| Author | Message | ||
     Fullpower |
just noticed while washing bike that i can freely turn the belt idler pulley by hand. the belt is in very nice condition on visual inspection, but it is a little slack. is this normal and acceptable for 5400 miles? thanks, dean | ||
| Johnnyxb9 |
You can turn it freely w/out weight on it? What happens when you sit on it? | ||
| Fullpower |
turns free unloaded on sidestand, and also upright and loaded, no difference. | ||
| Glitch |
Be right back. The belt I have now only has a couple thousand miles one it. I'll go down to the garage and see how mine does. | ||
| Glitch |
Mine does not move. I fear yours may not have much life left. Do you have a spare? I'd hate to see a post from you about being stranded by a broken belt. | ||
| Fullpower |
it has been loose for a couple days now. i had a wicked high speed run to kenai last night. been running the snot out of it. i have a new belt in stock and paid for at the HD shop. also need to pick up new fork seals. wrapped 6 napkins and some duct tape around the fork leg, to keep the leaking oil off the front brake. have to change the "diaper" daily. looked at the service manual, fork seal procedure called for some special tools. any one done this job with out the special factory tools? | ||
| Misato |
be careful, I did the diaper also, didn't put more than 200miles on it and it destroyed inside the forks also (low oil?). I was lucky and it was under warranty. | ||
| Ingemar |
I think this is very weird. I double checked my service manual for the installation of belt and spanner, but there is no way to take out slack. As far as I know belts do not stretch. They crack, break, become furry when worn out, but they shouldn't stretch. I would check the rear axle, bearings, idler pulley, swingarm and the belt pulleys. Because, as far as I understand it, the way the idler pulley is positioned should eliminate belt slack regardless of the position of the swingarm (ie, weight, bumps etc). Even a worn belt should still be tight AFAK. Hope that helps, Ingemar. | ||
| Fullpower |
no rips, tears, cracks or any visible damage. the idler has some slight surface pitting, and maybe .010" axial play, no perceptible radial play. the actual belt slack is 1.5 inch deflection. pulleys look real good. i was running in some real fast traffic last night. cruisin 85, ran up to 130 a couple times, all smooth. i have washed the fork oil off the front brake pads a couple times, and the brake is working well. i made appointment at HD shop to have the seals replaced. they say they can have it done saturday afternoon. | ||
| Fullpower |
misato it has been leaking for 9 days. i have put on over 2200 miles in that time. we will hope for a warranty status on the forks. | ||
| Ingemar |
I've been running my bike hard since the day I bought it, and after the break in period for longer periods of time too. I've done a little over 4000 miles now. I just went to the garage and checked it out. My belt is as tight as it was when I bought it. There is NO play on the idler that I can feel with my hands, and I need both hands to rotate the idler (rubbing the belt). Anyways, it's good to hear you can have the seals replaced. I figure you'll ask the hd shop you're going to check the belt too saturday? I'd like to hear what they have to say about it if it's not too much trouble. | ||
| Darthane |
Fullpower - if you're creative you can get away with changing seals without buying the Harley tool. Spidey just did his (S2 forks) with a customized bit of PVC pipe. | ||
| Fullpower |
Darthane thanks for the tip. i am going to allow the HD shop to do a warantee thing. if that doesnt work, then i will tackle the chore. that is if i dont shred my belt running up there.... i think i should jack it up and check for swing arm bearing play or something worse. i will report back. thanks for all the tips. dean | ||
| Fullpower |
picked it up, cant find any play in swingarm or wheelbearings. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Can you physically pull the belt away from the tensioner pulley? OR is it just loose enough the tensioner pulley slides against it? | ||
| Johncr250 |
I can turn the pulley on my XB12 too, when the bike is on the kickstand. The belt looks perfect. I don`t think its anything to worry about. | ||
| Fullpower |
with the bike lifted, maximum belt deflection is 1.5 inch on the top run of the belt. it is visually in good condition. if it were a chain it would need to be tightened just a bit. | ||
| Starter |
Belt on my 9 which is the same as the 12 is alot tighter than I ever ran a chain. Can't turn the pulley either. | ||
| Fullpower |
ok this is weird. left the bike in my shop last night ( rode the sportster home) the buell belt is TIGHT now.maximum deflection is only 3/4 inch. the little belt repair gnomes paid me a visit? is it possible that the belt absorbs water, and stretches when wet? yesterday after riding in the rain and handwashing the bike the belt had 1-1/2 inches of deflection, now it is good and warmed up, ridden in the sun a bit and belt is tight- 3/4 inch max. bearings are all good and snug, cant find slop any where. | ||
| Ingemar |
The belt does not absorb water. Did you tell them at the shop about the belt? Or, is it possible they noticed it and did something we're not aware of? You said you had play on the idler wheel, is that gone now? Whatever happened, glad to hear all is oke now. | ||
| Roc |
I have been told that the bag fork seals come in is the perfect tool for installing them. Be liberal with the fork oil, for lube, and slide the seal onto the fork with the bag as a buffer - so the seal does not rip. I have not done this but it comes from a good source. | ||
| Starter |
WTF???????? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I believe the belts can "swell" with age (happens to the best of us), which would have the net effect of making them "seem" tighter. Don't know if it was accurate information, but I recall it came from a reliable source. |
