| Author | Message | ||
     Mark_weiss |
Is there any specific way to measure belt wear? Last Saturday, I replaced my rear tire (14k Pirelli Strada). Doing the usual inspections, I noted that my rear wheel bearings were still silky smooth at 22k miles. However, when all was reassembled, I found that I could rotate the idler pulley with moderate force. Never could do this before. Overall, the belt looks fine but it has clearly lost some tension. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
That's the tipoff that it's ready to go. Mine was easy to turn with a fingertip pressure about a week before it popped in front of fenway park on a game day! Mine only had 16,000 on it. | ||
| Teeps |
Natexlh1000 Posted on Monday, December 28, 2009 Mine was easy to turn with a fingertip pressure about a week before it popped <snip> Interesting observation. Anyone else had similar experience. | ||
| Tootal |
Mine was always a little loose from day 1. I changed it recently and the new belt was way tighter. kept the old one for a spare, much easier to put on a used belt on the side of the road IMO. If your seeing a change then it could be normal stretching or it's nearing demise. Might want to put on a new one and save it to use in an emergency. | ||
| Xbimmer |
Knock wood... my pulley's been easy to spin for so long I don't remember. Belt is over two years old and has 40K on it. I keep a used spare and the tools to change it in my side case, the day I leave it home will be the day I break a belt. Wish they weren't so expensive, but they're still a steal compared to the belts for the BMW F800's. | ||
| Court |
>>>Is there any specific way to measure belt wear? Yes. If you have to walk "0 miles" home. . . . your belt is fine. If you have to walk more than that . . . it needs replaced. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Teeps- other people have posted here that they noticed their belts got loose a few days before breaking. My guess would be that some of the reinforcing strands break, overstressing the remaining strands, until the belt finally snaps. | ||
| Joesbuell |
My belt on my 09 Uly is loose because I modified the idler mount as to give longer belt and bearing life. There is very little strain on my idler bearings and thats how I like it!  I have just under 19000klms on mine so far and I can't believe that I still have the original front Strada on it! The rear was replaced at 7500klms and my current Pilot road 2 has 11500klms. I love mu Uly! but not as much as my Tuber! | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I'll call you if I need a ride. Are you far from Sierra Vista? Mark SE AZ | ||
| Court |
By foot . . .yes. By bike . . only about 2600 miles . . 2 long days. Wait there . . . I'll be on the way. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
It's useless to know that you need to replace your belt if you can't find a replacement. I ordered on from American Sport Bike in early November and am still waiting. If anyone has a source, I'd be grateful. Even though I have a new belt on, and my original went 23K miles, I'm suddenly a bit paranoid about riding without a replacement... | ||
| Ourdee |
Mine is back ordered till the 10th. This is how I can tell I need another belt.  | ||
| Teeps |
http://www.goodyearep.com/uploadedFiles/Products/P ower_Transmission/Synchronous_Belts/super_torque_p d.pdf see pg.2 #S14M1890 The standard width of the 14M1890 belt is 40mm. Uly belt is only 28mm. Someone with a resale number might be able to convince GoodYear to make a run of Uly belts. | ||
| Dennis_c |
teeps do you have a hacksaw or a sharp knife then cut 12 mm off one side  | ||
| Nobuell |
I will check with our distributer in the morning. To make sure I understand, the Uly belt is a Goodyear 280S14M1890 135. Is this the OEM for the belt? I will find out what the minimum quantities are and cost. | ||
| Dio |
There is probably some significance to the Goodyear part number. I would speculate that the 280 part would be 28.0 mm. width, S14M1890 as the base part number, and the 135 to be 135 teeth or cogs. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Thanks for the input. I'll keep a close eye on tension and plan to replace the belt at 25K. Any way that you look at it, that's great use. 20+ k-miles with no adjustments, no maintenance, no fluid changes, super efficiency, and cheaper than a good chain. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Buellerxt |
Mark, I'm continually amazed at how Buell riders see things. It's interesting. 25,000 miles would be seen as crappy from a Harley perspective. I had a 100,000 on one with no problem and 45,000 on my current Harley. I know a rider who has gotten significantly over 100,000 miles out of '6' belts! I don't know a Harley rider that has replaced a belt at 25,000 and I know a lot of them. I'm sure there are some but . . . I guess the tiny number of bikes engenders a reverence but I don't get it yet. I like my bike so far but I am puzzled that with the bearing problems, brake surging, etc., folks praise Buell. We'll see. | ||
| Teeps |
