| Author | Message | ||
     Skifastbadly |
Blew out another belt today. This is the third one on a bike with 22K miles. They only thing I can think is storing them double folded in the case is making them weak. The belt showed no unusual wear. I'm now able to replace a belt in under a half hour on the side of the road, but Jesus, it's getting old, not to mention expensive. The shaft drives (e.g., Triumph Tiger Explorer) are suddenly looking quite appealing. I'm going to order another belt, put that one on and see if a belt that hasn't been stored in the case lasts any longer. Any other ideas? PS when I replaced the belt I noticed that the bearing seal on the left had detached from the bearing, so now I gotta replace the bearings too. | ||
| Ourdee |
Could you be stressing them during install? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Sorry to hear it Craig. I'd go over the front and rear sprockets and the idler roller with a fine-toothed comb. Make sure there are no defects or sharp edges that might eventually cut a belt. | ||
| Stevem123 |
I agree with Hulysses on this. I had a small ding from a pebble on my rear pully that was causing belt failure. I replaced the pully and that solved the belt issues. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
I have always thought that folding them was a bad idea. Someone at the factory must agree because it costs more to package and ship a belt un-folded, yet they do. jmo | ||
| Buellerxt |
Skifast, I spoke at length with the Goodyear guy who tests and produces the belts and who sees/inspects all belt failures. He is a Goodyear guy, no doubt, but he told me that the 'E' and 'F' belts should not fail, unless miss treated with wheelies and other hard service, or rocks, etc. He also said if it was him he'd have no compunction rolling the belt up and storing it that way. Even having heard that I still leave the belt unrolled in a dark closet unless I'm on a trip. Hugh had a good recommendation. Do you think the rear bearing problem and belt failure are connected? Best of luck. Sorry, Man. | ||
| 46champ |
And they always have sent them unfolded. | ||
| Zac4mac |
How did the break look? Was it jagged or break evenly across at a cleat? The new belts are really tough. I rolled a new belt up like a bandsaw blade and carried it under the seat of my 1125 for two months. Then I put it on Loretta - it has 18k miles on it now.   Zack | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Could I be stressing the belt while installing? Yes, I could. I fully understand that it is possible for mechanical products to have strength in one dimension but not the other. I'm not pounding it on with rock, I've been getting them mostly on then rolling them the rest of the way. Doesn't seem too stressful. As far as pulley defects, while it shows some wear, there's no obvious gash/ding or tear. Also, with the exception of where the fairly clean break occurred, the belt itself showed no cracks, wear, or any other unusual condition. Now as to the belt itself, I don't know what series it or the other ones are/were. However, the one I just put on has the printing on the outside, such as shown in Zack's photo. The other ones did not. I haven't pulled the wheel yet to examine the bearing, I just limped home with the new belt on it yesterday. When I loosened the axle I noticed the seal floating freely on the axle. I don't know if this was related, or if the belt coming off might have whipped against the seal and dislodged it. I'll know more after I pull the wheel. It's a funny thing. Every time I wonder about getting something else, I realize that those who've gone before me tend not to be all that happy. I've seen guys go from the Uly to the Tiger 800 and many of the regret it. A guy I ride with just got a deal on a 2010 KTM SMT that was sitting on the dealer floor, that seems close. I like the Tiger Explorer, but that's a load of dough and I'm not keen to go with a bike in its first year. | ||
| Uly_man |
Sorry to hear that Skif. On my 06 bike I was on my third belt at 14k mikes so 7k per belt. No damage to the belt it was the inner fibers that had broke. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Just to clarify - A clean break at a cleat implies compromise by bending too tightly. A ragged tear across one or more cleats implies a torsional compromise, bent out of the normal line, sideways. I went thru this with the belt on my Firebolt. The belts for my 1125R are superior by at least an order of magnitude. Dunno if this reliability is reflected in the Uly's belt but I would expect it does. Zack <edit> Let me add this excludes "normal life" failures of 15 - 20k plus. (Message edited by zac4mac on February 24, 2013) | ||
| Yan |
i had belt failure last year and while installing a new one i noticed that the rear bearing (right hand side) was shot. could there really be a connection between the two? | ||
| Nillaice |
Yup. If the bearings fail that would put the axle and pulley out of alignment | ||
| Uly_man |
"Yup. If the bearings fail that would put the axle and pulley out of alignment." You need to check the front isolator is good as well. If its gone/going bad the engine will "lever" the front pulley via the rear engine mount IE making the belt go loose and tight even though you may not notice it. The belt MUST track right. To check it do this. Remove the front pulley cover. Make sure the belt edge is flush with the outer edge of the rear pulley. This should give you a small space between the pulley inner shoulder and the belts edge. This should be the same on the front pulley. If you ride the bike and the belt does not stay in the same place you may have a problem. You should not have any wear to the edge of the belt either. Take great care about who takes the wheels off your bike like on a tire change. Bending the belt out at right angles and/or over tight axle torque is not going to do it any good. Both my belts went at 1-2000 miles after I had new rubber fitted. I do them myself now and keep a spare belt. Big torque numbers play "merry hell" on any drive system but on a V-Twin its even harder. This bike does not need much to maintain it but some things MUST be checked over. I know the bike seems like a "forget and go" machine with its "for life" drive belt and sealed bearings on everything but thats NOT the case. Its a "moving parts" machine and those parts WILL wear. With the rear wheel bearings you should be able to feel any wear on them with the wheel on the bike but you CAN NOT with the front. You need to take it off the bike. If you find ANY wear or rust from the seals you MUST change out the bearings right away. Wear on the fronts will give an "odd" feel to the steering but the rear rides the same. I have had all of this so I know. None of this is a "big deal" as long as you are aware of the nature of the bikes unique build/nature and needs. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I replaced the bearings today, and got a new belt from American Sports Bike. Since it's a possibility that storing the belts folded up has accounted for what I consider to be premature failures, I took the new belt out of the box and, after checking the front pulley, tensioner, and rear pulley, installed it. Hence I've a never been folded belt on the bike now. The mileage when I left the garage was 22,046. So, if I'm lucky, this will be my last post on this thread. It will be interesting to see if I've sorted it. Upon my return the belt was aligned with the outside of the rear sprocket, with what looked like a 1/16" inch uniform gap between it an the inside guide. | ||
| Uly_man |
"what looked like a 1/16" inch uniform gap between it an the inside guide." Just see it moves over time. You should have a Goodyear marked AKF belt. Did you replace the bearing spacer? | ||
| Yool |
I follow a mate on a xb12R regularly, occasionally pass him, but not for long. His belt wanders all over the rear pulley, he rides hard, pulls monos, and in the time i've been with him, he hasn't broken a belt....... Maybe he's lucky. but I'd be checking those pulleys again.....and again... (Message edited by yool on March 03, 2013) |
