Loose As A Moose
26th January 2017, 13:14
Would anyone be able to shed some light on what would cause root cracking on a drive belt? I've had a look online and I can't seem to find anything about bike belts & wear that gives any good info. Mostly Harley owners trading blows with diehard chain fans.
I just happened to look at the belt on my bike from a different angle and every single tooth has started to crack on the "inside" nearest the engine. Belt I believe was replaced for an aftermarket one by the previous owner but even if it was stock/factory new it has less than 40k km's on it. My knowlege of belts says that they typically last a lot longer, yanks say about 80k MILES unless they're damaged by foreign debris or poorly installed. Took it to the dealership for a service 4k km's ago and they did some belt tensioning so unless the shop over-tensioned it??. Just by looking there's no wear that indicates misalignment. Hard to tell how the pulleys are wearing as I need to get the belt off first to check them out.
Given it's almost all the teeth I kind of feel it's either a crap belt or there's something else amiss, I'm kinda leaning toward the dealership over tensioned it, but I really can't see that happening. Expensive, yes but not idiots. Just checking to see if there's another failure mode I may not have foreseen so I don't do it to the next belt. These bastards are expensive. Dealer wanted $568 NZD for it one, plus $200 in labour. $340 shipped from old mate Kim in North Korea. Last time I ever use a bike shop up here. Charged me $70 for a few litres of oil on my first and last service with them too.
Cheers for any insight on belt wear & care
I just happened to look at the belt on my bike from a different angle and every single tooth has started to crack on the "inside" nearest the engine. Belt I believe was replaced for an aftermarket one by the previous owner but even if it was stock/factory new it has less than 40k km's on it. My knowlege of belts says that they typically last a lot longer, yanks say about 80k MILES unless they're damaged by foreign debris or poorly installed. Took it to the dealership for a service 4k km's ago and they did some belt tensioning so unless the shop over-tensioned it??. Just by looking there's no wear that indicates misalignment. Hard to tell how the pulleys are wearing as I need to get the belt off first to check them out.
Given it's almost all the teeth I kind of feel it's either a crap belt or there's something else amiss, I'm kinda leaning toward the dealership over tensioned it, but I really can't see that happening. Expensive, yes but not idiots. Just checking to see if there's another failure mode I may not have foreseen so I don't do it to the next belt. These bastards are expensive. Dealer wanted $568 NZD for it one, plus $200 in labour. $340 shipped from old mate Kim in North Korea. Last time I ever use a bike shop up here. Charged me $70 for a few litres of oil on my first and last service with them too.
Cheers for any insight on belt wear & care