Boulevard 650 drive belt squeak?

[Chooky]

A friend of mine has just got back into bikes after many years and she bought a 2006 650 Boulavard with 12K's on the clock.
Anyway, 1st big ride for her today was from Taupo to here....
So I push the bike into the garage and there's a squeeking noise like the belt is rubbing on something.
Is this normal, I've never had anything to do with belt drives before.....??

[dasser]

Hi Ya. Locate in the tool kit a belt tensioning tool, Its just looks like a brass rod about 100 mm long. check that the belt is not to tight.
If it helps I'll take a photo tomorrow and attach it to another reply.
My belt does not squeak....

Hope this helps.

[dasser]

If the tension is all right then it could also be rubbing on the sprocket check the alingment of the back wheel. Same as you would on any other bike with chain.
Hope this helps

[Chooky]

OK thanks for that..........
Looking at the back sprocket, the belt is hard over to the left.....
Sounds like its rubbing on the [chain] belt guard....?

[AllanB]

I new someone who had a belt drive Z440 Kawa way back in the 1980's.

His would squeak on open road trips despite being perfectly aligned and tensioned. Fixed with a bit of a squirt of Talcum powder.

A side affect is your bike smells nice too.

[dasser]

Whats the alignment like of the back wheel is it running true ?

[Molly]

The early Harley belts used to be treated with poly oil from time to time. It's not necessary on the newer ones but maybe it's something you might need for yours?

Also, if they're too tight they can be noisy. Check the tension with the bike compressed so the swingarm pivot, rear spindle and front pully are in a straight line.

[Chooky]

Yea dont know about alignment, belts drives are all new to me...
Its running to the left....just wondered if it supposed to be dead centre...
Its due for 12k check now.......so I'll see what Boyd's reckon..

[magicfairy]

I had one of those bikes from new. Belt squeaked like crazy when wet, not so much when dry. Bike shop sold me some silicon spray, I'd do the inside of the belt about once every week or so and problem went away. Just a light spray all the way round. Might be all it needs.

Lots of info at http://www.suzukisavage.com

[dasser]

The Achilles’ heel with this bike is the cam chain tensioner. It has no end stop.
Hence as the cam chain wears the piston of the tensioner moves out of it cylinder until it drops out.
This then means the chain goes slack and jumps a few teeth and valves hit piston. In the end you have a boat anchor.
I modified mine so it has a end stop.

Hence if its to have a 12 k check I would consider ( very strongly ) that you have this checked out. ( or sorry to say, Sell)
Some S40's age very well with no problems.
Mine I calculated would have dropped out with in another 5 to 10k.

If you or she are handy with your hands, this is not a big problem to check out.
The cost of a gasket and oil at the most. I changed the oil and filter at the same time.

Yea dont know about alignment, belts drives are all new to me...
Its running to the left....just wondered if it supposed to be dead centre...
Its due for 12k check now.......so I'll see what Boyd's reckon..

[dasser]

Just attached two photos.Not great but you can just make out the tensioner . Right side looking at the second photo at the edge of my hat.
I guess from start to finish checking the cam chain tensioner took maybe 2 hours. Refilling with oil / new filter etc.

The ugly prick in the 2nd photo is of course me. One photo I don't have a beer in the hand...

[dasser]

Four photos attached. ( you can tell not my day job .. )
1) The tensioners. The old cam chain tensioner top. The brass belt tensioner tool below. Note the three markings, this end is spring loaded. You should find one like this in the tool kit.
2) This is where the tool is fitted to check the belt tension. Running a finger under the swing arm you should find a locating hole to fit this tool. see from photo just forward of the pillion peg. ( oops, looks like i need to adjust mine, should line up with the middle mark around abouts ..)
3) My belt does have some gap either side of the sprocket sides.
4) Adjustments made here as you would a chain. Check that marks are the same on both sides.

After adjustments I would take it for a spin to let the belt move into its new postion.
For a single thumper they are a great bike, fun to ride.
Petrol wise I get just over 6 litres per 100 km (Half that for the 250).
Only other problem is the small tank.

Hope this helps.

[Chooky]

Hey Dasser thanks for all that..
The alignment marks on the back axle are even, I checked everything was tight but didnt adjust anything.......I'll take it to Boyd's next week, it done 12thou kms....Do you really think the cam chain tensioner could be worn at that mileage...?
Cool bike thou....yer right about the gas tank..

[dasser]

....Do you really think the cam chain tensioner could be worn at that mileage...?
:

Thats the number one question. But from some of the texts I've seen it appears to be a problem around the 20k to 30k mark.
I've personally pull apart a engine that became an anchor at the 27k mark. I've seen text that the piston has moved half of its travel at 5k.
I modified mine at 17k( 1998 model ).
Based on a linear fit from the checks i did, I thought it would come to its end of travel at around the 23k to 27k.
I can not say I've seen any text on problems with 2006 to 2008 models. Suzuki may have newer material for cam chains(less wear )?
I don't have any statistics on the number of S40's made compared to the number that have had the cam chain problem.
As I said before some s40 have high k's with no problem. This problem may also be owners using cheap oil or low oil levels for long periods of time equals wear (?)
My other thought was the "lugging" issue thats when the rider does not change down when they should Hence for me it would be when I'm traveling around town in third too higher a gear for 50km/h ( 90 % of the time I don't get out of second gear when traveling around town 50 to cough 60 km/h). Hence this lugging must stress a single thumper to the max.
With your friends bike it may become a problem or might not. For peace of mind I would check sooner than later. 2 hours of time, 16 bolts, ( approx) gasket,oil...done. Some lay their bike on there side and hence don't need to change the oil.

As for your original question about the squeaking belt it looks like it could be an alignment issue. At the 12k service see if they can sort it out. Applying powder etc is up to you.

I hope I've helped in some way, or maybe not.

dasser..... life is not the number of breaths we take. It's the number of moments that take our breath away.