| Author | Message | ||
     Rayycc1 |
I have a 2000 mile trip to the Adirondack mountains coming up ....and in an effort to make the bike as reliable as possible...I have decided to go for broke....literally. Today i will be ordering the 2010 rear wheel...a new belt...new rotor and pulley bolts and a free spirits belt tensioner. All together about a grand total....but as long as it keeps me from worrying the entire trip and keeps me moving instead of wrenching...i guess its worth it. Sigh. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Can't take it with you. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Can't take it with you. Unless it's like the comedian I heard said: what if after you die you walk up to the Pearly Gates, and St. Peter looks at you with a puzzled expression and says "Hey, where's your stuff?"  Seriously, that's money well-spent on a trip like that. If you lose a rear bearing in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, you could be seriously injured and/or easily blow that much money getting the bike to a shop and getting it fixed, not to mention totally screwing up your trip. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Hugh, I know you've spent plenty with the crankshaft thing. I've bought two 2010 wheels (for 2006 and 2007 ULYs) and have an extra belt in a box. Haven't gone the free spirits route but can certainly understand why others have. Nothing worse than worry on a long trip about rear wheel bearings so Rayycc1 shouldn't fret over money well spent. His vacation should be about having a grand time and his grand spent will help make that happen. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
I'm honestly just glad in able to put That money into making the bike right.everything else on the bike is awesome...I plan I putting a pile of miles on this bike.the bike only has ten thousand miles on it now...and I paid less than half of what it cost new...so in my mind...a grand to make it better than new is money well spent. That...and peace of mind on vacation is priceless | ||
| Court |
Why the belt tensioner? | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
I'll bet that belt tensioner makes putting on a new belt a whole lot easier. Whether it keeps our "lifetime" belts from failing is a debate we've all seen many times on this forum. I'd love to see some one finagle a load cell into the stock idler pulley and put this debate to rest once and for all. I would think Trojan would do this to back up their claims. | ||
| Teeps |
Court Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - Why the belt tensioner? Placebo? (not the band) | ||
| Rayycc1 |
Cause I like how it looks...that's why  | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'll keep my $8 step drill. 100% effective and reusable on 2 XB's so far.  | ||
| Rayycc1 |
I Already drilled out my stock tensioner...ut are we really sure that trick works? I figure I'm doing everything else that i can to try to save belt/bearings...so i'd might as well go the full 9 yards????? Even if it does nothing....it still a cool looking device... I also figure I'll be the test rat...and change the wheel...belt ...bearings and tensioner all at the same time....and we'll see how long everything lasts. I don't really do any leisurely riding...most of the time when I'm riding ...I'm riding hard...so while it may not help...it certainly won't hurt. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I'd say it had absolutely no effect on my XB9 (except it made the belt easier to remove). I had like 30k miles and the original belt on it when I sold it still running perfectly. Sniff. On my Uly, I could feel the suspension bind on deep bumps until I drilled it out. After that, the suspension no longer bound up. No belt breakage on the Uly either, but it definitely did something to help the belt and bearings there. 9sx was still on original bearings at 30k, Uly is (AFAIK, bought it used at 10k) on the original bearings also, no problems. For what that's worth... | ||
| Sagehawk |
Ditto that reepicheep! Im still amazed at even the difference to move bike around garage, driveway without original tension. Easy to push. Some that were out of gas didnt report back as to ease or not of pushing , even uphill. har, har. I can barely spin idler wheel with my setup. Second best mod to uellymae. | ||
| Callawegian |
I am missing something in this discussion, what are you guys doing with a step-drill to the belt tensioner? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Enlarging one or both of the mounting holes, allowing the tensioner to hang in a looser position. | ||
| Sagehawk |
I didnt step drill with mine but i shared in a thread some time back how i changed my tensioner. Enlarged both holes, then slightly slotted rear hole to allow for a bit more movement or to reduce and add tension back to belt. Being of the machinist variety, i used a bridgeport milling machine as i wanted to do job accurately. I overthink things sometime but i get the result that im looking for. | ||
| Motorbike |
