| Author | Message | ||
     Xb12rdude |
Okay folks, I've seen enough about belts breaking (and even 04 & up) to make me a little nervous. I've been thinking chain conversion, but theres also talk about the constant tension puller from Trojan. I was thinking that unit plus the new 07 belt, might be reliable. I like to ride wheelies and occasional stoppies (which are hard on the belt). So what's everyones thoughts. I like the looks and ease of a belt if I can trust it. Survey.........how did your belt, or friends belt break. A. Rocks or debris? B. Stress from stretching when suspension travels full length stressing belt? C. Wear and tear from high mileage? D. Defective Belt? If "B" & "C" I think constant tension pulley from Trojon will fix. All others it seems a "Chain" might be the only option. I would like everyones honest opinion. Please not a belt vs chain battle, I honestly like both of them...just want the most reliable. Cost is not really a big option, since I won't put a price on flipping/wrecking on my bike. | ||
| Fenderacoustic |
Also look at the percentage of breaks from owners who removed the factory guards from the belt. Buell sure didn't put those there for looks. A belt that is compromised by debris etc. may break at a later time seemingly for no reason; leading people to believe it was simply a faulty belt. | ||
| Black_sunshine |
Xb12rdude.....you need to know if they have taken the guards off. If they have then there would be no way to say that the belt is defective. The guards are there for a reason. Although the bike looks better without the guards IMO. For the record. I have my original '03 belt 15k miles with no guards. I do several wheelies everytime I ride. I have broken an updated '03 belt in the midddle of pulling a wheelie. No guards and wheelies = my fault (more than likely)  | ||
| Black_sunshine |
 ...I type too slow | ||
| Cereal |
'96 S1 14k miles No belt guards (Taken off by original owner) Reason:  It happened on take off from a stop light (not hard). So I'm thinking it was A. Debris over time weakened the belt and the stress of the acceleration snapped it. | ||
| Odinbueller |
If you see a post from someone regarding a belt failure, check their profile pic to see if the debris deflectors are in place. If not, then you can make your own summation of the situation. My experience is lack of debris deflectors causing belt failures. Just what I see coming through our shop. | ||
| Whodom |
A. Rocks or debris? If "B" & "C" I think constant tension pulley from Trojon will fix. The Trojan setup might well help with "A" too. The sprung idler pulley would let the belt ride over a trapped pebble or whatever rather than it punching a hole through the belt. | ||
| Thepup |
I have an 03 XB,I broke my first belt at 17,000,second belt made it 20,00 before I changed it,never broke,12000 of those miles were with a hole right in the center of the belt from a rock. | ||
| Olinxb12r |
I have an 04 12R with 12,500 miles and I'm waiting for my 3rd belt to come in now. I haven't been able to ride for a couple weeks and it will probably be a couple more before I can ride again. My 04 broke with 7,500 miles on the clock, and I believe it was from a small frey that started during a tire change. The 06 belt that my original one was replaced with had absolutley no damage when I took off two inches of teeth a couple weeks ago with 5,000 miles on the belt. The 06 is not the answer that it was claimed to be in my opinion. It looked the part because it is thicker, but 5,000 miles won't do it for me. I do ride stand up wheelies constantly in 1st through 3rd gear, which some will say is explaination of why my belts have broken but I say that is BS! If the final drive can not handle the stress of someone like me flogging the crap out of it riding stand up wheelies and such it should be changed over to something that can by the factory!} | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
I don't remember how long ago I bought the "mod.belt tensioner" from trojan, two maybe three years now,still running the same orignal belt on my 03 Firebolt.After you install it, spin the wheel, look it over , you just know it has to be an improvement.I ride it hard and at 280 lbs. that belt gets a workout........Charlie | ||
| Reducati |
18k original belt, 0412r | ||
| Skyguy |
Three belts on an 03. Two with guards on and one with guards off. All failed in the 5,000 miles range. I am on an 06 now and after reading I am upset that I spent the money. Should have gone chain. Maybe that Trojan pulley will be a good fix | ||
| Gowindward |
2004 XB12R 27,000 miles and NO Broken belts. Original hanging in garage after being replaced at 25,000 miles as scheduled maintenance. The original belt is still in good condition and belt guards are still on the bike. Belt Drives ROCK! | ||
| Jaimec |
Amen! After having chain drive bikes, I never regretted switching to shaft drives. I find the Buell belt a reasonable compromise between a shaft and a belt. As far as I'm concerned, the only function for a chain is to secure my Buell to an immovable object when I'm not riding it. | ||
| Sparky |
