| Author | Message | ||
     Dillyo_xb9s |
http://www.myspace.com/jdillyo Oh my God Guys! I'm going to lose my mind if I have to deal with another broken belt! I have an 03 xb9s with race kit / 10,500mi. I have had the bike since 4,300mi and have since broken the original belt at 7,000mi and put another OEM replacement back on and broken that one yesterday, 3500mi later. After I replaced the belt the first time, I found out about the Goodyear belt. Harley never said a word about it and gave me the same $hitty OEM as before. Let's just say I was pissed to see that just after my "90 day parts warranty", I saw two small surface horizontal cracks on the outside of my belt. I brought it to Harley and had the service "Tech" loo}}k at it. He told me not to be worried, that the belts strength is in the Kevlar strands below th surface cracks. I was some what relieved until the damn thing broke 1,500mi later! I called them back saying it had left me on the side of the road for the second time because of the belt, and that I wanted the Goodyear belt, not the same smooth, plasticky OEM one I have broken twice already. He said that he didn't have a belt in stock and didn't know after asking every Buell savy tech in the dealership that there was a Goodyear for my year, and that I would have to buy the belt before he could have it shipped so I can find out if it was not the same one I had on there before. If you are still reading, I feel like Harley has been through this enough to upgrade these belts so these problems occur less, but won't help us pre-Goodyear factory XB owners to replace with the current stron}}ger ones. What is th missing link here, and what should I do???? Please reply to this thread and contact me via e-mail if you can. dillyo_xb9s@yahoo.com}} | ||
| 99buellx1 |
The Goodyear will not fit without chaging the pulleys also. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
Not sure what the problem is here. The first edition of the 'O3 belt was clearly inadequate, and even though it was never recalled, as I believe it should have been, it was followed up by two improved versions. At first, the third iteration of the belt seemed to solve the problem of premature breakage. Recently, it appears that the breakage rate has either risen, or the belt never really was an improvement. In any case, there are two solutions. 1. Is to convert to the '06 belt. This requires changing the front and rear pulleys, belt guards, and a few other parts. Daves at Appleton HD or Al at American Sport bike, both sponsors, can supply parts. This belt is claimed to be unbreakable, and only a few failures have been reported. 2. Several of the brothers, including the Buell Racing Teams, virtual all privateer racers, Saintly, Diablobrian, Fullpower, Slaughter,Trojan and your humble scribe, among others, have converted to chain. This has the advantage of allowing for gear changes, ( most riders will enjoy dropping down a tooth or too for better acceleration), and chain almost never breaks. The disadvantage of chain is it requires maintenance, is a bit dirtier, is said to have more unsprung weight that the belt, but I wouldn't swear to that if one takes the weight of the drive pulley on the wheel into account. Chain conversions are available from Saintly, ( I think), Ronlv, and Sponsors American Sport Bike, and Trojan, among others. Or you can just roll your own. In addition, Hal's sells a long wheelbase competition chain conversion swing arm, which has the advantage of making the bike more stable, offers conventional chain adjustments, and has the disadvantage of costing about $2500. OK? | ||
| Xb9ser |
I bought A chain conversion from saintly and love it. not much more than 1 belt. it gives me peice of mine. I had bought a 03 up graded belt and it lasted 1000 miles anouther badwebber had bought a belt from same dealer same week and his lasted 600 miles. GO CHAIN  my oringal 03 belt had about 10000 when I changed I put it back on and ran about 5000 more miles before I went to chain when i had extra money | ||
| Deltablue |
convert to the '06 belt. This requires changing the front and rear pulleys, belt guards, and a few other parts. Actually you would want to upgrade to the '04' upgrade it is less work, the '06' "unbreakable" belt would require that you change the swingarm, these models have a longer wheel base. I have heard that the '04' with the modified belt tensioner from Trojan lasts extremely well. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Not true. The '06 belt will fit on any '04 or newer XB. You do not need a different swingarm. Only the Lightning Long XB12Ss and the Ulysses XB12X have a longer wheelbase, the other models in the line are still 52" | ||
| Deltablue |
}The '06 belt will fit on any '04 or newer XB. I have an 03 xb9s with race kit Enough Said!!  | ||
| Bads1 |
Enough said???????????? Ummmm I have a 03 sitting in my garage that I just put on the 06 belt..... it does fit. | ||
