| Author | Message | ||
     Buellcruiser20 |
hey wuts up everyone? i have no idea how i did it but i was out cruising around and bam there goes my drive belt. does anyone know a cheap or easy way to put on a belt. i have a 01 m2 cyclone | ||
| Ray_maines |
Easy is to take it to your friendly local dealer. Be sure to loosen the belt up a little when you get it home. Looser is gooder and the dealer will adjust it way too tight. Cheap is to do it yourself. You'll get lots of advice about this from people who know more about it than I do, but apparently dropping the swing arm out from under the bike isn't as hard as it sounds. A person can use a 4' crow bar and a strong assistant to spread the frame far enough and long enough to get the new belt on but I don't recommend it. | ||
| Biknut |
a tight belt is better than a loose belt. if the belt is loose, in time it starts to pull the teeth off the belt. i have noticed that at the hd shop they do tend to adjust the belts a little too tight though. primary chains too. | ||
| Blake |
Unfortunately no easy way to replace the belt on a Cyclone. Gotta remove the right side rear isolator which can be a chore. A too-tight belt will damage your transmission and rear wheel bearings. I'd rather replace a belt than those bearings. | ||
| Aaron |
I changed mine in about 2-1/2 hours. Wasn't that big of a deal. Just took off enough stuff that I could raise the back of the frame off of the swingarm block, slid the new belt in, lowered it back down, buttoned it all back up. Didn't have to pry on anything. No biggee. If I remember right, I undid the front motor mount (put a jack under the front shock eye first), unbolted the top and rear heim links, took off the carb, maybe a few other minor things, and of course the isolator bolts. That allowed the frame to come up enough to slide the right side isolator out which of course allowed the belt to slide in. Put the isolator back in place, lower the frame, and put it all back together. | ||
| Mfell2112 |
You can't replace the belt by removing the rear wheel? Mike | ||
| Newfie_buell |
No, The frame must come up far enough to clear he swingarm block. OR Just put a chain on it, 30 minutes later your back on the road. | ||
| Iamike |
Andrew- $175 for the belt, 2.5hrs of your time. Don't listen to the tight belt comment. I've been running mine loose for 49,000mi. and haven't lost a tooth. Over on the ATC site there is a section on belt tension. One test they tried was to move the wheel all the way forward and try to cause a problems with wheelies, fast starts etc, and couldn't cause any. If you do it yourself either heed Aaron's advice with the front mount or be darn careful not to let the motor hang on it. There have been some head failures that probably were caused by letting the motor sag while doing maintenance. | ||
| Cyclonemick |
My belt without load can almost touch the swingarm by pushing upward on the bottom of the belt maybe and inch from it. I have over 30k on my cyclone and no problems. Yet? | ||
| Newfie_buell |
Blake, Aaron and Mike are correct. It only takes about 2.5-3.5 hrs and the correct size torx and hex bits. Go to the knowledge vault and see the S1 Manual, I can't see the M2 being that much different. OR You can just put a chain on it, I used two good quality sprockets and a 530 O-ring chain and there is about 25,000km on it since its been installed with very few adjustments. You just have to keep it cleaned and lubricated. My reason for the chain was two belts in 23,000km, the first one was just split apart in several places and the second picked up a rock. As for running the belt, it was always loose. I got the bike back from the local Harley Retailer one time after having tires put on and it was tight like a sportster, damm suspension wouldn't work right. | ||
| Tripp |
if you don't have a service manual for that bike go buy one it's the toughest buell to change a belt on! you may need to buy new isolators for the rear end it can be tough to get the right one out. i've found good deals on belts on ebay, it's the same belt as a sportster, i found my last one for $85. i also got all the info for switching to chain drive which i may do if this belt does'nt last long, however switching to a chain on 99 and later models has swingarm clearance issues(lots of info in the KV about this). | ||
| Budo |
"A too-tight belt will damage your transmission and rear wheel bearings. I'd rather replace a belt than those bearings." I had to reaplace a rear wheel, bad bearings, due to the belt being too tight from the factory/dealership. As you might have figured out, the experienced guys like Aaron can do it easily, however if you have never done it before it can be easy to screw up. Might want to take this one to the dealer. Is it recommended to replace the right side isolator when replacing the belt? | ||
| Biknut |
check out how tight the belt is on a xb. the trick, on a bike that you have to adjust the belt on, is to make it about that tight when the bike is hot. it seems too tight but the factory knows best. back in 1989 i used to run it a little looser and after about 25,000 mi i got cracks under some of the teeth. one thing is for sure. these belts are very tough. a little too tight or too loose, they still last a long long time. about the only time i ever have to adjust a belt is after i change a tire. i always adjust it when the bike is hot. it will feel a lot looser when the bike is cold. 76,791 mi and still going on the original output bearing says tight won't hurt nutin. of course red line 75/90 may have a lot to do with that but i don't want to get everyones bowels in an uproar over that again. deflection when cold should be about 7/16" with 10 lb pressure on a sportster but different buell models will very a little. | ||
| Henrik |
