| Author | Message | ||
     Shred |
Installed 06' belt on my 05'12R and the belt was very tight going on. It needed extra force than normal to install. The belt on with the axle only tightened at 90% where the tapered axle is. It started making abnormal noise (popping) as I tightened it. I took everything back off and re-installed. Same thing happened so I had N12R and PhilXB (other fellow 3%ers) to take a look. We took it back a part and same thing happened. Even with the wheel loose with the axle 95% out and the pulley on the belt won't slip over the rear sprocket without some force. With the pulley off and the belt on the front and then rear sprocket on then putting the pulley on is very hard and I have to use extreme force. We decided to tighten the axle and the belt is so tight the wheel has no free spin. When you free spin it by hand it makes a roaring noise like when a chain is too tight on a bike. The belt is so tight that if you pick it like a guitar sting it make a sound. I know that sounds funny but true. I'm worried that this extreme tension could cause the wheel bearings and pulley bearing to burn up. Any thoughts on this would be helpful. Thanks, Shred P.S I have work on a lot of XB's and changed out all tires on my old XB9R with 30,000 miles and change the original belt at 25,000. I have changed out suspensions and all tune-up work. I thought I'd give some FYI on my ability on working on bikes. I hope this makes since I'm doing this as I have my 6 week old baby in my hands. WOW.. (Message edited by shred on November 27, 2005) | ||
| Buell666 |
maybe you put the baby on the bike and not the belt? that could explain the noises. why dont you bring it over to my house, but the belt and all sprockets on my nine, and see if it works that way. if so, you can have my old style shiot.  | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
You might want to start thinking you got the wrong belt!! Id go back and start checking the numbers again, even try another belt before you burn up some bearings (engine & else where) You sound like you know what your doing, so if the belt is definetly seated in the front pulley then that's all you can do. | ||
| Sparky |
You might check part numbers of the front and rear pulleys and the idler of the 05 vs 06, too. If there's an appreciable difference in design between belts, there is probably a difference in these parts to match. | ||
| Shred |
B666, Go lay down and take a pain pill punk-boy. JK I hope the wrist is healing well. Thanks Cyclonecharlie, I called the dealer (Stone Mountain H-D) One of the best I might add. The parts department and salesman are the best.The Service is much better and still working on it. I can't say enough good things about Clown(Cameron) One of the guys in parts ran the # again and said its right. Part # GO500.1AAE that is the 06' # and said the 05' part # had superseded to the GO500.1AAE which is on the Blue label on the box and on the on the belt. I asked if he had a old style belt still in stock for a 04' or 05' and he didn't and now the new # is superseding the old part number. He said he would order one and that they don't show to keep one in stock. I said I bought one and two weeks ago N12R bought one during the Dyno-drags at SMHD. I hope they will just send this one back as a defect and give me a new one. I'm taking the Ed Bargy Race school on next sat' and would like to have a new belt on. I still have the old belt with 11,500 miles but its a bit loose. The belt at the pulley has a slight bit of play about an 1/8" Sounds good Sparky, but N12R did his bike and its an 04'and he had no problems I have a I hope I don't have to bring the bike and belt and show them but I will if needed. It would be a waste of my time. (Message edited by shred on November 27, 2005) | ||
| Rubberdown |
I upgraded the pullys and put the 06' belt on my 03'. It was really tight; a total pain in the rear to install. Seems to work fine and seems to have lossened up a little. I think there are tight spots and loose spots as I doubt the pullys are truly round. Next time I'll experiment by moving the pullys to different positions to see it there are tight spots. | ||
| Olinxb12r |
When I put the new belt on my 04 12R I didn't have any of that. Mine was a pain to get on because it is thicker, but it wasn't tight like you're talking about. Maybe the dealer will let you try the other one he ordered. | ||
| Metalstorm |
Yep, the thickness makes it a pain. Mine seemed a little tight at first. Not as extreme as in the first post but definitely tighter than the original. I think it is because the tensioner is pushing on it more due to the extra thickness. After about 100 miles, (maybe less but I checked it around 100 miles later) It had loosened up a bit. I figured it just needed to break in & stretch a tiny little bit. | ||
| Shred |
Thanks, Like I say I helped N12R and his was tight but you can't pick the belt like a guitar and make it sounds like a sting. Silverbullet stopped by with his baby girl and the wife and we went to the garage for a look and he agreed. I gave him axle bolt key and socket with the 1/2 breaker bar and he couldn't believe the tension as you tried to tighten to get the axle completely in. We'll see what happens, I'm sure SMHD will give me another belt and send this one back to the factory. | ||
| Lovematt |
