| Author | Message | ||
     Maxo |
I bought a used '04 Xbs just over a year ago and have had belt issues ever since. It was laid down but the damage was pretty minor, scrapes here and there, broken shifter, dinged header. When I first looked at it I noticed that the belt had some fuzzy threads protruding out on the inner side but thought it was typical belt wear since it had nearly 2k miles on it. After my first longer ride, 4+ hrs, I noticed the next morning that the belt had shredded down to roughly half the width it normally should be. Alarmed at this I took it directly to the dealer and they replaced that belt at no charge. With a new '06 belt I figured my problem was solved but less than 2k miles later that belt broke cruising on the interstate at 75mph and I ended up coasting to the shoulder and being stranded there for a couple hours. I had pretty much all winter to investigate why that happened and read that it could be a bad idler pulley so I replaced that and my rear sprocket. After putting another belt on then pushing the cycle forward several feet it became obvious that there is still going to be a problem with it destroying belts...  Some space on the top much more on the bottom...  The metal actually has a grove in it from the previous 2 belts rubbing there!  Does anyone know what would be causing the belt to want to walk inwards? I don't think it's a bent swing arm, it looks straight and my rear wheel spins nicely when up on a stand but what else could it possibly be? I'd like to keep the belt and not go to a chain, even with a chain who's to say that wouldn't jump off the sprocket and cause some serious damage... Any insights into what the issue is will be greatly appreciated. Jes | ||
| Njsxb9 |
Something is out of alignment. I would take it to get checked out if the bike was laided down. Whats with all the rust? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
North Dakota | ||
| Punkid8888 |
Even know the tire spins without a wobble your whole axle/swing arm might have been cocked or shifted to one side ever so slightly causing your belt to walk. unfortentaly I think the only way to tell is to find out if their is some sort of alignment specs and what the target areas are for points of reference. And even then depending on the tolerances an .005" difference could be bad, or a .500" could be bad depending on the spec. So any measuring would have to be super accurate. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Could be the swing arm pivot bolt. I've seen it before. | ||
| Docktor |
I have an 04 with about 20,000 klms on it, It only just snapped its first belt.I am pumpin serious ponies thru mine and it held up brilliantly for the grief i put it thru, You have issues. | ||
| Spatten1 |
don't run it with the belt too tight, if you burn up the drive gear bearing you will need an engine rebuild. mine was tearing up belts on one side too, but not as badly as yours. I wrecked mine with what appeared to be minor swingarm damage too. runs fine though, no problems. I converted to a chain. | ||
| Sparky |
You said the bike was laid down. Did anything hit the bike or the bike hit anything other than the ground? Any scratches on the swingarm or frame (tank)? Note: if the swingarm is hit hard enough, it can be bent but the axle can still be parallel with the swingarm pivot bolt. Think of the swingarm as a rectangle |=| with the short lines as the swingarm pivot and axle, and the long lines as the arms of the swingarm. Everything is in alignment. Now imagine the swingarm gets whacked and now it more resembles a parallelogram /=/ with the short lines still parallel but the long lines, while still parallel with each other, are no longer square with the short lines. This may be what happened to your swingarm -- it's bent, resulting in the rear pulley being shifted to one side causing a misalignment with the front and idler pulleys. There are things too like rubber engine mounts, links and isolators that need to be checked for damage. Any one of those that gets tweaked can throw off the belt alignment. If it were mine I'd take it to a motorcycle alignment shop and find out what is wrong. (Message edited by sparky on May 08, 2007) | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Looking at how rusty it is....did anyone consider the idler pulley bearings being bad???? | ||
| Maxo |
Yeah the front sprocket is rather rusty, I have no idea why it would be like that but it's been that way ever since I bought it. The idler pulley is brand new since I thought that's what was causing the problem initially. The swing arm has a scuff on the bottom right below the axle but I can't imagine such a small scrape would've bent the arm... The tank did get a small dent, my frame puck easily covers it. I just had the engine rotated down changing out the header since that had a nice ding in it and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with respect to the engine mounts and isolators. The belt is tight but isn't it suppose to be? Even if it is too tight there no way to adjust it that I'm aware of. An alignment specialist sounds like a good idea, I'll have to look for one. | ||
| Sparky |
It all fits: the swingarm was struck on the bottom right, bending it to the left; the belt is riding on the left side of the idler pulley; the belt is riding on the left of the drive pulley, wearing into the engine case. Dude, I'd say the swingarm is tweaked. Don't understimate the forces involved in an accident. Glad you are enlightened WRT alignment specialist. G,M.D Computrac comes to mind. I'm sure there are other alignment shops out there. Let us know what you find. | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
I wouldn't be so sure. I know of at least six members that have issues with the belt shifting on the pulleys. If pushed forward the belt will ride correctly on the front pulley but walk out a bit on the back to the point of slightly overhanging the teeth. If rolled backwards the belt will seat where it should on the rear pulley but walk in towards the engine on the front pulley. Another member just reported the same issues on brand new bikes sitting on the showroom floor at the local dealer. I think one of the biggest downfalls of the Buell design is there is no way to make adjustments to the driveline to be sure the belt runs true. Personally I would rather have a blown belt than deal with the hassles of a chain and the possibilities of a busted crankcase housing if/when the chain decides to let go. I've seen it (no Buells yet) and it ain't pretty. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Could it be motor mount problems? | ||
| Fullpower |
Doktor hall: please tell us more about your serious ponies condition. Thanks. Dean | ||
