| Author | Message | ||
     Sheridan_bueller |
I'm going to call Customer Service sometime today or tomorrow. The belt I bought is going to be here shortly and I have to go to work after I get it put on. Zac, after reading about your belt, I went and checked the 'muffler bearings' on mine. Everything was good. I follow this board religiously and check out every problem someone else is having to make sure my bike isn't experiencing the same troubles. So far, absolutely no similar troubles to any posted here. The belt wasn't at all expected. I have pics and am trying to get them posted. Gotta get Wifey.. JJ | ||
| Skully |
"Chains have worn, but never outright failed." That is an inaccurate statement. Ask my friend who owns this Ducati. When the chain failed, it not only left him stranded an hour from home, it knocked a huge hole in his crankcase.  Keith | ||
| Edmbueller |
Correct me if I am wrong but chains break. Belts break. I would think the damage done to the bike from a chain whipping around would be SIGNIFICANTLY more than the damage done by a belt, no? | ||
| Spatten1 |
Correct me if I am wrong but chains break. Belts break. I would think the damage done to the bike from a chain whipping around would be SIGNIFICANTLY more than the damage done by a belt, no? That's correct. The controversy generally centers on the likelihood of a belt breaking vs. a chain breaking. While a chain breaking can be disasterous, we must also factor in the odds of a breakage. Some XBs go through belts like tires, so the owners switched to chains that they deem more reliable. Some XBs run the same belt forever. No one is sure why most XBs do great with belt life, but some have recurring issues. If you believe your XB will continue to go through belts and strand you, then it makes sense to take the small chance that a broken chain might cause serious problems. If your belts have been flawless, it makes sense to keep running the belts. The reliability of chain vs. belt is completely unknown with the 1125, as the belt is a brand new design, said to be much more robust than previous belts, according to the factory. Once again, the unknown is what drives emotion. With the XBs it may be an unknown forever. | ||
| Dave_bogue |
"The controversy generally centers on the likelihood of a belt breaking vs. a chain breaking." -------------------------------- Well stated. OK, the last chain I broke was on a 1970 Norton Commando, circa 1971. In modern times, I had a '96 1200 Sportster "Sport" with Andrews cams, Branch Flowmetrics heads, Mikuni carb, Supertrapp 2 into 1 megaphone that made about 80 rwhp and ran 12.0 at 108 mph. NO problems with the belt! Then a 1200 Bandit (10.86 @ 128 mph), FZ-1, ZX-12R, SV1000, and ZX-10R. All with chains and no chain problems. I like the concept of a belt drive, but it seems that Buell has a history of belt failures. I sincerely hope that this belt failure at 2100 miles on a new 1125 will not be the weak link in the Buell chain. I do not recall any issues with chain failure on the Bandit, FZ-1, ZX12R, SV1000, or ZX-10R forums. Dave | ||
| Reepicheep |
Do you recall them replacing a $100 to $170 belt and sprockets every 5000 to 10000 miles? Thats broken (IMHO). Ive owned both before, and I own both now, and the belt with idler on my XB9SX is the best of all. | ||
| M1combat |
Yeah... IMO the issue is the inopportune TIME that belts fail. With a chain you see the chain and sprockets getting worn so you replace them. It costs more money in the long run but they rarely fail. Count me in the group that has had a chain fail. I was VERY lucky that I was wearing a good set of boots at the time but that didn't save the left side engine cover. The belt from what I can tell can work for thousands of miles with serious damage (a hole clear through it) or can snap for no apparent reason when it looks perfect. The real issue is that when they DO go you don't generally have a spare on the side of the road with you. Buell should fix that. So... Chains - Higher cost More maintenance LOTS of damage when they break (rare) chain snatch Unsprung mass friction Belts When they break (more often) they tend to leave you stranded Can't (easily) change ratios for racing Dealers don't generally stock them For my money... I'll stick with a belt. Reason being that I can change the belt every 15K miles whether it needs it or not. It's then cheaper than a chain over the long term and more reliable than not replacing it but still less reliable than a chain. To me it's about the chain maintenance and all that entails. I don't mind maintenance (I just rebuilt my engine) but I don't like chain maintenance. | ||
| Jdugger |
> chain snatch > Unsprung mass > friction Wow... what a bad date! | ||
| Mcgiver |
And messy!  Brian | ||
| Hughlysses |
One thing I've seen mentioned in either the Uly or XB forum, is that the belts apparently DO give a warning they're about to fail. At least one rider noticed his belt had gotten MUCH looser just prior to it failing. The belt on my 07 Uly with ~8500 miles on it is showing cracks between almost every tooth (which it should NOT be at this mileage). I've been riding with it this way for over 1000 miles now and I make it a point to push up on the bottom of the belt before every ride to check the tension. Maybe if we all did this before every ride we'd see a clear warning of imminent belt failure so we wouldn't get stranded on the side of the road. The questions remain of course: (1) do all belts go slack before failing? and (2) if they do, how long before failure do they go slack? | ||
| Zac4mac |
Just got a call from my brother, the Firebolt's belt broke. ~18k miles. That belt has been babied since it came out of the box after I broke 2 from "mishandling". Now, the decision, new "03" belt or "04 upgrade". Zack | ||
| Benm2 |
Belt? Chain? Bah. BMW & Guzzi have it straight for a road system. Has anyone heard of a broken BMW driveSHAFT? Seems to be working nicely for racing too, considering that the HP2's got 5th & 6th at the Daytona 200. | ||
