| Author | Message | ||
     Rudy838 |
5500 miles on my 03 belt. i thought that was pretty good. got a new belt put on. went for a nice break-in ride. after less than 50 miles the new belt breaks... now HD wont warranty it. is that standard practice? so i left my bike sit at wausau harley. daves am i getting hosed over? what do you guys think? thanks brad | ||
| Irideabuell |
Hosed is the polite term for what they are really trying to do to you!!!! | ||
| Old_man |
It seems many have complained about the 03 replacement belt breaking in a very short time. Doesn't seem like an improved belt over the original, rather an inferior. | ||
| Isham |
What are you guys doing to break these belts? wheelies? Burn outs? I run my bike pretty hard and my 03 belt is doing well. | ||
| Kdan |
My guess is it was mishandled during the installation process. Shoot the installer and do it yourself. | ||
| Saintly |
"What are you guys doing to break these belts? wheelies? Burn outs?" Here we go again! Why does it always have to be the bike owners fault? What have we seen here on this board, about a half million posts from XB owners that this has happened to? Must it ALWAYS be the owners fault? Couldn't it be possible that there actually IS a problem with the belts? I know its hard to come to terms with the fact that BUELL isn't perfect, but come on people. This blaming the rider crap gets old! | ||
| Scott_in_nh |
I agree, if the belt cannot take burnouts and wheelies then there is a problem with the belt! | ||
| Fullpower |
use the new segmented chrome vanadium alloy steel drive system:  | ||
| Skyguy |
The belt is crap. It is a fact. I have gone through three. First two with guards on one without. NONE were mishandled as ALL tire changes were done by me. Now we need to drop this because I can't stand the frustration. This summer has been crap for bike stuff. 06 drive belt upgrade, Steering bearings, Wheel bearings, Now it looks like I am looking at a stator replacement. I will know more today. Love the way this bike rides and handles but I am getting sick of the CONSTANT B.S. | ||
| Daves |
Brad, Call me. | ||
| Daves |
Brad, Did you hear back? | ||
| Xb9ser |
My orginal 03 belt had 10000 miles on it when doing tire change bought new upgraded belt it lasted 2 weeks put back on orgrinal belt 3 mo. ago still doing fine. Another badwebber bought an upgraded belt the same week from same dealer and his lasted 600 miles. He went to 06 set up I will go with chain as soon as funds let me!!!! | ||
| Old_man |
Did anybody here replace their original 03 belt and have good luck with the replacement 03 belt? I've read nothing but the replacement quickly failing. | ||
| Bake |
I just got my upgraded 03 belt 3 weeks ago but put 3000k on it problem free. (so far) | ||
| Swespeed |
3200... on upgraded 03 belt. So far so good..  | ||
| Snackbar64 |
What is up with these 03 replacement belts? It seems like all I hear about is them breaking and very few post about them lasting long. I read that the new belt (06 and up) should last the life of the bike. Is this correct? I have a 03 XB9R with 15 grand on the belt and I'm nearly three hundred pounds. But your posts scare me. How much would it cost and what exactly has to be done to upgrade to the ever lasting 06 Belt? Has anyone broken one of these? | ||
| Daves |
The replacement parts run about 500.00 including the new 06 belt to convert to the thicker 04-up belt system. I sell a lot of the 03 style belts and they do not all break. Actually very few break but nobody posts, "I just got my new bike and it didn't break"  | ||
| Saintly |
Hey Daves, did you ever get a chance to check on those items for me? I didn't hear back from you via email. I really only need the stem bearings now. | ||
| Daves |
The neck bearings are 20.16 each I have 2 in stock for you. | ||
| Rudy838 |
once again a man who stands behind what he believes in. just to give everyone some background info. i did not buy my bike from dave and have only gotten a few parts from him. my new belt broke after 50 miles and my dealership would not cover it. so i asked the badweb and dave what they thought. dave told me my dealership was screwing me and he would take care of it. yes that is correct dave and his crew would take care of it. i could not believe it. after telling my dealer that dave was going to take care of me they gave in and said they would cover the belt and the labor. so when all of you badwebbers want to order parts or purchase a bike, just remember the guy that is going to go way out of his way to take care of you after the sale. dave, i really appreciate it! thanks brad | ||
| Ricochet |