| Snowscum |
Id replace the idler pulley. Mine made my belt do some weird stuff. After replacement it hasn't worn since. | ||
| Docktor |
Not a lot to tell, it huffs and puffs mate. Doc | ||
| Swampdog225 |
It will only take a few minutes to check the pivot bolt on the swingarm. I had the same thing happen to me last summer and it was the threaded end of the pivot bolt. I had to cut it with a grinder and diamond hand tap it out of the back end of the swingarm with a chisel. Best $39 bucks that I ever spent. As opposed to wasting more money on belts. | ||
| Luvthemtorts |
Swampdog, Can you elaborate on how you knew it was the pivot bolt as well as a step by step of what you did to remedy the problem? Many thanks | ||
| Swampdog225 |
Basically, I had the exact same symptoms as you. Belt, sliding and rubbing the case. I ended up shredding part of a belt and had to order a new one. Once I got it on, I put the bike on the rear stand and rotated the rear tire to ensure that the belt would track properly. Once I noticed that it continued to slide in towards the case I started checking out everything possible. I thought it was the wheel bearings. I actually, was considering buying the wheel bearing puller tool. Once I found out how much it cost, I re-thought that idea. I then went to the obvious places that could pose a problem; The two horizontal bolts that hold the rear end of the bike together, the rear wheel axle and the swingarm pivot shaft. I took out the rear wheel axle and inspected it. Everything look fine. The pivot shaft was the only other place that I could think of. When I went to loosen the pivot shaft, the swingarm gyrated as I turned the pivot shaft/bolt. BINGO!!!! There was my problem. I tried for a couple days to get the thing out. The pivot shaft/bolt was bent up on the threaded end. Because of this I couldn't pull the thing out of the swingarm. There is a spacer inside of the swingarm that it was getting caught on. A buddy of mine let me borrow his grinder and I cut the fat end of the pivot shaft/bolt off and took a chisel and hammer and backed pivot shaft out the left side of the swing arm. Once you un-thread the shaft from the engine block the swing arm will pretty much hang and only be held by the oil lines. It is important that you either have someone hold it for you or find someway of bracing it with a foot stool so you don't damage the oil lines. Once it has enough clearance from the engine, you will be able to hammer it through the swingarm. Hope this helps. It was an ordeal for me that was very unpleasant and ended up spending more money on trying parts than I wanted to. | ||
| Maxo |
Swampdog, thank you very much for that post! Did you need to replace the swingarm bearings and spacer too or just the pivot shaft? I'm feeling as though I'm heading down the same road you did in spending money on parts that I thought could fix the problem and afterward finding out that the problem still exists. I've already bought a new idler wheel, rear pulley, and was looking at a couple of used swingarms and a new front pulley (mines a little rusty!). I'm not even fully convinced that my problem is the result of downing the bike since the belt was showing the tell tale signs (fuzzy fibers from the cords protruding on the inside of the belt) prior to the accident but at that time I didn't know any better. I'm going to do the o'l string alignment test tonight so maybe that'll shed some light on the issue as well. | ||
| Maxo |
Well, found the problem! It is the pivot shaft. Once I loosened up the pinch bolt and started to unscrew the shaft everything quickly shifted to the left - except the swing arm since it was firm on the stand. Ordered a new pivot bolt, spacer, and bearings since all of those could potentially be ruined. I hope to get them soon since I'm just dying to get going again. Anyway, hopefully this helps some other poor guy having similar belt issues. I'm very glad that I didn't have to switch to the chain. Thank you all who contributed! JL | ||
| Hughlysses |
Maxo, Glad you found the problem. That's a good piece of info for all us XB riders in case we ever have an accident. | ||
| Sparky |
Maxo, that is great news. I learned something new from your posting of this problem. I, for one, would be very appreciative if you could post a pic of that bent pivot shaft to see how damaged it is. You did save it didn't you? Thanks, Sparky | ||
| Hogs |
I`m with Sparky here, Could ya post a picture or two and did ya know it was bent as you were getting it loose, or not until ya got it all the way out and looked at it?? | ||
| Maxo |
The issue identified itself before I even completed one revolution of the pivot shaft... I wasn't sure what happened I was so surprised. I made another turn on the bolt just to verify what happened and was amazed at how far they cycle would shift over. Just by eyeballing the swing arm and frame by looking down the length of the belt I would've never guessed there was a problem. Anyway that's where I stopped. Once I have the new parts I'll pull the old one out and put up some pics here. | ||
| Swampdog225 |
Remember you won't be able to pull the old one. The weakest point on the pivot shaft appears to be on the threaded end. I bet you that is where the bend is. At least that's where mine was. You if you can't get it out, just get a grinder and cut the other end off and tap it through the backside of the swing arm with a chisel. Good luck. | ||
| Jandj_davis |
Were both of these incidents because of a crash? | ||
| Swampdog225 |
Yeah | ||
| Maxo |
Finally got around to putting up some pics of the bent pivot bolt.   It ended up being a real pain to get out since the end wouldn't slide through the shaft hole. I had to get it out part way and saw the bolt end off then push the thread end back through the other side. Now that the job is done the belt is tracking perfectly and I won't be worrying about belts shredding any more! Thanks all who contributed. JL | ||
| Rocketsprink |
See? Told Ya!!!  | ||
| Reepicheep |
How on earth did you manage to put that kind of bend in there without just shearing the thing, I would not have thought that was possible without lots of heat... Or was it a defective part machined in from the supplier? Thanks for posting the followup, thats an easy fix for an unusual (but significant) problem. | ||
| Buelleyeddevil |
I have a similar issue.My 05 xb12scg was laid down at slow speed on the belt side.Everything is fine going forwards,but if you roll the bike backwards the belt tries to come off.Any ideas?By the way,the wreck broke off my brake side footpeg and put an ugly dent in my rear wheel.New wheel and tire,same problem. |