Biknut; no offense, butI disagree  Comparing XB belt tension to Tuber tension is an understandable, but bad mistake. On the XB the rear set-up was carefully designed to maintain the belt tension a (relatively  ) constant through the rear wheel range of motion. Not so on the tubers; they suffer the same issue as most other bikes: belt tension changes through the rear wheel range of motion. What you need is "proper" belt tension at the tightest spot, which will be when the rear axle, swingarm pivot and front pulley center are all aligned. So, if you adjust your belt snug with the bike on the kick stand, it will become *way too tight* as the wheel moves up towards the point where axle/pivot/pulley line up. Also, AFAIR sportster belt tension is measured with rider on the bike. I.e. the belt will seem tighter when checking. Granted, I was shown this by a tech years ago, so it may be incorrect info. Tuber Buell belt tension is measured with the bike on the stand and no rider (at least my S2 and my old S3 are). Too tight a belt *will* chew up your bearings. Hope this makes sense  Henrik | ||
| Biknut |
yes henrik, i agree with what you are saying. i only point to the xb to show that at the tightest point the belt will be tight like that. i don't think you will be adjusting the belt for any other place except at the tightest. | ||
| Buelliedan |
Biknut, Buells and Sportsters are 2 completely different animals when it comes to belts. A too tight belt on a Buell will result in ruined bearinsg and possible a broken belt at the worst time. The belt comes under the most tension when you are usually heavily loaded and hit a big bump causing the suspension to almost bottom. Then SNAP, your belt breaks! The only way to ensure this deosn't happen is to run your belt very loose or set it with the shock disconnected and move it full travel up and down finding the tightest point which is a real hassle in the normal garage of tools to do. The techs at the Buell company will tell you that you should be able to push your belt into the swingarm with very little pressure. Loose is good, tight is bad (just the opposite of a woman!!) | ||
| Newfie_buell |
I don't think you can adjust an XB Belt!!! | ||
| Buelliedan |
An XB has a spring loaded tensioner that keeps it constant. Older Buells do not have this luxury so you MUST adjust it to the loose side. | ||
| Darthane |
They are not spring loaded. The first released pictures were, but trust me, the idler pulley on an XB is DEFINITELY hard-mounted! LOL All it does it bring the belt's rotation point in line with the swingarm (rather than the front pulley like a tuber), so the tension is as close to constant as possible. At least one aftermarket company makes a spring loaded replacement for it, but honestly I don't see any bonus to using it. | ||
| Fullpower |
sorry guys the XB does NOT have a spring loaded tensioner. the XB belt is cosiderably tight with no load, and then LOOSENS when the suspension is compressed. the sportster belt will fit the M2. | ||
| Hootowl |
I think that spring loaded thing was an aftermarket piece. I do not believe Buell had them on preproduction models. (Not saying they never toyed with the idea) I sure would like to get a spring loaded tensioner for my tuber though. Boy, that'd be a money maker. I wish I had thought of it first. | ||
| Buelliedan |
Darthane, You are correct. I mispoke about the spring but it does have an additional pulley to keep constant tension unlike the older Buells | ||
| Hootowl |
Buellcruiser20 Back to your original question... The easiest way to replace your belt is to remove the swingarm support block from the rear of the engine case. (new bolts are recommended for reinstallation) No frame/carb/gas tank etc removal required. | ||
| Biknut |
yea. it's true. belt adjusting is more an art than a science. i noticed some of the buells have a pretty steep angle on the swingarm when the bike is unloaded. i always thought that must mean the belt will be loose some of the time. never the less, you still have to adjust the belt to be right at the tightest point. you can't do anything about the tension the rest of the time. that much is the same be it buell, sportster, or bt. it just becomes a question of how to figure that out because like you say, it's hard on a buell to crush the suspension to the right spot. i know that makes it harder to get it right than say on my bike but the right tension is still about the same for both bikes at maximum angle of tightness. i bet riders of xb.s are happy about their bikes about now! | ||
| Buelliedan |
I currently have only 1 bike(my S1) that does not have removeable sideplates and it sees very limited use. I dread the day if I ever have to replace a broken belt on it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
In respect for my tuber bretheren, no comment on XB'rs and "belt relief" . I can pull a picture from the knowledge vault showing the mangled inside of a 5th gear drive assembly that I believe resulted directly from me following the factories belt tension setting instructions. Run it scary loose. I was at 24k+ miles on my Cyclone with NO evidence of belt damage. I adjusted it so that as I sat on the bike, I could reach up and pull the bottom of the belt to where it would *just* start to have tension when it touched the swingarm. I basically wanted the thing as loose as possible but minimize interference with the swingarm. Doing it this way resulted in some very minor swingarm polishing at the point of contact, but no visible damage to swingarm or belt. | ||
| Blake |
Biknut, A Sportster and most bikes including Harleys and chain driven repliracer have their rear axle, swingarm pivot and drive sprocket all arranged virtually co-linearly. When their swinarm moves upwards under load, the belt/chain actually loosens. On a Buell the rear axle is about 4 inches lower. As a pre-XB Buell's swingarm moves upwards, its belt tightens, a lot! When a Buell tube frame bike's belt is adjusted to OEM specs, with the rear suspension unloaded it will have between 1.5" and 1.75" total up/down free play midway between the sprockets or between 7/8" to 1" of upward free play (original OEM spec pre-1999). I've kept mine at or slightly over 1.75" and for over 20K miles including over 1,000 miles on the track, no cracks or any signs of significant wear are evident. This for a bike that makes almost 90 FT-LBs of torque and 100 rwhp. The belt does tighten as it heats up. | ||
| Biknut |
i hear what you're saying blake. that sounds about right. on my sportster cold and unloaded it would have just a little under 1/2" deflection with about 10 lb pressure. if my shocks were about 4" longer i'd probably have 1.75 deflection too. | ||
| Biknut |
this is what a way cool adjuster looks like.  | ||
| Biknut |
jmc makes them for buells too. |
