| Author | Message | ||
     Motorfish |
I know this has been discussed many times, but after searching, I can't find the exact amount to enlarge the back hole of the idler pulley bracket. I know some have just drilled it out a little larger and some have slotted it. I have a drill press, or I could have a friend of mine slot it on his Bridgeport. I have the 2010 rear wheel, but I'm thinking about the effect of the tension on the front pulley/5th gear bearing. Is this worth doing? | ||
| Ourdee |
I believe. | ||
| Griffmeister |
I may be going against conventional thought here, but I would say don’t do it unless you really can’t get a new belt on. The belt will stretch with use. I still have the original belt on my 08, haven’t touched the pulley holes, and at just over 30k miles the belt is so loose I can lift it off the pulley with my little finger. Besides, very few people here have had output bearing failures. Most complain about broken belts and blame that on tension, although there are a lot of other variables that could be considered. If you want to go ahead with it, it’s not hard to play with. Drill one hole one size up and snug it back up in place. See how stiff the pulley feels and go from there. It shouldn’t take much to make a difference. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I did it on my '06 at about 20k miles. No ill effects thus far. Just don't go so far as you lose belt-tooth-grip and I don't see it could cause a problem on anything. I want to say I went up 2 drill bit sizes from what was there...if that helps any. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Backstory - I've broken 2 belts. They didn't "break"...*i* broke them with hard 1-2 shifts each time. I believe the main cause for Uly's breaking belts more than any other XB - including the sS and the STT, which used the same long swingarm - is overloading. Same for the wheel bearings. People load the snot out of the Ulysses (myself included), which makes the swingarm spend more time compressed and puts more of a load on the belt as you accelerate. It's not the power - my 1125CR has 1/3 more power and uses the same belt tech and the exact same 2-bearing wheel that most folks are killing on the Uly's. It has to be a combination of long travel...and overloading. Those are the only two differences between the Uly and any other XB or 1125. That said, I also have tubers and run the belts "scary loose", with no tensioners. My S2 - 23 years old this year - still has the FACTORY belt on it. Ditto my 98 S1W. Long as you're tight enough to keep teeth from skipping... | ||
| Motorfish |
Thanks for the responses. The bike has 25k on it. My belt has about 8k miles on it, and I have a spare. I don't remember it being that hard to put on. I have a 7/16" drill bit, and I have the pulley off now to inspect the bearings. All good. I may just leave it alone. I'm big on preventative maintenance. Thanks guys. | ||
| Mbest |
In late 2008 belts were changed to the same/newer specs that the more powerful Vrod required. These newer belts Kevlar construction does not stretch or break-in to a looser condition like the old belts did. So they run guitar string tight all their life which takes it's toll on the belt life, output and rear wheel bearing life. There were a few rear bearing fails and belt breakages in the earlier pre-2008 years and carefree long mileage runs, but lots more failures after the newest, stronger 1AKF belt arrived. That's why there is a 3 bearing "2010" rear wheel. I have 46K miles on a stock early 2008 Uly belt that was only replaced because a small rock went between it and the pulley and poked a hole in it. None of the three 1AKF replacement belts lasted more than 6K miles on my bike and it blew out the rear bearings twice in that time. The current slotted idler and belt have me up to 89K miles and all is well. my $.02 | ||
| Motorfish |
Wow! That obviously made a big difference. How much did you slot the hole out? | ||
| Mbest |
I can't say an exact number, I gave it as much as I could so I would have the most flexibility for adjustments. I wouldn't worry about going too far because once you tighten it where you want it, it wont move. When it's loose on the bike, I push the Idler up against the belt with a few fingers of pressure and tighten the nuts. On mine, I extended/changed the holes in a milling machine into slots on my bike. Two of my Buell friends followed suit and just clamped theirs in a vise and used a rat-tail file to extend/slot their's. results were the same either way | ||
| Motorfish |
Ok, thanks everyone for your responses. | ||
| Ourdee |
Mine is slotted enough that I can turn the pulley by hand with the belt mounted. | ||
| Sagehawk |
Being a OCD type, I thought a little would go a long way. I believe the studs were right at 10 mm. Somehow ,I had a resharpened 4 flute endmill in my toolbox. Plunged thru on a mill the right hole. Lined up on left hole and plunged thru. Then moved up .030 and plunged again to elongate that hole. Endmill was .400" in diameter. I figured if i wanted to retension belt , a 4x and 2x would leverage it back into place as original. Amazing as I could tell a huge difference in just rolling bike in and out of garage. Yes, I've had 1 set of bearings fail and broke 1 belt before this idler mod. | ||
| Motorfish |
Thanks again for all of the responses. I'm going to slot it a bit. Hope to get to it today. | ||
| Portero72 |
I'd love to see some pics of this mod. | ||
| Ratbuell |
There's two studs/nuts that hold the tensioner assembly to the frame. Remove your belt and / or rear wheel, so there's no tension on the belt. Take the nuts off, slide the tensioner off the studs that are on the frame. Drill the holes bigger, allowing "slop" at the studs and allowing the tensioner to "droop" from its factory position. Thus, loosening the pressure on the belt. A little droop goes a long way, don't get over-enthusiastic on drill bit size. Most folks go one or two bits up from the existing holes and that's plenty. | ||
| Sagehawk |
 This is how mine is set up and that is all that's needed of opening holes. | ||
| Dualsportdad |
If I recall I used a 1/2 inch drill bit the drill one hole on my tensioner. It's a must for a new belt, the new belt was so tight it made a whirring noise when slowing down with the clutch pulled in. | ||
| Glenn |
Hi, Using info from Sagehawk, I decided to just slot or drill out the top hole only. Its been a while but I have in the back of my mind that I may have just drilled the top hole out to with a 13/32" bit but may have filed it. Knowing that I can be OCD at times, I probably marked it 1mm up and filed it. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=142838&post=2478143#POST2478143 | ||
| Etennuly |
I like it. After changing my bearing in the pulley I have a whirring noise when slowing down also. Clutch in or out, engine on or off. Almost sounds like a plastic fender dragging on a tire. None are. I will be hitting that soon. Thanks! | ||
| Motorfish |
Thanks guys, that was the post I was looking for! I drilled the top, or rear hole with a 7/16” bit. Put it all back together, but didn’t get to roll it around yet. I can spin the pulley by hand, but I wouldn’t call it loose. I’m not sure what part number my belt is, I’ll check tomorrow. I bought it in 2013. | ||
| Etennuly |
It seems to have worked. I put about 500 miles on it doing April Buells trip. The whirring noise is gone. This new belt is definitely the cause. The other t replacement belt did not do do it. Just to reiterate I did find bad bearings in the idler pulley. Once I replaced them the noise was just as bad. We discussed it a bit at Twos. I would never change to a chain drive. 33,ooo miles per no maintenance belt is pretty good. | ||
| Glenn |
Good feedback and glad it is working for you. I have chains on two other bikes and wish I didn't. the belt is the way to go! Glenn |
