| Author | Message | ||
     Exupmonkey |
Only half a mile from home so I suppose it could have been a lot worse, although its an uphill half mile which makes for a long and painful push. Only 6400 miles on the clock which,as far as I am concerned, is crap performance from the Buell belt. I will try to claim it as a warranty issue with the shop however I hold out no hope whatsoever. I know that the later XB9Rs were fitted with superior belts but that does nothing for those of us that are lumbered with an 03 bike. A weekend beckons without(two)wheels, bummer. Yes, I am pi**ed off but like I said it could have been worse!(Still a great ride though). Time for a cold one...cheers  | ||
| Buelliedan |
Time to get your bike updated to the 04 spec belt and pulleys. I wouldn't even bother trying to get warranty work as your bike is over a year right? Call DaveS!! | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Just back off the phone from the shop, no dice on the warranty as I thought so I will pick up an 04 belt tomorrow. I asked the Tech about the sprockets and he seems to think that all I need is the belt! Do I need to get new pulley as well? Dan... the bike is just over a year old but we have a two year warranty over here in the UK. Unfortunately I need the bike back on the road asap and whilst I would much prefer to deal with Daves it would take too long to deliver. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
belt, pulleys AND belt gaurds. There is however an upgraded '03 belt. | ||
| Exupmonkey |
By the way its £157 over here which is $295US or thereabouts...how does that compare? | ||
| Midknyte |
Depends on which belt you want. There is an upgraded '03 variety belt that is a straight replacement. The '04 belt I beleive has a different pitch and will need different sprockets too. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
The full '04 replacement runs about $600US. You might try and contact Trojan and see what they can set you up with. | ||
| Sweetp411 |
I havn't had the bad luck of having my stock '03 belt break yet, but I've read quite a bit of info on here of unfortunate ones that have had them break. If I may, a great website for the '03 to '04 belt conversion kit is on www.americansportbike.com Not sure of the price, but they've always been pretty reasonable on cost and shipping for me. But if I remember correctly, for that kit, you have to get a new pulley, and a new rear sprocket for the wheel cuz the belts have different teeth sizes. I could be wrong but I remember something like the '03 was 11mm, and the '04 was 14mm and therefore the '04 belt would not fit on an '03 rear wheel sprocket? But I could be wrong, check the website. Not sure why you need a new pulley cuz it's a belt tensioning device and should be adjustable, but the kit does include a new pulley wheel to install. Hope this helps | ||
| Exupmonkey |
I think I will be going for the replacement 03 variety....financially embarrassed you see(just put new tyres on it) | ||
| Jeremyh |
yes the 04 belt is different. one look at it and you guys will know what i mean. the teeth on the 04 belts actually look gigantic compared to the 03. | ||
| Sweetp411 |
yea, the 03 has an 11 mm tooth and the 04 has a 14 mm tooth | ||
| 99buellx1 |
"(just put new tyres on it)" I think we have found the reason your belt broke. | ||
| Exupmonkey |
99 I see what your getting at but no, the belt was not twisted or manhandled in any way shape or form. The numerous posts on this subject will testify that the belt is just crap! | ||
| Sweetp411 |
Roger that buddy, the stock belt on the '03's have been labeled garbage for some time. I just hope mine doesn't break before I get the funds to replace it. High speed belt break can't be a good thing I wouldn't imagine. That belt conversion kit on American Sport Bike is like $399 I believe. A bit expensive but the alternative could be lethal | ||
| Fullpower |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/3842/98206.html?1111778003 Chain that XB up. | ||
| Tpoppa |
"(just put new tyres on it)" I think we have found the reason your belt broke. Exactly. If you (or your shop) just changed the rear tire and then the belt broke, someone did not follow proper procedure. For a rear tire change follow the manual exactly. If you take shortcuts or don't follow the procedure...the belt will break. You can't twist or bend it. If you don't have a manual, buy one, it's cheaper than a new belt. | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Once again...and for the benefit of those hard of reading...no twists...no bends...followed procedures....have the manual. Tpoppa...whilst I appreciate your input, the belt was not manhandled. Surely you must be aware of the fragility of the 03 original belt and the reason for my post was to (yet again) highlight the issue and let you all share my pain  | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Looking at the