| Author | Message | ||
     Discochris |
On Thursday, I left the Twin Cities to go up to Angle Inlet, MN. For those that don't know, Angle Inlet is the northernmost town in the contiguous U.S. There were 11 of us attempting the IBA Top Down Gold ride, which is to ride from Angle Inlet to Key West, FL in 50 hours or less. When we left the Angle on Friday morning, it was 39 degrees. Believe it or not, it actually got colder, and hit a low of 29 degrees. We also had the fortune of riding through 300 miles of heavy snowfall. No, I'm not kidding. It snowed pretty much steadily from Baudette, MN to Rice Lake, WI. Then it was just cold rain, as if that was better... 460 miles into the trip, I was just about to enter I-94 from US 53 in Eau Claire, WI, when I lost power to the rear wheel. I was in the left lane, and couldn't get over, so I had to pull over on the median side of the road, in the rain, with traffic whizzing by. Not fun. Looked back to see my belt trailing behind the bike. Called for a tow, and got it towed to St. Croix HD-Buell in New Richmond, WI. About a 70 mile tow, but they're only about 40 minutes from my house, so my wife was able to come and get me. I didn't have a spare because of the whole backorder issue (kind of my own fault, but I couldn't get one before the trip), but I'm still pretty annoyed. It would seem that a belt should last longer than 8000 miles. There was no evidence of any kind of stress or deterioration when I left home on Thursday. The only thing I can think of, is that a rock got caught in the belt from the gravel roads in the Angle, or that the extreme temps and snow caused excess stress, but still, those belts were supposed to be made to withstand rocks and submerging. Now my IBA attempt was spoiled, as well as my week and a half of vacation that was to be spent riding. I'm not pleased. This was to be my first IBA ride with the XT, and first big road trip on the XT since I bought it last July, and it wasn't to be. In 60,000 miles of LD riding this was the first time I've ever had to get a tow. I'm really unhappy right now. The only pluses to the incident were that I wasn't hurt, and that I broke down very close to home, instead of in the middle of the night in Georgia, far from home. A number of riders ended up bailing on the IBA attempt because of the weather, but even if I wouldn't have made it in 50 hours, I had still planned to spend the week riding. Not in a real good mood right now. 8000 miles on a belt just isn't acceptable IMO. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Sorry about your troubles. Agreed, the belt should last much longer than 8000 miles, and most of them do. From the posts here, I'd say most of them break for no apparent reason (i.e.- NOT obvious stone damage). Based on that, my guess is there are still quality control issues with manufacturing these belts. Hopefully your bike is still under warranty and you can get the dealer to replace it for free. IIRC, there has been at least one upgrade to the belts since 2008 so hopefully your new belt will be better. I saw a post a day or two ago that new belts are being shipped, so hopefully your dealer can get one overnighted and you can be riding in a couple of days so your vacation won't be blown. | ||
| Terrible1one3 |
crap happens. sorry to hear of your bad luck (Message edited by terrible1one3 on May 08, 2010) | ||
| Discochris |
Yeah, I was able to get the bike in right before they closed on Friday, so at least it didn't have to sit outside in the rain all night. I stopped in today to get the rest of my gear out of the saddlebags. Soonest they can get the belt is Tuesday, since it was too late to order it on Friday, and they wouldn't be able to order it today. I'm going to call Monday morning and see if they think the belt will be in on Tuesday. If so, I'll probably go out and do the back end of the trip. I was planning on hitting the Tail of the Dragon and visiting Graceland on the way home. I can still do that if I get the bike back on Tuesday. Otherwise I'm thinking of renting a bike (thank you unlimited mileage on rentals) and doing some long-distance stuff on the dealer's wear and tear. (I know a guy who did 3000 miles in 2 days on a rental). The bike is under warranty through July. They quoted me for replacement, and I wasn't in any condition at the time (too tired and cold) to think about it, but since the belt actually failed, I think it should be covered. I'll check that on Monday as well. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
The belt should certainly be covered under warranty and if they give you any crap about it call HD customer service, they're great about stuff like that. The only thing is, it's useless to call them until you have spoken to the dealer, they won't get involved in issues prophylactically. | ||
| Stewncissy |
How ironic! My drive belt also broke! I've been waiting 3 weeks on mine to come in. I didn't ask about it being under warranty. It's an 09 with 12,000 miles, would this be a warranty issue? | ||
| Buellerxt |
Sorry about the belt and messed up trip, Discochris. Sorry about yours as well, Stewncissy. It's unreal how soon these Uly's break belts. My bet is on the engineering more than the belt. Should we be loosening these belts a bit? Has anyone done that and had success? | ||
| Tootal |
I'm with you guys, these belts are not working right. My Harley, with 100 ft/lbs of torque and over 800 lbs of girth, has 73,000 miles on the belt. I've never broke a belt on a Harley and have run them over 80,000 miles before I changed it. I've had three to four rock holes in them and they still worked. In industry we are told to never, ever, bend the belt backwards. This damages the internal strands yet Buell's take up pulley does exactly that. Now Buell says that the belts are engineered for that but I don't think it's working. If the take up was on the inside of the belt I bet they would last a lot longer. The Harley uses the rear axle to adjust the tension and doesn't get bent back anywhere, I believe that's the secret. | ||