| Brad1445 |
I had a Belt failure with no warning. Rode perfect one day, get on it the next and it starts slipping just as soon as I got far enough away to incur a $50 tow charge back. lol | ||
| Ccryder |
Final shaft drive failures, yes they do happen. Look at last years Iron Butt and see how many BMW's had final drive failures. Neil S. | ||
| Freezerburn |
Broke a chain on my mountain bike in the middle of an intersection trying to beat a car. Flipped right over the bars and gnarled the chain-ring into my calf... if it were only a belt. | ||
| Benm2 |
I did a quick google search on BMW shaft failures, geez there's a bunch! Seems some of the failures have the added benefit of oiling the back tire! Didn't find as much on the Guzzi tho. Freezer, I broke one on a climb, but I was seated at the time going about 2mph (steep climb). I did the whirr - flop onto my side. Right after that I started carrying SRAM masterlinks with me. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Ben, good to see your alive, hope you got good use out of those Ferrachi slicks. | ||
| Budo |
"Final shaft drive failures, yes they do happen. Look at last years Iron Butt and see how many BMW's had final drive failures. " Four if I recall | ||
| Benm2 |
Scott, Never used them, the bike hasn't seen real pavement in over 1.5 years. I've had some personal / employment issues to deal with, and the product development consumed the rest of the time & money. Sorry I didn't visit last spring, it was a whirlwind trip. Had two days of AWESOME riding at Keystone, but had a hard time fitting anything else in. Didn't go this year, son's grades weren't good enough for the trip. I'm planning on some days this season, but the tire is cooked from age if nothing else. My first trackday will be expensive, since I'll need tires too. You still living the good life in CO? | ||
| Diablo1 |
Shaft drive or chain drive failures are not as common as belt drive failures. Pointing out that some model of BMW has a design or assembly problem with the driveshaft is not proof that all drive shaft designs are flawed or weak.I've had two Yamaha shaft drive bikes for many many years with no hint of a problem. Also worked at a Yamaha shop years ago, never saw a single drive shaft failure! Chain drive failures are very rare and I would suspect wear (high mileage) or lack of maintenance (cleaning and lubrication) or someone swapped to a lighter aftermarket chain (520) to save weight. There is no reason you can't get 20,000 miles from an OEM endless o-ring chain and sprocket set with proper maintenance. | ||
| Damnut |
I have 22K miles on my 04XB12R. I have had the rear tire off many, many times and have not been gentle with the handling of the belt. Oh and those 22K miles have not been easy ones either. Still on the original belt, I'm not replacing it till it snaps. | ||
| Spike |
Whatever you do, don't wander over to advrider.com. Especially not the GS section. | ||
| Hattori_hanzo |
Shaft drive or chain drive failures are not as common as belt drive failures. Pointing out that some model of BMW has a design or assembly problem with the driveshaft is not proof that all drive shaft designs are flawed or weak. I don't see anyone saying that shaft drives are flawed, weak, or have as many failures as belt drives. I see people stating that it happens, just like any other mechanical failure. Personally, I'd rather have a lighter, simpler belt drive on my bike than a shaft drive. | ||
| Diablo1 |
All of the drive systems have issues. Shaft is heaviest and causes handling issues and prevents gearing changes, but is the most durable, clean and requires the least maintenance. That's why you only have shaft drive cars. Chains require cleaning, lubing and tension adjustments, and don't upset the chassis and allow for easy gearing changes, but aren't as durable as a drive shaft. Belts are clean like a shaft, and don't upset the chassis, but are more likely to leave you stranded and don't allow gearing changes. | ||
| Baggermike |
Has anyone besides me used belt dressing to keep the belt in good condition. Mike | ||
| Dtx |
Never heard of it. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Seems like there are a lot of ways dressing could make things go badly, and I am not sure what it would help. I always used belt dressing in cars for non tooth belts that squeak... and it never worked for long there anyway... | ||
| Haus |
At 7 miles on the bike, i noticed the belt guards were rubbing the belt and it showed a cord on the outside already. | ||
| Jaimec |
The BMW Para-lever equipped GS models are known to break shafts, so much so that now BMW considers the shaft a consummable item! You read that right... I believe the recommended replacement interval is somewhere around 60,000 miles and you must replace your $600 drive shaft. The other models don't seem to have an issue. I have almost 115,000 miles on my original drive shaft on my 1999 K1200LT without problems. I think it's because the GS has so much suspension travel that it stresses the two universal joints in the paralever design far more than the standard road models do. Oh, and the BMW failures in the Iron Butt weren't drive shaft failures, they were rear bearing failures. Nearly every one of the new BMWs with that redesigned rear bearing suffered a failure. The bikes with the old bearing design faired a LOT better. So much for updated designs... | ||
| Zac4mac |
After more conversations with my brother on his broken belt. It lasted a little over 17k miles. The bike doesn't have the belt guards in place. The weather was wet and the roads were muddy/sandy when the belt broke. I'm convinced mud and sand got between the belt and rear pulley, "grew" the pulley diameter and snapped the belt. Either the stock beltguards or the infamous "springloaded tensioner" would have saved him a ride in the "crash truck" I put both beltguards BACK on Loretta. Z |