| Hammer71 |
While you two argue over fitment issues...(06 belt will fit 03 model with pulley change,no swingarm change required.) Just go with a chain drive. Not as expensive as everyone thinks PM me and I can get you in the right direction for a few bucks more than the belt itself.  | ||
| Bads1 |
Nothing against chain at all... great drive system but frankly I haven't had the need to switch to it because I haven't had issues with any of my Buells drive belts. | ||
| Hogs |
Hey HAmmer71, Are yoiu able to gear more for the highway than stock lowering the revs. down an extra 500-600 rpms at 60 mph, so when cruising the tach will read like 2400 instead of the 3000?? | ||
| Hammer71 |
Sure can.. I currently have it setup for more drive out of the corners which raised my rpms a little bit and decreased my top speed by about 6 mph. If I went the speed direction I would have dropped the rpm range but lost a bit in torque and the desired drive out of corners. All what you prefer on that aspect. S1.. I never broke mine either and have had no problems even with the abuse I put it through. I changed to chain for the above mentioned drive, I like being able to change sprockets for the type of riding or track. Besides, tire changes are a 15 minute job now. | ||
| Jaimec |
If I wanted a chain drive, I would've just bought the Ducati Monster (or waited for KTM to get their act together and bring the Superduke to the states). I bought the Lightning Long specifically BECAUSE it has a belt drive. Chains are for securing bikes against theft. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Dillyo, Has your bike been down AT ALL? There are several posts on here for folks that have had slight misalignments after a laydown causing premature and excessive belt wear. | ||
| Hammer71 |
Some here would disagree, I for one dont care either way, but to get the drive I need a chain is necessary glad to hear you bought the long for the belt drive many bought theirs for the looks handling and so on. Enjoy the ride and pray the belt doesnt break while your a few hundred miles from home (Saintly)lol. and anyone can steal a bike with or without a chain securing it. I see this question is starting to fuel the same old B.S. so it's my last post on the subject Dillyo... Hope you have an answer now. | ||
| Dillyo_xb9s |
Thanks for all the input so far! I am impressed on how much the difference of Buell owners helping out others compared to when I had my Yamaha FZR. Come on, a little over 24 hours later there are over 15 posts to answer my question. I love it! Thanks guys! Hammer, I would love to see how much a chain conversion is still, but I might have to look convert to the 04 belt conversion due to the horror stories I've heard from chain breakage. Did I mention I love doing wheelies! Hammer, If the price is right, I might have to go with the chain conversion for peace of mind. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
What? Dosnt look like you know what you're talking about to me. Have fun buying a new swingarm to change your belt.  | ||
| Diablobrian |
I have been thrilled with my Halspa.com chain conversion (it came on the bike). It is very nice, and has even allowed us to use my wheels as spares for the race bike on race weekends since it also has the same conversion. The ability to gear up for road trips and gear down for playing hooligan is one of the reasons I hunted down and bought the bike that I did. It makes the bike more versatile. There are several of us here on badweb (the chain gang) that have converted. Many have done it just for peace of mind after being stranded by a broken belt that looked fine on pre-ride inspection. | ||
| Blake |
Craig, Why wouldn't an '06 belt fit an '04 or '05 XB or an '03 XB with pulleys (including tensioner pulley) and belt guard upgrade? One does need to be careful to get the correct tooth count belt as the Uly and Lightning Long versions are longer belts. Other than that I don't know of any issues. Please advise.  | ||
| Diablobrian |
99 Blake is right, by changing the pulleys and tensioner the 04+ belts, except for ULY and SS belts, will fit just fine with no other parts needed. The kit costs $398 from Al at American Sport Bike, part number 17082. | ||
| Bads1 |
Less the belt guards. They ain't cheap. That also means the front pully guard. | ||
| Dillyo_xb9s |
This looks like the chain conversion is going to be the way to go. The 04 Conversion is going to be over $400 and that doesn't guarantee that I won't break a belt again which is another $150 plus to replace...again. Even if I ride and break a chain, it'll only cost around $40 to fix if it doesn't crack my case. I'll also have easier tire changes, and have more versatile gearing changes because I do like to mess around with tricks. I'm just wondering about the adjustability of the tensioner. Doesn't look like there is an iron clad tried and true way to produce a good tension adjustment. Let me know if you Chain Gang guys can help me with the details as of the adjustment and what websites to go to for the conversion. Thank you Thank you Thank you, You all have been a great help and i won't forget it! -Jered (Dillyo_Xb9s) | ||