When I put the new belt on my 08 XT last year, I immediately crudely checked the tension by trying to turn the idler wheel with my fingers. I could easily turn the idler wheel with 2 fingers and could never do that with my original stock belt, even right before I replaced it. That tells me there are very slight differences in the length of all these belts. I used to always feel an extra vibration when riding through dips in the road with the original belt. I no longer feel that with the new belt. Also, I have no idea why a lot of people say the new belt is hard to install. I put the new belt on my bike and never had to even loosen the tensioner bolts at all. The trick is to unscrew the rear axle far enough to allow the sprocket side of the wheel to move forward, thus reducing tension on the belt. Nothing to it. Thanks. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Very interesting thought Mike... that a tolerance error stack up may be due to belts as much as bikes. Makes perfect sense now that I think about it. It seems like that would be the hardest part to make with any real precision. | ||
| Turbo6bar |
That brings up an obvious question, though: If belts were not uniform in length, then why not make the tensioner adjustable? V-belts on automobiles had adjustable tensioners, and tension was different for a new versus used belt. What's the tensioner like on the F800 BMW? Jurgen | ||
| Buewulf |
"What's the tensioner like on the F800 BMW?" It uses a adjustable tensioner. | ||
| Uly_man |
No bike is going to be 100% reliable for many reasons. The trick is to know your bike and what may become a problem. I would not go on a trip without a spare belt but I would also NEVER go on a trip on ANY bike without, works any place, cash money and breakdown cover. Have a good trip. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If everyone held the spec, it doesn't need a tensioner. And not having an adjustable tensioner (if you don't need one) is better, one less thing to break, one less thing to wear, one less thing to build, less weight, less complexity. The Free Spirits unit is a good example. Lots of fussy shims to put in, and I seem to recall they keep changing their story about spring lifespan and how often you need to lube it and check the spring. It was a good goal, and once I give it an extra mm by making the mounting holes bigger, it has worked really well for me. I love not putzing with axle adjusters. (Message edited by reepicheep on May 29, 2014) | ||
| Hootowl |
Why not a radial spring in the tensioner like every serpentine and timing belt have? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I've had to replace those on every car I have owned that had one. (though that was admittedly at 60k miles or more) (though they carry a LOT less load) | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Several weeks ago I noticed that my belt squeaked/creaked when I was moving the bike around in my garage. Close inspection revealed that I had a layer of fine dirt compacted into the pulley grooves and on the belt and that the belt seemed exceptionally tight. I removed the belt and spent a half hour of quality time scrubbing the belt and both pulleys with an old tooth brush. Upon reinstallation, normal tension and no more creaking. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
^^^^ I'm sure this is good preventive maintenance.....also allows you to inspect it good. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
OK...I got everything EXCEPT the adjuster....You guys made me feel like i was throwing my loot away...so i skipped it. Question....are these belts directional ? or can they go either way? | ||
| 7873jake |
There's a joke in there somewhere but I'm too tired to pun the hekk out of that one. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I doubt it makes any difference on the belt direction, but I do vaguely recall someone saying to turn it so the part number is right side up when viewed from the right side of the bike. If nothing else, that'll let you read it easily. My son-in-law had an interesting belt failure on his 2004 XB12R yesterday: he started losing teeth at speed on the interstate. He pulled out to pass an 18-wheeler at speed and the bike started jerking so he pulled over to check it out. He called me from 20 miles away on the side of the interstate; I told him I'd head out but to try to limp it to the next exit. When I got there he was missing ALL the teeth on about a 14" section! We believe it's the original belt so no complaints there. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
Huglysses...i saw a guy strip a belt of all of the teeth...It was an old FXRS at Daytona...guy went to pull out into traffic and the belt spit teeth everywhere...It was actually a little funny. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
another question??? Is the torque the same for the 2010 wheel and axle as it is for the 2006? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Yes, torque is the same for the 2010 axle. | ||
| Rayycc1 |
Thanks for the quick reply !!!! |
