| Author | Message | ||
     Vagelis46 |
I have a 1125R... At 20.000miles my drive belt snapped. I changed to a new OEM belt with part no. G0500.1AMG I noticed that the new belt felt very very tight ...The rear suspension stiffened up...I also had the same "slight off" alignement as my last belt. I took very it easy for 100miles....Then I started using the bike as usual.... using the torque between 5.000 to 6.000 rpm to accelerate. So about 500miles later the belt started looking like this .... I did not notice the belt rubbing against any "belt guards" .... Is this Normal ? should i use a lighter to burn the "cords" and let it be ? Do I need a new one ? Can I change to a chain drive ? Can I keep the OEM swing arm and change to 1190 front and rear sprockets?    | ||
| Two_seasons |
Did you buy OEM belt? If you are riding local, just keep an eye on it. I would not want that belt for a trip! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
That is OEM ..... The only explanation I can think of, other than a faulty belt, is that it was strained during shipping.. | ||
| Two_seasons |
Then I would use surgical scissors and remove the tails. But I'd hesitate to hit the road w/o a spare belt with me. Check to make sure that your front sprocket is secure too. And check your tensioner as well. | ||
| Panshovevo |
Take a good look at the teeth on your sprockets. I've been riding belted bikes since 1985, only broken one so far. Never seen one that looked like that. In order to run a chain, you would need to change the swingarm, otherwise, you would have no means of adjusting the tension. (Message edited by Panshovevo on July 27, 2017) | ||
| Panshovevo |
Another thing you might want to try is something Jim Dugger suggested to me when I told him the belt was running off center and dragging on my R model after putting it down. He suggested loosening the pinch bolts and axles, for the rear wheel, the swing arm, and the motor mounting bolts, and retorquing everything. As soon as I loosened the pinch bolt and backed the axle off one turn, the dragging stopped. I'm not certain the belt is running perfectly centered yet, as I removed the tensioner to try to determine if the bracket is bent, but it's already way better than it was. (I got distracted with another project before finishing the R.) | ||
| Araignee |
From the last photo, you can see there is a gap between the right side of the belt and the rear sprocket. You've got an alignment problem, which could certainly cause a failure and seems to be causing the irregular wear problem. First, check the manual for adjustment, installation, and removal instructions. A mistake in any one of those areas could cause a problem. Failing that, inspect sprockets for damage, warping, and loose bolts. Make sure the idler pulley bearing is OK and the pulley is within spec. A dying wheel bearing can contribute to a misalignment as well. You may be able to loosen related pivots like the swingarm, rear axle, and idler bracket and help them seek their stress-free centers before carefully re-tightening them in accordance with the service manual. The belt isn't designed to allow much flex side-to-side, so giving the proper alignment is critical if you want it to last. Oops, look like my post overlapped with panshovevos. (Message edited by araignee on July 27, 2017) (Message edited by araignee on July 27, 2017) | ||
| Panshovevo |
Good point above about the rear wheel bearings, particularly the left side one. It takes most of the load, runs the hottest, and is typically the first to go bad. When I bought my R model with just under 18,000 miles, the seller was good enough to tell me it had made a horrible screeching noise from the left side of the motor. I assumed the rotor nut had loosened, and made an offer based on worst case scenario. The seller was happy to have found someone who knew something about the bike, and made a counter offer close to mine. I bought it, rode it, and heard the horrible noise that damn sure sounded like it was coming from the left side cover. It wasn't...the CRC fairings were channeling the noise from the left rear wheel bearing seizing. Easy fix, although quality SKF bearings were substantially more expensive from NAPA than I expected. I feel confident they will last though. (Message edited by Panshovevo on July 27, 2017) | ||
| Vagelis46 |
After checking everything again, I realized that the front sprocket had a 3mm axial free play that "skrewed" the alignement of the belt..... then the belt was rubbing itself against the plastic guards... hence those cords ....so I installed a washer at the front sprocket to eliminate the axial free play and the misalignement of the the belt... NOW the belt sits much better on the rear sprocket.... I will send photo later.... I burnt the cords and I just hope that the belt has some life left to it .... Loooking for a spare belt also ..... | ||
| Nuts4mc |
