me a hand with the front pulley once I get everything I need. I'll bring the broken belt with me and show it to ya at the C3jr. ride. It was a real clean snap. Later! | ||
| Fullpower |
Jaimec i am sorry sir but you are rather misinformed, in the last decades that you have been out of touch, the manufacture of motorcycle drive chain technology has apparently advanced some measure. the tensile strength of a modern motorcycle drive chain is quite adequate for dragstrip launches of turbo-charged Hayabusas, 240 mile per hour Bonneville record holders, and hold up very nicely on both my 1458 cc sportster and my XB12. both use aluminum sprockets, and have no need for any sort of "cush-drive" nonsense. details here: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/32777/67232.jpg | ||
| Fullpower |
and here we have a picture of a steel tooth idler: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/104701.jpg | ||
| Fullpower |
latest iteration: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/117000.jpg have well over 10,000 miles on this pair of sprockets and chain, have tried a couple different idler schemes, liking this one best. | ||
| Jaimec |
Only 10,000 miles? Traded in my Cyclone with the original belt... 36,000 miles and it still looked brand new. 94,000 miles on my LT's driveshaft. 158,000 miles on my K100 before it was stolen (still miss that bike). Sorry, keep your chain. Belts are good enough for 1,100 lbs, 500 hp Boss Hoss bikes, they're good enough for my 400 lbs, 103 hp Buell... | ||
| Buellfighter |
Sorry Jaimec, but I don't notice any more significant wear on my chain drive Buell than I did on any other sport bike I've had in the past. "the belts have higher tensile strength than a chain". ????? I can understand how the belt would absorb motor vibes, but on these sportbikes with their horsepower it seems to be a continual weak link and just curious why more Buell riders don't opt for the chain to be rid of the thought of being miles from home and have it break! If it were me with belt drive I would have a belt repair kit on my bike at all times, period.. Anyway, like I said, just curious.  (Message edited by buellfighter on April 16, 2006) | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
For the "street", belts have the advantage. Would Erik do it any other way? | ||
| Buellfighter |
Skeeter_xb, why! | ||
| Diablobrian |
I'm not sure that belts are superior for the street. Chains rarely fail suddenly and catastrophically. On the other hand I have seen many stories of this happening with the belts. The 06 version may be better, but if my bike hadn't already had the chain conversion I would have done it myself. Don't forget the added bonus of gear changes. Road trip? gear it taller. Want to play hooligan? gear it down. Takes minutes to do and is cheap, especially compared to belt pulleys. Also modern chains and chain lubes are far cleaner and easier than in days of old. I've also had shaft drive bikes, and don't care for the suspension unsettling characteristics that come with them. Not suitable for sporting uses, in my opinion. I know BMW has built some, but the owners have to ride around this problem. | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
I should have said, For the "street", belts have the advantage for ME! I will never have a need to change gear ratios and have been on the track. Have had 2 bikes with belt drive and they have been stone reliable. | ||
| Skeeter_xb |
and also less "lash" than chain sprocket | ||
| No_rice |
dont get me wrong, i like the belt for lots of reasons. its just that my reasons for not liking it out weigh my reasons to keep it. i totaled my bike once because my belt stripped out about 6-8 inches while it was under load, and when it caught the next teeth it was just like pinning it and popping the clutch. over she went. on a side note though, it is putting extra strain on the belt because of the nitrous | ||
| Buellfighter |
I just always thought the belts and shaft drives were more for "cruiser bikes" and not able to handle the constant use/abuse/fun of the Buell sportbike! I hate hearing that an epic ride was cut short by a broken belt and how some riders manage to get thousands of miles while others only get hundreds out of a belt.I just figured there would be more threads on "Which chain conversion kit are you using" by now. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I wasn't very happy to see a broken belt laying beside the track on the Buell day at Pocono last week. I checked the tooth pattern against 2004 setup I just put on my 2003 bike, it matched. | ||
| Chadhargis |
You guys are scaring me. I've had shaft driven bikes and heard stories of the splines breaking off or the rear differentials going out and now I have a belt driven bike and hear stories of the belt breaking with no warning. Geez, why don't cars come with chains? They seem to be the most reliable form of power transfer available. | ||
| Hattori_hanzo |
Chad...your Ully has a much tougher belt than the ones we're running on the '03 XB's. In fact, I don't think you have a service interval for replacing your belt where the '03 XB's had a 15,000 interval...which I've made on my original belt. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. | ||
| Blazinc5 |
Ever see what happens when a chain don't drop off the bike when it fails?? Then get bound up either on the front sprocket and busts your case all up and possibly your foot ,,,, Or even the rear sprocket, where it locks up your rear tire at 70 or more? thats a hard stop to make when your not ready for it... And yes I seen the aftermath of instances such as those.. Not pretty,,, I will keep my belt.. Especialy when I don't have to lube it and then sling oil all over the place. | ||
| Diablobrian |
I don't think these belts require that much less attention than chains. Is removing belt guards to check belt condition easier than applying a little chain-wax? Modern o-ring chins do not fling lube like they did in the old days. At least not if you do it right. Besides that I have a hugger with a chain guard that goes across the top(full coverage not required). It keeps any excess lube off of me. It's all about personal preference I guess. I haven't had a chain failure in 15 years. The one that did fail was on a friends bike and it was due to lack of maintenance and it was an old, cheap, non o-ring chain. Kind of like comparing the Buell drive belts to automotive v-belts. Ask No_rice (Tim) if there is such a thing as a belt failure that can cause a crash. | ||
| Skyguy |
Diablo, Seems a belt failure could be quite serious. My O3 belt scares the heck out of me. I have broken two, both at around 8,000 miles. Luckily neither was pulling hard out of a turn or trying to evade a cager. Should be a recall item (I know I say this at least once a week). As much as I like Erik Buell, should mine fail and I get injured I am going straight to an attorney...........  |