| Discochris |
After a rather angry phone exchange, I will have a new belt in my hands tomorrow. It's being overnighted at no extra cost to me, after a parts guy at another dealer hung up on me in mid-sentence. I was just about to tell him I'd buy it over the phone, and drive the three hours to get it. I called back to complain, and the parts manager apologized and offered to send it to me, with a discount, and with no shipping charges. I suspect that might be coming out of Mr. Rude Person's paycheck. Either way, I'm going to have both the dealer-ordered belt (they can't guarantee when it will be delivered, so I told them to keep the order, but I would do some searching myself) and a spare. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage some riding later in the week. | ||
| Stewncissy |
Well I just talked to Bumpus today, my belt finally came in. After 3 weeks on back order. I talked to the service dept to see if this might be warranty. They want me to bring it in so they can make a determination on it. Of course I'm out of town and can't get it in till this weekend. So another week till I can get this thing fixed, then sell it. | ||
| Discochris |
Oh, and the dealer where it's currently sitting is going to call it in to see if warranty will cover it. The guy claimed that belts weren't normally covered, but I told him I wanted him to double check. We'll see. | ||
| Hughlysses |
The general consensus here (and what Buell has normally lived up to) is that the belts are covered under the normal 2-year warranty as long as the original belt guards are still in place. Hopefully you guys will get the same results. | ||
| Discochris |
Dealer doesn't have the belt they ordered yet. Supposed to be there tomorrow. But the one I called around and ordered myself showed up today. Anyone see a problem with this? Hindsight I should have started calling around myself on Saturday, or trailered the bike home. Either way, the bike will be done tomorrow. Supposed to be in the 40's and rainy, but I'm leaving for somewhere regardless of the weather. Not having any more of my vacation spoiled. | ||
| Discochris |
Belt still didn't get to the dealer! I brought the other one I bought in today, and they installed it. Also found out that it IS covered by warranty, so when the other belt comes in, I'll pick it up and have a spare. Headed to Kansas City for BBQ tomorrow. | ||
| Swimmonkey |
I was wondering the other day, after I picked up a spare belt from the dealer (it took two months to get it), when a belt breaks, does it just fly out of the back of the bike? I would imagine that if it breaks under acceleration, the motor just jumps up to the rev limiter. Is this the case? | ||
| Froggy |
When the belt breaks, it will basically fall right off and then tumble to the road. You wont feel it hit your leg or anything if thats what you are asking. The bike will drive as if it was in neutral, and odds are you are going to think you are in neutral till you look in your mirror and see it laying in the road like a dead snake. | ||
| Swimmonkey |
Thanks Froggy. I figured the guard would protect the pilot and a passenger. That's good to know. I'm keeping my new belt in my pannier, along with some tools, for when the belt does let go. | ||
| Marks3tbillet |
I started engine rotation tonight on my '07 Uly to fix a rear rocker box leak. Amazingly, once I got the bike up on the lift, I noticed my belt problem when walking around the rear. See attached picture. Looks like a stone wedged in between the sprocket and belt. I have the parts manual, but has there been a part number change since '07? Mark  | ||
| Dennis_c |
I had 2 belts brake in 30,000 miles first one 2 miles from home the second one 100 feet from home can anyone beat that? The first belt was under warranty A.D.Farrows fixed it no problems. | ||
| Discochris |
Found out the reason the belt didn't get to the dealer was... they ordered their belt from the same dealer I did. Oops. The spare I'm getting for free under the warranty (since they installed the one I ordered) is coming from another dealer. Seems like the HD pipeline is still struggling with the backorder situation. Froggy's description is spot on. In my case, I changed lanes and rolled on the throttle, and then, nothing. Like he said, I thought it was a transmission issue. I initially looked down and the belt was still on the wheel sprocket. It wasn't until I got off the bike that I saw it dragging behind. Just happy to be back on the road. | ||
| Bienhoabob |
Chris, Any breakdown on a IronButt ride sucks. Been there, try not to be there again. When you were attempting the pines to palms ride, I was doing a 100cc ride on my ST 1300. (The bike I traded my Uly for) Rain, 97 degrees, the ST ate it up. 7,282 miles in a week. Piece of cake. www.mctourer.com is holding a Up/Down ride in July if you want to retry. Bob | ||
| Buellerxt |
Marks3tbillet, from my experience with Harley belts, I'd say you don't have much to worry about. They can have a hole in the center like that and last 100,000 miles. The 'problem' holes/tears are the ones on the edge of the belt. As for Buell's, I don't know. I would have thought it would be similar but Uly belts seem to pop prematurely all of the time. I still think you are okay. The belts are good but the belt system design on Uly's seems weak. | ||
| Discochris |
Did 600 miles today on the new belt. Bike ran like a dream and I had the best BBQ on earth. It's not key west, but a nice consolation. Congrats on the 100 CC Bob! |