| 99buellx1 |
You guys have the wrong person, that is the point I was making. (my last quote didnt come out too clear though, let me try to clear this up) Here, I will quote from my earlier post:
Deltablue was saying that you would need to change the swingarm. | ||
| Deltablue |
There was a change from the original '03' model to the '04' the '06' belt will will fit any '04' or newer without modification, the '03' is a little different. The new '06' belt is a little wider and the '03' swingarm doesn't have the clearance. Improved for 2004 The following refinements have been made to the 2004 Firebolt XB9R: Mirrors are mounted on longer, more robust stalks for enhanced visibility Redesigned brackets lower passenger footpegs two inches New drive belt system increases belt pitch from 11mm to 14mm for enhanced durability A new upper and lower belt guard make it easier to remove the rear wheel A redesigned shift pedal has a longer metal toe shaft under rubber cover for a more positive feel (Message edited by deltablue on October 04, 2006) | ||
| Diablobrian |
A lot of people on here have done the new style belt conversion on 03 models. It does not cause any clearance problems. Except with the old belt guards which need to be changed to the newer style. The belt pitch refers to the distance between teeth, not the width of the belt. The width is if not the same, very close. There was no redesign of the swingarm between 03 & 04. There has also been talk of a different rear brake master cylinder on the newer bikes, but it has never come up as an issue according to Al at American Sport Bike, and he would be in a position to know. | ||
| Deltablue |
Good News for me then.....I'll just upgrade to the '06' belt next time. I was assured by several techs that I had to do some major upgrades in order to accomplish it. Good to know the people who service these bike don't know what they are talking about.  | ||
| Glitch |
New drive belt system increases belt pitch from 11mm to 14mm for enhanced durability. | ||
| Bads1 |
Delta you will need the 04 or newer rear pulley + the rear guards. You will need the front 04 or newer pulley + its guard. You'll need the 04 or newer belt tensioner.The 06 belt,and two screws for your rear belt guards that you will not have left over from your old setup. One more thing 5 new rear pulley bolts....don't reuse the old ones.It'll be a $600.00 deal if you do it yourself....got a manual??? | ||
| Daves |
Just don't let me order the pulley bolts, right Bads1?  Deltablue, You will need the stuff Bads1 is talking about. | ||
| Bads1 |
Yeah you may wind up with Daves complete inventory of pulley bolts. LOL | ||
| Skyguy |
This thread just reinforces what I and some others have been saying for a while now. It is pretty darn short sighted of Buell to not be giving customers replacment belts. Even had they done it at a reduced price They would have gotten a bunch of goodwill pretty darn cheap. Instead they just keep whacking us. Sorry but I can no longer support Eriks' efforts to make Buell a big seller. If he ever leaves HD I will give it another shot. I have been selling high end items for years and if I treated my customers they way many of us have been treated I would have no business at all. The paraglider manufactures that took months or even weeks to get replacement lines to customers are no longer in business. Neither are the ones who had fabric wear prematurely and did not take exceptional care of their customers getting it replaced. HD/BMC has gone the way of the modern corporate ethos. There are so many people in the world now that it seems ok to screw over a small percentage of their customers. | ||
| Bads1 |
Your thoughts !!!! Sounds like ya got it all figured out I guess. | ||
| Skyguy |
Bads1, Everyone thoughts and opinions are the result of their experiences. My experiences regarding BMC have obviously been different from yours. This make neither you or I right, just opinionated.  | ||
| Kdan |
And you know what they say about opinions! | ||
| Ronlv |
chain (problem solved) i have never broke a chain yet on any of my bikes, street or dirt (been riding for 30 years) later, ron | ||
| Pmpski_1 |
I'm getting an 03 this weekend (fingers crossed). The belt has already broken once and been replaced. Should I just plan on doing the entire 06 upgrade right away? | ||
| Bads1 |
I did on my wifes nine for a piece of mind. | ||
| Docktor |
Hammer71, You still snoopin round, I am listenin to ya... Talk to me about a chain setup. Havent seen em over here yet really.They do exist but like always I like to listen to people who know a bit. Doc |
