| Author | Message | ||
     Dirtysouth |
Is there anything special to changing the belt on the Uly, do you have to take the swingarm off? Changed many of chains but never a belt. I'm getting ready for a trip in a little over 2 weeks and want to put my "upgraded" belt on the Uly and carry my old one as a spare. I have a service manual that just come in the mail but haven't opened it up yet. This may be a stupid question but, do you have to adjust the tension on the belt? | ||
| Rwven |
The swing arm does not have to be removed. There is a removable "window" in the swingarm that allows the belt to come off. | ||
| Hughlysses |
+1. You don't even have to remove the rear wheel. IIRC, you remove the belt guards, the engine pulley cover, the swingarm section, the right side passenger footpeg section, and back the rear axle out ~20 turns which backs it out past the tapered "shoulder" and relieves the belt tension. Take your time getting the new belt on and don't force it or anything. It will be noticeably tighter than the old one. Assemble in reverse order. | ||
| Rwven |
And be sure to strictly follow the rear axle installation procedure and torque values. | ||
| Darthane |
Above all, do not twist, kink, or bend to a sharp radius the belts while removing or installing. The newer ones are notably more robust than the originals, but you should still treat them right and save yourself a potential hassle in the future. | ||
| Xbimmer |
I have a service manual that just come in the mail but haven't opened it up yet. Do yourself a favor and open the manual, there is very important info in there regarding the axle torque figures and procedure. | ||
| Arcticktm |
If you choose not to remove the rear wheel (but why not take the opportunity to check bearings, etc?), remember to loosed the pinch bolt and axle as mentioned above BEFORE you remove the swingarm brace. This is all covered in the manual, so read it thoroughly before you start. I just did this in the spring, and getting the idler/tensioner pulley back on is the fun part. M2NC's tip to somewhat compress the rear suspension at that point did seem to help a lot. That new belt sure is tight! | ||
| Etennuly |
I did not remove the idler pulley. I found that loosening the nuts to near the end of the threads, then pull the idler out to the nuts was enough to let it all come together. It is a bear to get the idler bracket started back on there with the belt in the way. | ||
| Dirtysouth |
I'll be removing the rear wheel to put the new belt on but was curious if there was a way to put it without if I need to on the side of the road. I have a new belt, new wheel bearings, and new rubber and will be doing it all at once, well atleast taking the wheels to my buddy at the suzuki shop in order for them to put the tires on and bearings in. | ||
| Froggy |
Practice doing it in your driveway. It can be done no problem without removing the wheel. Write down/label each tool/bit that you use that way if something happens, you can have everything in a box including the old belt, and have the spousal unit come and deliver the parts. You would take the stuff with you on trips. | ||
| Dirtysouth |
Update. After getting my new rubber installed along with the rear wheel bearings, I proceeded to try my luck at changing the belt out. I obviously done something wrong because it went on fairly easy. I thought I was going to have to throw a hemorrhoid to get it on but to my surprise, it went on smooth as butter. I just got it lined up on both sprockets and started turning it while keeping pressure on the belt at the bottom of the rear sprocket like I always have done with a chain and it went on with no problem. I cheated some and had my 4 year old daughter "roll" the wheel while I put pressure on the belt. Now, how are you guys carrying the spare belt on trips? That thing is pretty big and I understand that you shouldn't bend it. | ||
| Dirtysouth |
Also, I didn't touch the idler pulley system, never even loosened it up. It took some fishing around to get the belt in position but it went on. The only parts I took off were the footpeg bracket, the "window" piece, bottom belt guard, and the front sprocket cover. Buying the service manual was by far the best $50 that I have ever spent. | ||
| Froggy |
Bend it like a band sawblade. Eff it, its a spare belt. | ||
| Tootal |
I've been fortunate that I've never had to change the belt but have read that the screws holding the swing arm "window" are very tough to get out on the side of the road. Before my next long trip I plan to remove these at home, where I have full size tools, and clean off the old loctite and put them back in with blue loctite instead of the red. It will make life much easier in the future if there is a problem on the road. | ||
| Dirtysouth |
One out of the four on the swingarm window was touch, I used a wrench as a breaker bar with the allen key. The ones that gave me a fit were the two holding the front caliper on, good lord what do they use on those? I'm guessing it was red loctite but it was all white. I cleaned it real good using brake cleaner and used blue loctite when I put everything back together. | ||
| Ourdee |
Dirty it sounds like it may have been corrosion instead of loctite. | ||
| Froggy |
BS, my screws have never been removed as far as I know, and I took them out with a little bit of effort using a normal allen key set. | ||
| Tootal |
Froggy, you having an easy time pulling them out does not warrant a BS rating, only that yours were easy to get out. Buell seems to use red loctite on almost everything and when it dries it looks white, not red. Red loctite is overkill, IMO, especially when I've never had anything with blue loctite ever loosen up. Glad yours came apart easy but others have not had that experience. | ||
| Thetable |
FSM calls for Red Loctite on the front caliper. | ||
| Pso |
I have been accused of having a few loose screws. | ||
| Prowler |
-------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ quote: but have read that the screws holding the swing arm "window" are very tough to get out on the side of the road. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ I have found this to be the case on both the '07 Uly and the '07 STT. Both sets of socket screws were a pain to remove. Actually used some small round tubing as a breaker bar. Blue lok-tite was used to re-install. | ||
| Tootal |
pso, I just saw what you do for a living, now your statement makes sense!!  |