Nobuell, Dio, That number is not the Buell part. It has the same generic specs for pitch 14mm and tooth count 135, but is too wide at 40mm. GoodYear on their site says they can do special orders. That is what needs to be looked into.... Maybe the actual Buell part can be made, as I doubt there is any rights owned by HD on the belt, but what do I know. Dennis_c, I thought of trimming the width on an over the counter part. But somehow I think there might be more to it than simply trimming with a blade. | ||
| Dio |
Well here's another goofy question. Does anyone know who supplies the drive belts for all the H-D stuff? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
DON'T trim the belt. They lay the fibers on so that you would be cutting the strands. A mech. at my local dealer tried that on his bagger so that he could put a fatter tire on there but it weakened the belt badly. I think he only took .25" off and it cut the continuous strands so it was a series of segments I guess. | ||
| Eulysses |
My buddy was coasting down the hill from his home on his Harley and went to drop the clutch to start it and blew the belt. The pig took off and he had to push it all the way back up the hill! Had 15K. It happens. | ||
| Buellerxt |
People are struck by lightning too but with the tiny number of Uly's out there I've read about a considerable number of low mileage belt failures in just the two months I've been on here. After ten or more years on Harley boards and many rallies, I've heard of VERY few failing, particularly with less than 50,000 miles. It's okay to admit flaws and still like Buell's!  | ||
| Froggy |
The Buell belts are stronger than the belts on HD models, partly due to the need to flex two ways. I recall a post on here when someone put a tuber (sportster) belt on a XB, it lasted only a few miles before snapping. And good luck getting a belt designed for a HD to last long with bikes pushing 146hp. | ||
| Buellerxt |
Which belt is 'stronger' is irrelevant Froggy, even if that were substantiated. The bike/belt design and the reliability of a given belt for a given bike is the issue. 146 hp? We're talking Uly's here! The Uly, from what I've seen on this forum, goes through belts much more quickly than Harley's do. Why? The tensioner? I don't know but losing a belt at 20,000 miles or 25,000 miles, unless it is damaged by a rock, is lousy reliability. Lousy! | ||
| Teeps |
Natexlh1000 Posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 DON'T trim the belt. Agreed, not a good idea. However, I have seen cam timing belts still intact (and working) with 1/2 of the standard width gone due to F.O.D. Here is a good read regarding timing belt design. More info than the average person needs to know, I might add. http://www.sdp-si.com/D260/PDF/part1.pdf#page=45 There is even a paragraph for idler force: (from PG. T-50.) Idler Force: Belt installation tension can also be applied by exerting a force against an idler pulley within the system that is used to take up belt slack (see Figure 23). This force can be applied manually, or with a spring. Either way, the idler should be locked down after the appropriate tension has been applied. Calculating the required force will involve a vector analysis as described above in the shaft separation section. (Message edited by teeps on December 31, 2009) | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Considering the differences in rear suspension design (both inches of travel and working angles) I highly doubt that any HD model puts the drive belt through anywhere near the stresses that are seen by Buells. Especially a Ulysses model. Also, none of the HD riders that I know seem to be concerned about a breakdown 30 miles from the nearest road. While my belt might well last far more than 25k miles. It's beginning to show signs of wear and I'd rather err on the safer side. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Froggy |
You took the words right out of my mouth. There is an old article in Fuell that shows how the tensioner works and how much stress the belt is under during various points in the suspension travel. You also need to factor in, Hogs for the most part are ridden different. Dr_greg got 60k miles on the 06 belt, and the only reason it snapped was a parking lot accident unloaded the suspension putting the extra stress on the belt. I personally snapped mine at 30k, but my bike spends most of time on only one wheel. | ||
| Motorbike |
Does the belt tension get higher as the swingarm drops down? If so, I'm thinking I may not want to store the bike all winter while it is resting on my modified Craftsman Jack. As you know, the swingarm drops as the bike is lifted by the muffler. My concern is that this will put added stress on the belt for the time it is in storage. Also, what about the rubber isolators in the engine mounts? Will it do any harm to them by lifting the bike by the muffler for an extended period? Thanks in advance for your opinions guys. | ||
| Froggy |
Correct, that is how Dr_greg's broke, when the bike tipped over, the shock fully extended. Odds are his belt was going to fail shortly, and that was the straw that broke the camels back. When I put the new belt on my bike, I had a large coworker sit on the seat to help compress the rear, and it made it a little easier to slip the thing on. If you are going to have the bike sitting for the winter, I would either leave it on the kickstand or use a set of Pit bull/T-rex stands if your desire is to get the wheels off the ground. |