First changed my 03 XB9R at 12000 because it lost a couple teeth. The bike has 23000 now and no problem. I learned a few things about this belt issue from buell homecoming this year. During the factory tech session, the engineer, Abe, mentioned our stock belt is a Gates unit, vs the new style/size is a Goodyear unit. The size changed as well as the Goodyear unit was revised a second time to a different fabric and now they are expected to last the life of the bike. They discussed how sensitive the old belts were to twisting, like when changing tires. They also discussed the brutal testing with the new belt involving dropping 40 steel balls through the pulleys under full load, bending the belt over backwards and vise-gripping it, then running on a dyno for 24 hours at 100 mph with no failure! I've been thinking about contacting Daves for upgrade kit, belt, sprockets and guards before mine leaves me?..... | ||
| Naughtynurse |
Never got to have a belt break thank god. Have the new belt upgrade ('06) over 2500 miles since install been doing just GREAT!!! Got mine from DaveS..he da man!!  (Message edited by naughtynurse on August 19, 2006) | ||
| Kdan |
I upgraded to the new 03 belt at 13,000 cause the manual told me to. No problems with the new belt in the last 8000. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I think Glitch has a bunch of miles on a replacement belt. I've got no reason to doubt the guys that say they did everything right when they replaced thier belts. I think it's a combination of the fact that the replacement is way too fragile for it's own good, probably some mishandling at the factory where Gates produces them, and just maybe some accidental mishandling by whoever installed it. Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not accusing you of being inept belt installers. It's just that the belt is so damn fragile it's possible to damage it without realising it. The guys that have suffered all the problems sure have my sympathy. I wish I could offer more than that. Being an '03 owner myself, I'm fortunate not to have suffered the same problems. My belt has 12k miles on it now, and will soon be upgraded to the '06. If that doesn't work out I guess I will go to a chain. What upsets me though are the attacks made against BMC over the situation. I sat through the same seminar at Homecoming and it was obvious to me that Erik and his guys have tested the crap out of those belts, and did everything they could to fix the situation. I don't like the fact that I have to fork out all the nuggets to upgrade my system either, but sometimes a Buellers gotta do what a Buellers gotta do. I wish I knew why BMC hasn't made a move to try to rectify the situation with the owners that have had problems. The noticable lack of "Anony" contributions to threads like this isn't very heartening, but honestly that could mean alot of things. I wish I had an answer, but I don't. Life is life, and sometimes you just get the crappy end of the stick. It may well be unfair, but you just have to grin and bear it. I'm sure what I've said here is going to piss someone off, but I'd ask you to please respond with logic, not emotion. | ||
| Buellshyter |
The solution is to set a service life ( in miles ) on the 03 belts and if a belt breaks before it reaches that set limit then there should be a full upgrade, including all the parts and labor to the newer belt design. This would eliminate all the half-ass belt replacement issues. Seeing as it's been stated this is not a widespread issue to begin with, then the cost involved would be minimal and the resulting good will it generates invaluable. | ||
| Daves |
Brad, Glad they decided to do the right thing. | ||
| Rd3501 |
The older belt system is a problem that is a fact. Stop trying to cover Buells ass. And before you get mad at this try talking to the poor souls that had a belt break in the middle of no where. Why would Buell change them back to the older system again? Because they didn't want a hugh recall on every model over the years. I mean what are they on now one upgraded belt for the 03s that doesn't work. And 3rd or 4th on the newer belt. Looks like Buell still cant get it right. Why are they making all these upgrades every year on the belts. The older tubulars never had any problems with belts breaking. Because who ever designed the model didn't get it right. On the 2003 model it says in the manual that the belt needs to be replaced at 15,000 miles. Hardly anyone is reaching this. So there is a serious problem and Buell doesn't want to fix it. Which is total bullshit. Buell should step up and tell anyone that is an original 2003 owner that if they would like to upgrade to the 2006 belt than they will sell the parts at cost. Sorry but coming up with $600.00 out of my pocket to fix a problem that Buell already new was there because they had to get the bike to market to fast in 2003 is wrong. THe bike was not ready but they pushed it anyway. Same thing happened to the mirrors and the seat rubbing the battery turminals wires and the oil lines and the bearings on the wheels, the kick stand, the speed senor, the lower cowling melting on the muffler...do you want me to keep going?? To try and justify that there is not a problem is just stupid. Buell knows its a problem. So there is your solution. Not asking it for free but at a deep discount to make everyone happy. Really what are we talking here a few hundred bikes at best that the original owners still have them. |
