| Author | Message | ||
     Dr_greg |
After getting back from my 7:00 a.m. colonoscopy (at 62 YO, better late than never) and spending the afternoon taking a nap, I decided to go out into the shop and ponder my belt tracking problem yet again. I removed the belt, and tried to feel any clearance in the swingarm bearing...there was none. Oh well, I already ordered them...anyone need a pair of '06 Uly swingarm bearings? Let's see: can't be wheel bearings, can't be idler pulley, can't be belt, surely can't be drive sprocket, can't be wheel sprocket (I've swapped out most of these with my parts bike). What the Sam Hill is it? So my second son Keith got home from work, saw the shop door open, and came out to investigate. I explained the problem, and now we BOTH sat and pondered for a while. I told him, "can't be this, can't be that..." He said "too bad there isn't some adjustment..." as he saw the belt tracking too far to the inside and rubbing the case. "Yeah, right...maybe not a screw adjustment, but maybe shims..." EUREKA!!! Shims! That was the solution! I went over to the bench and just happened to find two packages of precision-made ultra high-quality 3/8-inch shims. The stars were clearly in alignment. I removed the rear wheel, removed the wheel sprocket (I'm very quick at doing all this, BTW), and installed the precision shims onto the rear wheel (sorry it's so dirty, but hey, it's a Ulysses):  I proceeded to assemble the rest of the drivetrain, started the engine, and wound him up in 3rd or 4th gear (plenty fast to whine), and listened...NO WHINE! Turned him off, and checked the belt positioning on the drive pulley:  The belt was RIGHT WHERE IT OUGHTA BE. Excellent. So, okay...the belt tracking problem is not really SOLVED, but it is FIXED. Just like my dog. Time for a little celebration...  End of the saga. See you at Homecoming. --Doc | ||
| Ronmold |
Shims like a great idea to me! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
To winning!  I think we have the same glasses. | ||
| Rays |
Dr Greg, great to see that smile back! Nice simple and effective work-around. I've scheduled tomorrow afternoon to do some measurements on my 60,000mile '06 X and compare to my 2,000 mile '09 XT - your problem has prodded my curiosity. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Excellent data! Thanks! | ||
| Pso |
there are shims included in the idler wheel with the yellow spring for that very purpose. I went ahead and purchased on and needed the shims. sorry i was not paying close attention to your situation or I would have remembered that I needed to shim out my idler wheel to get clearance for the belt and also the idler puller bracket to clear the muffler. | ||
| Jphish |
Good news Doc! I don't mind the problems so much as not being able to quickly diagnose & repair. You have now solved yet one more mystery that was befuddling members of Buelldom. Those Hi-tech shims look like they were custom fabricated for NASA - shiney & very round. The question arises as to what might be the remedy if the belt needs to move in the opposite direction?? Pso may have hit on it - shiming the idler pully ? I can neither see, nor visualize, any yellow spring though...Pso - please enlighten. | ||
| Ronmold |
Hey Doc, did you reuse your bolts? | ||
| Dr_greg |
Hey Doc, did you reuse your bolts? I assume you mean the T-45 Torx bolts for the wheel sprocket. Yes, I'm afraid I do reuse them. I always apply threadlocker, and torque to 35 ft-lb. They are not "stretch" bolts. --Doc | ||
| Motorfish |
On my `06, at around 5,000 miles, my belt started riding off the rear pulley, about a 1/8". When I rolled the bike backwards a few feet, it would go back on the pulley. Brought it to the dealer, and it turned out that the belt was bad. They warrantied a new one. I have close to 15k on it now with no problems, yet. I know Dr Greg is on top of the belt wear, I`m just throwing in some more info, maybe useless. | ||
| Sharkguy |
I think the yellow spring Pso is referring to is on the aftermarket self adjusting idler pully. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Doc, Nice to see that you got it fixed. Kudos to you and your boy. | ||
| Pso |
Jphish-Sharkguy is correct. After many posts about that replacement Idler pulley w/automatic spring tensioner (statements going in both directions)and then Hardley pulling the plug on Buell, I figured I woud ride the Uly till one or the other of us dies. So I purchased the idler w/auto adjuster. The folks included the shims, two diferring thickness and I needed a set to keep the belt straight and also to allow bracket to bolt on properly. |
