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Prowler
| Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 01:57 pm: |
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Free Spirits belt tensioner takes a HUGE amount of static load off the drive belt.....and makes changing the belt much easier, but you still need to back out the rear axle 15 turns (or so) to remove the rear belt if you want this process to be easily done on the side of the road with the bike on the sidestand. |
Froggy
| Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 02:10 pm: |
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Brand new belt, it was tight and took a while but I was able to slide it on. I did loosen the idle pulley somewhere along the line but I never totally removed it. |
Uly_dude
| Posted on Friday, July 29, 2011 - 10:06 am: |
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Eulysses, I don't do a lot of 2 up riding, but when I have, I don't hear any noises at all. Can't remember how things sounded before the free spirits. I put my spring loaded pully on at the same time I added the 2010 wheel and a new belt. I to suspected the tight belt may have something to do with two the the bike's weaknesses; broken belts and broken rear bearings. No one knows for sure, but why chance it? The thing is $100 bucks. I dread the thought of breaking down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I understand Buell's idea of a fixed pully. Like a serpentine belt, or timing belt on your car, these things should need no adjustments. However those things do not have a moving swing arm to deal with. Yes, I know that pivot point should account for the movement in a perfect world, but I'm not convinced that point is spot on and the belt very well could be getting stretched and side loading the bearing. I do believe the bearing issue is more of a water issue, but that coupled with the super tight belt makes for more risk than I'm comfortable with. Plus you can buy the free spirits in lots of perdy colors. Maverick disengaging. |
Eulysses
| Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2011 - 01:49 am: |
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Allright Maverick. I agree on the lineup of the pivot point of rear swing arm not matching the small pulley pivot point. Just tonight bride and I "ronked" over the dips on a ride...and I can feel the stress through the frame. A spring loaded belt tensioner seems a reasonable patch...if it is built well enough. I wonder if anyone has had their Free Spirit tensioner disintegrate? Euly out. |
Froggy
| Posted on Saturday, July 30, 2011 - 11:43 am: |
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quote: I wonder if anyone has had their Free Spirit tensioner disintegrate?
There have been several reports of it. |
Mnviking
| Posted on Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 07:40 pm: |
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Changed my broke-in belt for a new today. First time I've tried jacking her up on the exhaust. Not a very good design. Should of been built with a flat bottom on it. Ended up taping the rider foot peg bracket up and out of the way. It was always in my way until I did that. All done. Took me about 2 hours working at very slow pace. Too damn hot in Vegas to work real fast. Not that hard considering I'd never done it before. Kept that broke-in belt for a spare when touring. Gave her a bath afterwards. According to the shop manual it takes about 1000 miles for a new belt to break-in/soften up. Does that seem right? |
Etennuly
| Posted on Sunday, July 31, 2011 - 09:08 pm: |
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Yeah, once in a while when you take off you may hear it make a little squall like a tire spinning. I think it is from the belt rubbing on the side guides of the pulley. It did that for a couple thousand miles, it doesn't seem to anymore. |
Zac4mac
| Posted on Monday, August 01, 2011 - 11:41 am: |
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Mnviking - check out this thread for making an insert for lifting XBs. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/448564.html?1238894950 Zack BTW, I made a pair that I use for the Uly and they work GREAT. |
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