| Author | Message | ||
     03buellfbolt |
Hey guys my belt broke on my 03 bolt. I went and got a new one. Can somone give me a step by step on how to put the new one on? It looks like I will have to take off of the back tire. Thanks Guys | ||
| Holling |
You do not have to take the wheel off. 1. remove belt tensioner pulley. 2. remove front sproket cover. 3. remove swingarm section on right side that unbolts. 4. install belt without bending or twisting. 5. reinstall swingarm section. 6. reinstall pulley. I use a floor jack to push pulley into pos. to line up bolt. 7. reinstall sprocket cover. Of course this is all done easier if you have discarded your belt covers like I did. Good luck. | ||
| Sik_s |
It is just a bad idea to not at least loosen the rear axle to relieve the stress and tension that it puts on the belt. It will be far easier if you do this. | ||
| 03buellfbolt |
hey thanks, I am going to attempt to do this tomorrow. By looking at the bike I just cant see how the belt is going to go on the bike without the rear tire coming off? The frame is in the way? | ||
| Glitch |
Buy a service manual, it'll save you lots of headaches, and much time. | ||
| Skyguy |
Do not replace it with an 03 belt!!!!!!! Buy the upgrade!! Buy it now before you break another belt. Just my experience of course................ | ||
| Dapope |
Just curious. How many miles on the belt? | ||
| Just_ziptab |
DO NOT remove or loosen the swing arm section or the idler pulley until you have loosened the rear axle 15 full turns! Unless you want a twisted swing arm and resulting future grief.Holling,you really didn't do that "jacking" bit ,did you? I hurt all over,just thinking about that scenario. | ||
| Kdan |
Do not replace it with an 03 belt!!!!!!! Buy the upgrade!! Buy it now before you break another belt. Just my experience of course................ Totally. | ||
| Sik_s |
Just_ziptab, yeah that is what I said earlier, but unless you have a service manual I guess you wouldn't understand it as well as you said it. So the 7 steps to do this process safely, correctly and completely would be as follows: 1. Buy the Service Manual. 2. Buy the Service Manual. 3. Buy the Service Manual. 4. Buy the Service Manual. 5. Buy the Service Manual. 6. Buy the Service Manual. 7. Buy the Service Manual. So with that being said, it will be easier if you just go ahead and contact "Daves" and purchase said manual. | ||
| Twig |
Hey '03....the axle won't come loose unless you first loosen the pinch bolt (set screw) underneath . I have to agree with Skyguy...seems like a bad batch of new '03 belts are making the rounds with early premature breakage. Mine broke at 600 miles, and another guy's broke at 1000 miles.Seems like we are both machinists and know how to install a frickin belt. The funny thing is , we both got the same belt in the same month from the same dealer/sponser, and he said the '06 belt upgrade is not needed. Go figure. Take your cell phone with you, just in case. If you plan on keeping the 'bolt , the '06 belt upgrade will be needed. | ||
| Davegess |
The latest replacement belt for the 03 is better than the originally installed and should provide excellant service as long as the belt guards are in place (they do not like debris, it is treated the way it is supposed to be treated (which is very important, they do not like to be twisted or bent backwards), and everything is lined up correctly. They should reach their service live unless you ride in very sandy or gravelly conditions. If a belt shows wear or fails early you really need to look at installation first and then the bike setup. No belt will survive having the rear wheel out of alignment with the drive pulley. That said the 06 belt setup is way better and I would consider an upgrade to it especially if you ride where there is sand or gravel. It does cost a bit BUT it should be the last belt you ever buy. | ||
| Xb9ser |
The latest 03 belt is CRAP!! I went 10000 miles on my oragnial belt and when changed to up graded belt it lasted 1000 miles 2 weeks!! Twig on this board his lasted 600 miles!!There is a problem with the 03 upgraded belts!!!!When I can aford it I will change for 04 pullys and 06 belt!! | ||
| Saintly |
The latest replacement belt for the 03 is better than the originally installed and should provide excellant service as long as the belt guards are in place (they do not like debris, it is treated the way it is supposed to be treated (which is very important, they do not like to be twisted or bent backwards), and everything is lined up correctly. I dont believe that to be true at all. The 03 upgrade fails easier than the original, it is not worth the time to install . | ||
| Davegess |