I did the American Sport Bike upgrade with the '06 belt and it was quite tight...I had to take my time putting the wheel back on. Talk about making sure there was no slack in the drivetrain! Anyways after about 1000 miles I changed the rear tire and it it had loosed up. Now it is tighter than the original '03 belt was but definitely loosened up from when brand new. I am no longer worried about it...put another 2000 miles since then and it has loosened up a bit but has stayed put for a while. | ||
| Hkwan |
Did you guys actually put the new and old belts side by side to see if the new one is actually shorter? | ||
| Lovematt |
In the case of the straight swap of just a belt, the lengths can be compared to check for differences. In my case with an '03 bike I had to swap both pulleys as well as the belt. Both pulleys are larger and the belt is nearly twice as thick so there is no way to compare. Perhaps in 75,000 miles when this belt is worn out I will check the differences... | ||
| Lovematt |
I forgot to mention that the tensioner is the last thing I put back on (it is taken off when the rear wheel comes off as it makes things a little easier). As a result at first install the axle wasn't hard to put on but the tensioner required some pushing to get it into place... | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
Shred, Look and see just how deep the new belt is going into the sprockets (the new thickness maybe holding the belt to high in the sprocket...Charlie | ||
| Cruisin |
I put the new '06 belt on my '04 XB12R - certainly stiffer to put on, but I was able to put the axle back in without too much difficulty. Did you make sure to loosen the pinch bolt? | ||
| Hkwan |
That's a very good point. I did forget to loosen the pinch bolts once when taking out the wheels. Anyone with a straight swap of belt done a comparison on the length? | ||
| Vaneo1 |
The belt is so tight that if you pick it like a guitar sting it make a sound. I know that sounds funny but true. Look at it this way, not only do you have a Buell (which tons of people are dying to get their hands on) but you also have a $10,000 guitar. Im Jealous!!!!!!!!  | ||
| Vaneo1 |
One more thing, with the way mine is whistling (see my posts) at high speeds, maybe we can start a Buell Band. We'll call ourselves the Buellerinas!  | ||
| Cruisin |
Hkwan - they are the same length. I had my bike apart for other reasons and decided to swap the belt sitting on the shelf just to get it done. They are the same - the stiffness and thickness make it a little more difficult, and once it was back together I could probably pluck a tune on it at first (it was hard to get over the tensioner and rear pulley) - but it wasn't that hard to get the axle back in and everything tightened down. | ||
| Buellman39 |
Go ride the bike for 50 miles or so and then check it. I'm sure it will loosen up for you. | ||
| Shred |
Thats pretty funny Vaneo1.. I've had a rough day and last night I had my 6 wk old son in the ER, he's fine now but I didn't get much sleep. Its nice to know at the end of the day I can always get a good laugh when I get on the Bad Web. Well I'm still not sure about that belt. I'm sure it will loosen some. I just don't want to burn up any wheel bearings or the pulley bearing. I have the Ed Bargy race school on sat' and I'd like to have the new belt on but I still have the old one. SMHD said it would be 5-7 days before they got the belt in. What can you do? I guess the track day should loosen the belt up. LOL.. The pinch bolt was loose. (Message edited by shred on November 28, 2005) | ||
| Jkhawaii |
the belts do seem to be tight when new I know my 04 belt was tight untill a 1,000 miles or so went by | ||
| Mikej |
'scuse the interruption but it's always made me curious that the 'tubers always had to have loose belts, but the newer Sportsters and the XB's with what seem to be essentially the same primary sprocket output have these incredible loads on them. Too tight of a belt on a 'tuber and you've got problems, but too loose of a belt on XL's or XB's and you've got problems. Weird. Oh well, I'll wander back out of here now, carry on. | ||
| Hkwan |
Mikej, does the tuber has the belt tensioner (the pully looking thing)? That might just be the difference there. | ||
| Vaneo1 |
Shred a simple joke isnt going to kill you. Look on the bright side of things you have a newborn son!! Many people are STILL trying to have one or lose it at birth. Concentrate on your newborn, motorcycling isnt going to go anywhere without you.  | ||
| Shred |
I agree Vaneo1, Family first and then everything else. The joke was funny... belt sounds like a guitar sting.  I'm very lucky to have a wonderful wife, a 9 yr old daughter and newborn son. My wife wants us to get two motards for christmas. COOL.. It will have to wait until spring. | ||
| Mikej |
Hk, Nope, no tensioners on the 'tubers. | ||
| Lovematt |
Looking back through this thread I remember the new belt did not seat into the pulleys completely...there was about a 1/8" gap between the teeth and the valleys in the pulleys. I made sure the belt was seated on both ends before putting in the axle (which was a little tight). Then squeezed the belt at the top and bottom to make sure and I felt it the tension drop slightly...to the point where I could just push up on the tensioner to slide it home. However I was pushing up pretty hard to do this....enough to move the whole bike a little. |
