"Canyon" Belt adjustment issue

[CrazyCooter]

Last trip my wife complained about a squeaking noise while on the throttle. My thought was possible alternator shaft......but RPM, powersteering use, and Aux lights on/off made no difference in the noise. It also doesn't make the chirp at idle after starting that the RT did after the LiFEpo4 battery swap.

I did a quick roadtest with a half helmet and I "think" it's coming from the front pulley/belt. I quickly noted the belt is riding on the outside flange of the front pulley, BUT the rear is riding right on the inside flange!!?? The manual states that the gap measurement from the inside flange rear pulley combined with the gap measurement of the front pulley should equal 1/8" + or - 7/64".

The belt was a little on the loose side, so I attempted to see IF I could get things into alignment/tension at all, but obtaining the required tolerance is not possible. When rolling forward, the belt rides outside front and inside rear. When reversing it gets MUCH worse as you can hear the belt actually rubbing on the rear pulley flange.

Just for giggles, I adjusted wheel so the belt was riding toward the outside of center rear pulley just to see IF the front would change at all.......NOPE! In reverse the belt immediately migrates to the inside of the rear pulley making rubbing noises and creating friction.

No matter what I tried, the belt always rides to the outside of the front pulley when rotating forward! I suspect either the engine, swing arm, and/or wheel are not parallel with each other. I have a difficult time with thinking the swing arm or wheel bearings could already be worn out? The only other factor that I could look into is that I have installed the Lamsonster tensioner.......I suppose IF it was far enough out of alignment, it "Could" be guiding the belt over to the outside?

For now I set it to have the slightest gap on the rear pulley to minimize the wear until we can get this sorted.

Unless I'm missing something, this is looking like a trip to the dealer and I can only imagine the drawn out process of actually finding the culprit with a hardly functioning service dept.......

 

[BajaRon]

First off, you need to completely ignore whatever the belt may do in reverse. It always wanders off the reservation in reverse and it is meaningless.

What is your belt tension? The Lamonster Tensioner is not a tensioner, it is a belt dampener. It will have no effect on where your belt rides on the pulleys. Tensioners are located at the back of the swingarm. They adjust both tension and alignment of the rear wheel.

The key is to get just a small gap between the belt and the rear pulley inner flange. If the belt is riding against the front pulley's outer flange with the rear properly aligned and proper tension, then there is something else at play here.

 

[CrazyCooter]

First off, you need to completely ignore whatever the belt may do in reverse. It always wanders off the reservation in reverse and it is meaningless.

What is your belt tension? The Lamonster Tensioner is not a tensioner, it is a belt dampener. It will have no effect on where your belt rides on the pulleys. Tensioners are located at the back of the swingarm. They adjust both tension and alignment of the rear wheel.

The key is to get just a small gap between the belt and the rear pulley inner flange. If the belt is riding against the front pulley's outer flange with the rear properly aligned and proper tension, then there is something else at play here.

I only included what it does in reverse because that manual called out for it. I agree that it doesn't matter much since we only travel a few feet in reverse and 1000's of miles forward. I was mainly using reverse as confirm that whatever is happening forward exactly opposite in reverse?

Copy on the damper.........The spring doesn't provide enough tension to do much if any tension.

When I first measured belt tension, it was 45kg (441N converted) with the Gates Krikit tool.....bike jacked up on the frame/rear wheel hanging. I first tried 80kg (785N) as the listed spec in the manual is 775N +or- 150N. Went for a roadtest and noted quite the loud whine/howl between 40-50mph while coasting/floating that I don't remember being there ever before. This is my wife's bike, so my riding experience is only 2.5 miles between the house and shop generally. This whine my not be audible with a full face helmet on? This is why I have a half helmet for diagnostics.

After much trying different belt alignment locations and tensions.....I set it at 65kg (637N) since that was at the bottom of spec, the whine was much quieter, AND narrowed the noisiest speed to say 43-48mph. The belt is still riding against the outside flange of the front pulley, but is does have maybe .060" between the rear flange.

I also noted that the location where the belt rides changes with axle torque. Run it down with the impact for a quick test to an estimated 125ftlb only to have it move a little bit under the full 166ftlb. I'd love to see what this looks like on a dyno with some dynamic loads!

I wasted soooo much time on this Saturday that I forgot to even roadtest with the new Baja Ron antiroll bar installed!

Anything you can add to this would be appreciated Ron!