as you can read from this old post..your issue is not new: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/326358.html?1199056870 belt replacement source... see this recent post: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/810920.html?1501294691 as you may have experienced ...if you roll the bike backwards the belt starts tracking to the outside of the pulley, if you roll the bike forwards it moves closer to the flange (inside)...put your bike up on a stand and check the tracking rotating the wheel in the correct direction hth (Message edited by nuts4mc on July 31, 2017) (Message edited by nuts4mc on July 31, 2017) | ||
| Two_seasons |
Araignee said "From the last photo, you can see there is a gap between the right side of the belt and the rear sprocket." If the bike is pushed backward for one full rotation of the rear pulley, you will get the same photo on any 1125. Do it, you'll see. | ||
| Duanelr |
"so I installed a washer at the front sprocket .." Correct me if I'm wrong, it seems you are maybe fixing the symptom rather than the cause. What caused the free-play? Misalignment of the engine mounts, worn bearing on the front pulley, etc. Your condition might be the result of a larger problem. | ||
| Araignee |
Dunno. I push/drag my bike backwards about 20 feet to get it into the shed every time I put it away for the day. The belt stays snug to the inside of the sprocket. It's a low-mileage 2009 R, so maybe as the belt wears it'll get more of a gap. I winced at the idea of "fixing" the free play of a drive sprocket with a washer. A drive sprocket that has 3mm of free play is likely well down the road to failure. A failing drive sprocket or the shaft it rides on can have dire consequences. A washer used as a shim won't fix a bad bearing or bent shaft or pulley that wobbles, even if it might move the pulley or sprocket enough to flex the belt into something resembling alignment. I would consider the good advice suggested by many others and search for the cause before the problem becomes expensive or dangerous or both. An 1125 is a rather sophisticated machine, manufactured with close tolerances by knowledgeable engineers to create lots of power and cope with the stresses this creates. A small-block Chevy it's not. Back when cars and motorcycles were poorly designed and indifferently assembled, the machines were often busy fighting or devouring themselves. If you knew a bit about mechanical objects, you could figure out the problem you faced and cobble together a "solution". This often worked for guys like me because the original design was so transparently flawed that we could see what was wrong and give the problem the attention to detail the designer or assembler neglected or didn't have time for. And of course, even the engineers of the time were busy learning new things, or forgetting old wisdom, or being slaves to "tradition", or fighting the accountants for better production values and materials. Things are better and worse in the modern era, but you have to begin where you are to cope effectively. (Message edited by araignee on July 31, 2017) | ||
| Joe7bros |
For a design started production in 1955, a small block Chevy is sublimely sophisticated in it's simplicity. AND it's capable of outrageous, reliable horsepower | ||
| Araignee |
True dat. A similar case can be made for early Hemi engines and many others, both automotive, avionic, and motorcycle. Ever see a Rolls-Royce/Merlin undressed? Breathtaking machine work, and from the 1930s, no less. (Knew a guy who's dad was crew chief on the Miss Spokane unlimited hydroplane.) My point was not to demean the small block Chevy, but to point out the likely errors or consequences of one's reach exceeding one's grasp, based on a false sense of confidence or knowledge. My XR-1000 is basically a garden-variety Sportster circa 1984 with racing heads grafted on to it's long stroke, clunky transmission, weak clutch, and laughable suspension. Those heads were designed pretty well (rumored to be, um, inspired by the BSA Gold Star) but many tuners, few of who were engineers, contributed to their development. That knowledge -thoughtfully provided by the H-D Racing Bulletin- and various other sources, allowed neophytes like me to tease out over 90bhp from an aluminum-pushrod twin when the major Japanese offerings of the time struggled to do it with much more modern designs. Which still handled like shopping carts, as I recall. It's easy to laugh at the humble origins of early machines, but worth recalling that Moto-Guzzis had origins as agricultural machines. Something to do with grape harvesting, as I remember. Check out Ghezzi-Brian's MGS-01 or other wonders to see how that turned out. Of course Erik and the late John Britten had the vision and the knowledge -formal and informal- to inspire others to help them create innovative machines that stretched the boundaries of what was possible. They didn't do by taking a casual attitude toward