I dont believe that to be true at all. The 03 upgrade fails easier than the original, it is not worth the time to install . this will be a surprise to the factory then. There testing indicates a better belt and I think the warrenty numbers indicate the same. | ||
| Saintly |
this will be a surprise to the factory then. There testing indicates a better belt and I think the warrenty numbers indicate the same. I think we should send the "factory testers" out on a 600 mile ride with an 03 belt and no chase truck or cell phone! That's a hell of a long walk back! | ||
| Saintly |
P.S. Davegess, I'm not trying to be confrontational with you. I just comment from my personal experience with those belts as well as from reading the experiences of about a half dozen other badwebbers who have had similar experiences. If you can find the time, you should join myself and a few others on a trip to Deals Gap in July. I've got a post about it in storm fronts. I see from your profile that you have an 03 and are from Milwaukee. Every year my friends and I ride out from NY to Menomonee Falls for a bike event out there. That is a real beautiful area. I'll tell you what, If you do join us at the Dragon, on your 03 belt equipped bike, your first nights drinks are on me! | ||
| Indy_bueller |
FOR GOODNESS SAKE LOOSEN THE AXLE BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE NEW BELT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is one VERY VERY important thing you have to remember about the "Gates" belts. You CANNOT twist them or bend them in any way prior to installation. If you do, the belt is ruined. When I say "in any way" I mean IN ANY WAY!!!! Even the SLIGHTEST bend of that belt before or during installation can ruin it. Hence the reason Buell went to the Goodyear belt. We had a very informative dicussion about this at Homecoming on Friday with Erik and Abe. This is also why Buell is not replacing snapped replacement Gates belts I believe. You know that dip toward the center the belt makes between the two ends when you take it out of the box? If you try to reverse that bend to take the dip out, you have ruined the belt. Erik and Abe went to great length discussing how these belts were tested, and why the Gates was abandoned in favor of the Goodyear Hybrex. They have tested them at great length. It was VERY clear from their data that the belts that snap prematurely are the result of mishandling at some point, therefore not BMC's responsibility. Bitch all you want. The engineers at Buell have tested the crap out of those belts, and they know exactly what they can and cannot take. If you are upset about it you have a few options: 1. Buy another replacement belt and be more careful installing it this time. or 2. Buy and install the upgrade parts to upgrade to the '04-up configuration. or 3. Buy and install a chain drive. or 4. Sell your Buell. I'm sure you can agree, one of the above solutions will fix your problem. I'm sorry if this offends the sensibilities of anyone that has had a replacement belt snap prematurely. But Erik and Abe showed us cold, hard data about how those belts were tested, what they can take, what they cant take, and why they fail prematurely. Mishandling IS the cause. Period. | ||
| Davegess |
Mishandling IS the cause. Period I would second that. My '03 belt is doing fine. 5000 miles. I know of only two people who will be allowed to fit the next one. That one won't fail early either. | ||
| Davegess |
Thanks for the invite to the Gap, can't make it but would be fun. | ||
| Just_ziptab |
I don't get it... Why won't the belt take any backwards bending, yet it is bent backwards over the idler pulley, under a fairly stout load? I spose it was engineered that way to be light weight, but maybe it's weight(evidently) isn't "that" important now...........  | ||
| S1eric |
It was VERY clear from their data that the belts that snap prematurely are the result of mishandling at some point. OK I can agree with that. But why in the h#@@ would make such an important component on the bike so FRAGILE ! Better suspension performance ? Unsprung weight ? Go ahead fill in your own engineering reason. I know you will. I for one would rather have real world reliability. Cmon don`t bend or twist the belt. Ride only on sunny days, Don`t ride on hywy if dirt is present, Avoid any type of gravel you might see during your ride. (last comments in jest) I think they should stand behind their customers on the 03 belt issues. They knew the belts were weak, Thats why you don`t see them on the new Buells. 1. Buy another replacement belt and be more careful installing it this time. or 2. Buy and install the upgrade parts to upgrade to the '04-up configuration. or 3. Buy and install a chain drive. or 4. Sell your Buell. So in other words. You the customer will have to deal with our drive line issues. | ||