S1, 85k original miles, broke trying to wheelie over a speed bump; should've changed it out at 80k. Yeah, it's not an XB belt but one can get lots of miles on Buell belts. | ||
| Pwnzor |
As far as I'm concerned, the only function for a chain is to secure my Buell to an immovable object when I'm not riding it. Couldn't have said it better myself, rode chains forever, constant hassle. Rode shaft drives for a bit, liked it but rathy clunky and overly heavy. The belt is like perfect function and form to me. Quiet, maintenance free, CLEAN. I think my beltguards look spiffy!  To get back on subject a bit, I haven't broken a belt yet, almost 30k miles, only changed it once at 10k. The current belt looks great still so I'm going to see how far I can go with it.  | ||
| Trippivot |
my 97 is on the original belt. I abuse my bike with acceleration every ride! I am at 30 K miles I think the big deal is adjustment tension 1 inch deflection with 10 lbs pressure and chassis loaded | ||
| Nateman |
I got 19k miles out of my original 03 belt before doing the 04 belt conversion. I also removed the guards at that point. Since then, I've gotten 5k miles on the 04 belt, and it seems to be holding up just fine. I ride it pretty hard, but I don't do any wheelies or stoppies. (Message edited by nateman on August 04, 2006) | ||
| Glitch |
I have an '03 XB9S. 1st belt failed at 2000 miles or so. It broke because I mis-treated it while changing tires. 2nd belt failed at about 2000 miles later, not sure why. It was the "old style" '03 belt. 3rd belt didn't break. I stripped about five teeth out of it while on the Dyno-Drag. It was an upgraded '03 belt and lasted 35,000 miles or so. I'm on my 4th belt now, with no problems at all. I'm planning on going to the new belt system, probably this winter sometime. Unless this one lets go. I'll not go to chain drive, I'm spoiled on belts. Oh yeah, I have about 46,000 miles on my bike now. | ||
| Glitch |
Oh and one more thing. I've not exactly been easy on my bike since new. Hard ridding, wheelies, stoppies, you know...the usual hooligan type stuff.  | ||
| Kootenay |
I have over 16,000 km now on the stock belt on my 03 XB9R, with absolutely no problems--belt still "looks" perfectly good (I know, that doesn't necessarily mean anything). I'll probably change it out around 25,000 km (belt service life according to the manual). I've done a few tire changes, and I'm always careful to remove everything that could possibly get in the way when I remove the belt, including the idler assembly--belt slides off easily then, no tugging or twisting at all. I live on a gravel road, so stone damage is a concern; I have all guards in place, and will keep them so. When I replace my current belt, I intend to just get the upgraded 03 belt, for several reasons: the larger sprocket on the 04+ system looks clunkier, the belt guard system on the 04+ system looks less effective, and I'm having good luck with the original system (maybe because I don't pull wheelies, and in fact seldom use full acceleration--my tires are scufffed to the edges, not burned in the middle...). | ||
| Xring |
10600 miles, original belt on 2004 XB9S with chopped upper guard. Occasional wheelies and stoppies, no burnouts. No problems so far. Bill | ||
| Court |
Buell is 12 years old, been through 44 states, belt was replaced last week as a precautionary measure and it WAS lacking a few teeth. | ||
| Aldaytona |
XB9R and XB12R, no broken belts, both out of warranty now, neither even had a single warranty claim. 2000 M2 still has the original belt as well.  Thanks BMC and H-D | ||
| Sokota |
I have a free spirits pulley on the way , me thinks its the cure to broken belts ,its a fail safe might even free up a couple ponies. | ||
| Paulson |
03 XB9S, 10K miles, still on first belt.  | ||
| Debueller |
'06 Uly First belt broke at 7700mi. Replaced under warranty. Second belt injested BB size stone at 12K miles. Didn't break...I replaced at my own expense and now have spare. Note: all factory guards are intact. Third belt, bike has 23K miles, belt is contaminated with fork oil due to blown right fork seal. Dealer will not replace belt. Undecided weather I should buy another out of own pocket to replace oily one. It's not very oily, but I am a little paranoid about being stranded. Factory recommends NO OIL on belt. Also, my brand new Lyndall front brake pads are saturated with oil as well.  I'm done crying now. | ||
| Xb12rdude |
That sucks. Do you offroad the Uly quit a bit??? | ||
| Dwolfe |
03 xb9s The first belt went at about 8K. I ride it pretty hard but I thought it would have lasted longer. I have the latest spec belt now but I only have about 2K on it. I bought the bike 2 years ago new so that is why the mileage is low. | ||
| Darthane |
You should also find out if the belt had ever been removed for any reason. The older ('03 and '04) belts were rather susceptible to internal breakage if twisted or bent at too extreme of an angle during removal/installation. I put 15K on an original '03 belt with no issues - it looks as though it could go another 15K without a problem, and have about 4K on an upgrade '03 belt. All of my belt guards are in place and I'm the only person who's ever removed the belt.  |
