| Author | Message | ||
     Gmaan03 |
Well my Buell broke its drive belt! Lucky for me I just pulled into a gas station around a mile from my house when it broke. Push it home in 80 deg weather in leathers!!!!!!! I picked up this bike in December did tons of work to it to get it back on the road. Problem is, I have been pulling wheelies all over the place, not good I guess. It is hard not to do it, this bike is so much fun. So how hard is it to change? I looked in the manual, says to remove swing arm. I need recommendations on a good stand cheap stand. | ||
| Onespeedpaul |
two words: chain conversion! of course in many opinions hat would negate one of the cool and unique things about the buell.. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I think you need to remove the swingarm so you can get the belt under the frame. It's not tough. Remove hugger/belt guard, remove front belt guard / sprocket cover, remove swingarm bolt, move swingarm out of the way enough to slide belt through, assembly is the reverse of disassembly. Cut the wheelies. Set the belt "scary-loose", tension-wise. Too tight = shorter belt life. Did I mention, cut the wheelies?  Yes, Buells have torque...but the handing is even more fun. Keep 'em both on the ground and go hit some twisties  | ||
| Gmaan03 |
Yeah I know, I will chill, just enjoying it all. But what about a stand? | ||
| Gmaan03 |
Oh and a chain conversion, NOT! I have delt with chains for years and years. Great on performance, but I hate the mess! | ||
| Jramsey |
X1's have right side frame plate, swing arm removal not required. Belt replacement takes about 45 minutes. | ||
| Hootowl |
FYI, the pan head bolts that hold the frame section on will most likely be stuck fairly well to the powder coating. Shoot some lube in there and give it an hour before you try to remove them. I snapped a hex socket first time I tried to take them out. | ||
| Kyrocket |
+1 yeah, what Jramsey said. | ||
| Kalali |
If the manual says remove the swing arm then you're looking at the wrong manual. +2 on what JR and Hoot said. | ||
| Oldog |
you need a jack stand ( or small bottle jack ) remove guards, remove side plate, remove 1 rear iso refit belt re assmbl you can do it on the side stand if your careful | ||
| Kalali |
I suspended the frame from garage door rafters to take the load off the rear ISOs. Otherwise you run the risk of dropping the frame when you remove the side plate/ISO. The bottle jack "trick" probably works but you need to be real careful where you put it. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
You don't need to jack it up or remove the isolator. Loosen the rear axle so that the nut is still barely on the axle. Unseat the axle adjuster thingy and allow it to hang on the axle. This allows you to push the rear wheel forward. Remove the "secret panel" in the frame and hold it aside so that the brake stuff can be left intact. Remove the front sprocket cover and remove the right side of the hugger rear fender. You can do this in a parking lot. My record is about 40 minutes. Remember that the frame will be unsupported when the "secret panel" is out so don't lean on the bike or allow morons to sit on it! When reassembling it, you'll have to lift the tail a bit to get the rear isolator and "secret panel" to lock together like LEGOS. My first belt took me 3:30 hours. LOTS of trial and error. | ||
| Gmaan03 |
I am happy now! I'll pick up a new belt and see about doing it this weekend. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Secret panel. This is what I miss for having *early* tubers, LOL | ||
| Gmaan03 |
Yes the "secret panel" | ||
| Gmaan03 |
Well guys I got my belt and YES it took me around an hour. It would have been quicker but the screws would not budge. I had to drill out the heads of the bolts. It is easier than my kawasaki!!! I put some standard flat head socket cap screws in, they are the grade 8 type, torqued per manual specification and DONE!!!! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Wheee! Which screws? the ones in the frame? The ones I had the most issues with were the ones that hold the rear hugger in place. All corroded from roadsalt. | ||
| Kalali |
"It would have been quicker but the screws would not budge." The best tip I learned was to put a little anti-seize under the lip/head of the screw before you tighten it down. If every one followed this rule for every screw/bolt there would be no stuck screws, ever. | ||
| Hootowl |
Those things have an affinity for the powder coat. I had to drill mine out too, after I snapped the tool. Just have to drill far enough to pop the heads off, then they fall out the back. | ||
| Rodent |
Glad to hear you didn't do a chain conversion. I got talked into that about 5000 miles ago and now, after the roller on the TOP of the chain broke I'm switching back. That's right, there's a roller underneath the top half of the chain holding it up off the front of the swingarm. This dinky little roller has to turn about a million rpm's AND keep the chain from flattening out on top. All your power is pulling against this thing. I thought it was the weak link when I opened up the kit and started putting it on, turns out I was right. By the way, my bike is turbocharged, and its got hundreds of trips down the 1/4 mile. Before the turbo, thousands of wheelies. (The power comes on differently with the turbo, and wheelies are........unpredictable ) Anyway, what im saying is that belts can take a tremendous load, but their weak point seems to be on deceleration. I broke mine downshifting with a fistfull of front brake. The rear wheel was bouncing off the pavement. On one of those bounces it broke. From what I hear, its because of slight swingarm flex. Try to rip a piece of paper all at once with even pressure the length of the paper, its just about impossible. But start at one edge, and you can rip a phonebook in half. When the rear tire lifted into the air it stopped turning because I was on the back brake (lightly) when it came back down, it was like airplane landing gear and immediately started turning again. This instant change in velocity, hampered also by the clutch out and heavy flywheels not wanting to get moving again, flexed the swingarm enough to rip the belt like a piece of paper. Ok so I guess the rear didn't completely stop, because the engine was running, but a lot of up-slow down-fast up-slow down-fast flex flex flex and there it goes. You said you broke yours pulling into a gas station. Also sounds like deceleration. | ||
| Gmaan03 |
No chain conversion for me. I have lived with chains all my life. I like them, but the mess and maintanance is just a dirty filthy job. I could get 30k out of a chain, but it meant constant oiling and cleaning. Belts are so much easier. This is my first Buell, I am still learning, thanks for the advice...... |