mechanical realities. When I lived in Spokane back in the '80s, I met a tuner who specialized in Ford engines, primarily focusing on drag boats and De Thomaso Panteras. He operated Drew Marine out of his garage, and was getting ~950 bhp out of a big block Ford normally aspirated. I got to drive one of his Panteras briefly, looking to buy one. I couldn't believe the power and the way it handled. You had to respect what he achieved with such a humble lump of cast iron. I had a similar reaction to riding an 1125R for the first time. I'm getting comfortable with what I can do with it, but experience has taught me to always respect it, and give it proper care when it's ailing. I have taken short cuts out of impatience, poverty, or ignorance, all of which had costs. I've also paid a price for shoddy manufacturing of respected aftermarket parts that I had no reason to suspect were ticking time bombs. I've taken a fair bit of physical damage over the years, enough that I am wary of any more. Acquiring the knowledge to diagnose problems and the will to correct them before they bite me in the ass allows me to build trust with the machine and expand my abilities as a rider. Let the good times roll, eh? (Message edited by araignee on July 31, 2017) | ||
| Panshovevo |
Stephen, when I first moved to the airpark I've lived in for the last 23 years, one of my neighbors was Mick Rupp. His 5th and last P51-D wore "Old Crow" colors for years, until he sunk a ton of money into flush riveting and other racing mods, and renamed it Samuri. I almost went to work for him building engines, but got beat out by a guy with extensive offshore powerboat racing engine experience. It didn't break my heart...I came too close to getting into a physical confrontation with Mick over nothing, God only knows what might have happened if I went to work for him. Especially if I had had a hand in the motor that died coming back from Jimmy Leeward's place one day, while Mick was on downwind. He cut it hard for the runway, damn near made it, but clipped an oak tree with the right wingtip, nosed in to a ditch beside the runway, then spun around onto the runway, minus the engine and prop. | ||
| Demoniktriple6 |
I've seen this before. Either the bike has been ram-rodded hard and she's twisted, the output shaft is loose, you've got a wonky wheel bearing, or the pulleys are out of alignment and those sprockets NEED to come off to be inspected. I've seen tiny nicks in them that shred belts like this on old dude's H-Ds after riding in Colorado and picking up gravel that nicks the pulley. I'm being really nice by saying this politely: It's really, really sad to say, but you may want to put the bike back to stock, put a fresh belt on it, KEEP THE MILES TO ZERO EXCEPT FOR A TEST RIDE, sell it to someone who will have the time and patience to fix it right, if all you can do is put a washer in there, brother. That's a symptom fix, not a cure. Use the money from selling this girl to buy one that does not have an alignment problem. The cost of a new registration fee and title transfer is minimal to tearing down and shimming a frame, engine and aligning everything on a jig. **besides the sprockets*** Was the bike totally ploughed into some $hit somewhere? If yes, sell it, buy a new Buell, this lady will cause you nothing but headaches. Was a wheel bearing spun? Easy to fix. Is the output shaft in good health? Meh. Kinda a turd. Sprockets? Bleh, pretty easy to fix. You can get nice ones of a part-out bike for cheap. | ||
| Araignee |
A take on both posts above leads to the conclusion that one should complete a thorough preflight inspection before a ride. I do mine after each ride, during bug cleanup, leak checks, etc. -enough to ensure that everything is intact for the next launch. And that a smart rider knows his machine and takes good care of it, regardless of who builds or maintains it. I do weekly checks for oil level, tire pressure, coolant, and adjust throttle and idle cable slack as needed, followed by a TPS reset. If I've experienced a change in the bike's behavior, a new noise, or anything that I didn't expect, I check the manuals to ensure I know what I'm looking for when I try to isolate the possible problem. Over time, you learn which fasteners tend to loosen, like the thumbscrews holding the saddle down, or the improvised solo tail cover mounting I fabricated to avoid all the heavy passenger accommodations I'll never use. My first effort at mounting the solo tail without the OEM hardware left it skimming down the road into the woods, never to be seen again. A $60 error, but fortunately no real harm done. Newest iteration has an invisible bloody bolt holding down the cover from below, with tabs and heavy duty Velcro providing additional vibration-resistant and rattle-free attachment. Yup, I check the security of the cover periodically. Same dog never gonna bite me twice. Ya gotta listen if ya wanna hear the music. |