| Bake |
No belt will survive having the rear wheel out of alignment with the drive pulley. Dave how do we line this up? I thought both the sprocket and rear whell positions were fixed. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
So in other words. You the customer will have to deal with our drive line issues. That isn't what I said. It would be more accurate to say that you the customer will have to deal with it if you mishandle the belt while installing it. Yes, they did replace the Gates belt because it was fragile. However, if it is properly handled before and during installation, it will work just fine. | ||
| S1eric |
Again, I can agree with the mishandle comment. Why would you make such an important component of the bike so fragile ? Any one. Bueller. Bueller. (Message edited by S1Eric on June 04, 2006) | ||
| Indy_bueller |
The Gates belt shortcomings are why Buell moved to the Goodyear belt. Abe said that they worked with Gates right up to the very end to produce a better belt. Unfortunatly Gates was unable to do so, which is why they made the switch. Interestingly, this is also the cause for the sprocket change. Gates apparently owned the rights to that belt tooth pitch. So in order to use another belt they had to use one that had a different tooth size. So to answer your question, Buell didn't want to use that belt. There are alot of factors that figure in to the whole story, and I don't know them all. But the engineers at Buell arent stupid. There are reasons why they used that belt in the first place, and why they stayed with it for so long. Purely speculation on my part, but I would say that Gates made either the best or the only belt they could use at the time, so they had to use it. When it became apparent that the Gates belt was unacceptable, they finally had to abandon it. Do you think they WANT to have different configurations of belts and sprockets? Of course not, its a pain in the butt. Part numbers, etc. It was obvious to me that they did the best they could with what they had, but unfortunately, the results were less than desireable. All I can say is again, BE CAREFUL when you install the Gates belt. | ||
| S1eric |
Very informative. I didn`t know Gates owned the rights to the tooth pitch. That would explain the difference between the 03 and newer pulley. And I never though the Buell engineers were "stupid". Just wondering why they would use such a fragile system on a very important component of the bike. Other than they thought it was stronger than it was, Or thats what we had to use because of our supplier. Which might be the case. I have seen tuber belts go past 80,000 mi. Now thats durable. To go from durable to fragile just makes me wonder. They must of had a reason for the lighter belt. (Message edited by S1Eric on June 05, 2006) (Message edited by S1Eric on June 05, 2006) | ||
| Indy_bueller |
Just wondering why they would use such a fragile system on a very important component of the bike. Other than they thought it was stronger than it was, Or thats what we had to use because of our supplier. Which might be the case. I'm not really sure, but it's probably something like that. On saturday I was talking with Erik about the underslung muffler and the ZTL brake system. He said they had a heckuva time getting someone to produce the brakes for them. They are so radically different from everything else that is out there, and Buell is such a small company comparatively, they just didnt want to make them. I'll bet that sometimes it's very difficult for Buell to get what it needs because it just can't buy enough of the parts to make the manufacturers interested in making them. Sometimes, no doubt, Buell may have to just take what it can get, rather than get exactly what it wants. | ||
| Thepup |
I love it,another"If it breaks it must be your fault,not Buell's",just because a person from the factory says it,doesn't make it true.There may have been a bad batch,my second belt lasted me 17,000 miles,I replaced it although it wasn't broke yet,oh 12,000 of those miles were with a hole in the center of the belt.I guess time will tell,good way to make your customers happy,basically telling them they are idiots,way to go BMC. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
READ IT AGAIN PUP! Data. Cold, hard data. Facts. Not speculation. Results of tests. Period. Tests like dropping debris directly into the feed point of the sprocket while its spinning at 65 mph. You can bitch all you want. Those are facts. Go to the factory and call them liars to their faces if you are so certain. |
