| Author | Message | ||
     Geopatr |
Hey guys, what are the signs of imminent belt failure? I've always check my belt tightness. It has always been very tight. Like nearly zero up and own play. Today I checked it and noticed more play!! Are my days numbered?? | ||
| Trakmastr |
I have a 96 S1 with 40k on it, with the original belt, I have only adjusted it twice . . . Hard to believe that the newer belts won't last as long. I guess anything is possible. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Pull the wheel (by the book!) and scrutinize the belt. How many miles on it? If you're missing any pieces of material anywhere then I'd suggest ordering a new one and limit your riding. Trak, XB's don't have belt adjustment. Uly's per the Factory put more loads on the belt which is improved from the start over the older belts. I'm sure BMC is feverishly working on the higher Uly belt loadings as maybe the cause of premature breakages and maybe even the elusive cause of Uly wheel bearing failures. | ||
| Geopatr |
The belt looks good. 12k on the bike. It has just developed play that wasn't there couple days ago. | ||
| Hughlysses |
At least a couple of people here have posted that their belts went noticeably slack shortly before breaking. I'd just keep an eye on it, but if it breaks, we'll have a pretty good indication of how to pre-detect one. | ||
| 12bolt |
Check your wheel bearings, if the pully side wheel bearing craps out it will allow more slack on the belt. Also check the idler pully and the idler pully bearings, they can also effect the belt tension. | ||
| Rays |
My belt was very slack for a week or so prior to it breaking (about 300miles or so from memory). I noticed it moving up and down at idle sometimes and felt it looser than 'normal'. However, that belt had about 25,000 miles on it so 12K is definitely early. I'm with 12bolt on checking the rear wheel bearings and idler - the other thing I noticed with the belt was that it wasn't 'loose' everywhere. If I wheeled the bike forward it had a definite loose 'spot'. That could possibly gel with some of the internal fibres having broken in one particular spot?  | ||
| Geopatr |
Thanks guys. I'll check everything out. I just replaced the rear bearings about 2k ago. I think I better order a belt now!!!! | ||
| Geopatr |
How much slack is normal? I check it on the top right by the removable swingarm section. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I check mine by pushing up on the bottom about half-way between the wheel pulley and the idler pulley (the bottom of the belt guard is open). I'd guess I can maybe move mine up 1/4"-1/2". | ||
| Dr_greg |
My '06 Uly's belt was getting pretty "loose" and the belt showed cracking both inside and out. It almost made 50K miles, but a parking-lot drop, and the sudden (although small) resulting belt extension, combined with my hand revving the engine at that instant (as my hand left the grip) snapped it. Probably for the best; I carried a spare and I was about 1/4 mile from my house. | ||
| Geopatr |
I ordered a new one from Appleton HD/Buell. Great service. They'll ship it to me here Canada. I'll keep it as a spare and if I'll notice even more stretching then I'll change it. | ||
| 08uly |
Geopatr, Change it when you get the new belt... Keep the old one as a spare! That way you decide when to change it, and not have the belt break at an unsafe moment or inconvenient time. --- 08Uly Uly Data Page  | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
In the 06 SS service manual the belt and idler pulley are listed to be replaced at 25,000 miles. | ||
| Paul56 |
I replaced mine at 30k before a trip and kept it for a spare. The new one was very tight- difficult to install. The next time I changed the rear tire the new belt was as loose (comfortable) as the old one. 20k on the new one now; I'll run it til it breaks just to see, as long as I don't see any acute damage. | ||
| Jameslaugesen |
Has anyone ever actually used an old belt as a spare in a real situation? It comes up in every 'belt life' topic, but I've never seen a 'my belt failed and lukily I had my old belt as a spare' post. The used belt is surely going to weaken after being removed and folded into a different shape. What good is a spare that you can't rely on? It would suck to break a belt out in the bush, only to break your spare 15 minutes later. The belts fail very 'gracefully', providing you've got an escape plan (which you should always have, be-it from traffic, a river, a mud hill, whatever) you can just roll to a stop. IMO there's no an inherent danger in riding a belt until it snaps. Fitting a new belt is an easy 15-20 minute road-side job once you have the hang of it. It just seems to me that using an old belt as a spare is very risky. | ||
| Hughlysses |
The main idea is that an old pre-stretched belt goes on much easier than a factory-fresh belt, especially if you're on the side of the road, in the rain, have mediocre lighting, etc. It follows that you'd replace it with a new belt at the first opportunity. |