break, does it appear to have been caused by a stone? Or possibly cut by a damaged pulley tooth? Just to be on th4e safe side, double check your pulleys for any stone damage, and if you live in a pea gravel area youu might want to follow up on Fullpowers suggestion of switching to a chain drive. Oh and we are trying to help even if we accidentally miss a post, or misread a post. (Message edited by wyckedflesh on April 14, 2005) | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Difficult to say, its kind of frayed either side of the break and there is no obvious sign of any trauma. We have smooth tarmac in my area no pea gravel although thats not to say there wont be the odd stone about, but who knows! | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I would venture you had a stone puncture from your description, definately check the pulleys for a nicked tooth slot. | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Wycked..your last point is noted and most deffinately appreciated. I guess I am still 'tender' and Tpoppa's assumption that the belt failure had been caused by either myself or my tech as opposed to the inherent failure of the belts integrity that made me snap a little. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
hence the beer  IE: lets go have one and come back to the problem  | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Nice one...your place or mine? | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
LOL Pop on over, the guinness pub can and Blackthorne are nice chilled | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Blackthorne it is  . As a matter of interest has anyone else on the site suffered an(early) belt failure and if so what mileage are we talking? | ||
| Martin |
Monday last. 5040 miles. Four days out of (two year) warranty. Had the upgraded belt fitted(Why have an upgraded one if the original is sufficient for the purpose?) It was a straight break with no sign of stone damage. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Funny that you ask. I am on my third belt. The first one had a stone poke a small, say 3-4mm, hole in it. Was replaced under warranty, ( rather reluctantly). Second one died at 2500 miles, about 500 miles after I replaced the rear tire. Having done the change out myself, following the manual, I know the belt was not damaged at that point in time. As a licensed architect, familiar with the basic theory of the strength of materials, I do not buy "the belt was twisted and so it broke" story. The early belts just didn't last very long, no matter how they were handled and neither did the Dunlop 207s. They both had a tendency to fail at about the same time: most likely a simple coincidence. Since the belt is required to transmit some 75 horsepower to the real wheel, it is hard to imagine, and I have never heard anyone explain how, putting a few foot pounds of twist on a belt, whilst changing a wheel, could damage it more than several orders of magnitude more tensile load. When I looked at the joint where my second belt had parted, it was very clear to me that the tensile members had gone into plastic yield before the belt split: that is why there were reinforcing threads about 3mm long on both sides of the rupture. That shows that the threads had stretched a lot before failure. It now appears that the third iteration of the belt is a rather stronger. One of our harder riding and more knowledgeable members, the dreaded "Glitch" got 2500 miles each out of his first two belts, and is now much further down the road on his third: the word around Stone Mountain is that he is not known to baby his machine at all. I think Buell should have recalled the 2003 belts and replaced them with the 2004 spec., but I am just an architect, and Milwaukee's leading attorneys obviously took another point of view: easy for them to do I imagine, from the comfort of their limos. I must say that losing a belt under hard acceleration from first to second whilst passing another vehicle, as thrilling as it might be, is not something I am in a great hurry to repeat:-) | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Jon...and I thought I was unlucky at 6400!!! I read your post with interest and agree with your sentiments entirely. My wife has just suggested that I sell the bike because its costing me a small fortune to keep it roadworthy what with the tyre consumption and short service intervals, failing wheel bearings and snapping belts. This has been one of the best bikes I have ever owned(riding wise)and I would hate to see it go but I suppose there comes a time when the head must over rule the heart. Looks like I may well be heading back to the land of the rising sun again...along with Joe Average! | ||
| Fullpower |
my nickle plated xring 530 Tsubaki is lookin pretty good here. | ||
| Exupmonkey |
Glad to hear it mate but for me to do that mod over here really would be outrageously expensive. |
