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Drive belt and gravel roads.

Rocketman 2012

Rocketman 2012

New member
Is it Verboten to operate the Spyder on typical gravel roads that one encounters on occasion, such as in Rural areas or even detours? My driveway alone is over 400 feet of packed gravel from the road to my hobby barn and I'm concerned!

Answers will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sam:thumbup:
 
I'm on 1/2 mile of gravel road and have not had any problems. I do take it pretty slow. I've heard if its really loose gravel and you're in a hurry, it could cause some serious problems if you throw a nice rock up in the belt.. I think taking it slow and easy and you're fine..
 
I have a belt guard made by Spyder Pops. I installed it after a small rock ruined the belt. Look on the homepage for Spyder Pops to find the guard. It is easy to install.
 
Belt guard and slow. Not a guarantee of never having a rock get in the belt, but will minimize the chances. Besides, there are no guarantees in life other than it will end some day!
 
New tires are prone to catch and throw more stones than older tires. :hun: Not much help if you are riding on good rubber.

Life is full of chances, so is owning a spyder. Do a search about the group that traveled to Alaska and back this past July. From my reading of there daily reports they encountered miles of horrable road conditions and all the Spyders preformed well, including the belt drive system. Gosh, I would have loved to make that trip!

Just my thoughts, nothing more.
 
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Agree..!!

avoid them when possible but when on them take it slow. If you can get the guards from spyderpops and check your belt a bit move often...:thumbup:
 
I have 3 miles of dirt/gravel road to ride from my house to the paved road. So far.......no problem. Like the others, I go slow and watch ahead for potential problems. No big deal....you get used to it.
 
I live on a gravel driveway. Never had a problem. You can pick up a rock anywhere, and some have. The rock guard helps but there are still no guarantees. As others have said, keep the speed down, don't spin the rear tire, and your chances of getting a rock from a gravel driveway are about the same as getting one off the pavement.
 
Thanks Folks for the replies! I was concerned enough that I was going to investigate a chain drive conversion. I believe I saw one on a Spyder on YouTube once??

I've had 3 Harleys and 2 had belt drive and never any problems with the belts whatsoever, only requiring adjustments every 25,000 miles or so.

Just for the fun of it, what does a belt cost and is it easily replaced? What does a Dealer typically get to replace one?

Sam;)
 
There are 18,500 members of Syderlovers. Out of that I would guess that 5,000 or 6,000 are active and would report if they had a stone damage their belt. Out of that number I don't think there are more than 4 a year that actually do report a problem. So IMHO not really a problem.
 
Live on gravel road

Rocketman 2012 said:
Is it Verboten to operate the Spyder on typical gravel roads that one encounters on occasion, such as in Rural areas or even detours? My driveway alone is over 400 feet of packed gravel from the road to my hobby barn and I'm concerned!

Answers will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sam:thumbup:
Click to expand...

I added the Spyderpops Gravel Guard to my '10 RT and also to my '14 RTS...I have traveled over 100k miles on Spyder...so there has been many trips in and out of my location plus traveled many gravel roads; in July in Alaska ...one stretch was 300 miles....have never had an issue. so I highly recommend buying a Gravel Guard .:yes:
 
billybovine said:
There are 18,500 members of Syderlovers. Out of that I would guess that 5,000 or 6,000 are active and would report if they had a stone damage their belt. Out of that number I don't think there are more than 4 a year that actually do report a problem. So IMHO not really a problem.
Click to expand...
:agree: It's something to just be aware of; nothing more! :thumbup:
 
You are not alone--

We live in rural, Kansas--and sadly we have 1.5 miles on gravel to get to pavement to ride our Spyder.

We have a SPYDERPOPS Missing Rock Guard on our 2012 Spyder RTS-SE5 and it really helps but you still hear rocks being picked up by tires. So we only go 15 to 20 mph at most from our barn out to paved roads. Hate it but it's the way it is. ;)
 
Several of us got stuck driving on about a 5 mile stretch of fresh gravel and oil road this summer. Due to the heavy traffic we were going about 30 mph or so. I could hear several rocks making terrible noises as I drove. Even had to go by the hot oil rig as it was laying down the fresh stuff. Only 2 of us ended up with rock holes in our belts and several spots that showed a rock had been under the belt. My belt is showing wear along the inside edge where it meets the metal as it goes around. Been on other gravel roads without the fresh oil and no issues from those times. Now I am keeping an eye on the belt and thinking will have it replaced next summer before any long trips. For now will wait and see. I can't hear any noises while riding but my wife can hear a squealing noise that she says is loud as I approach our driveway when she is outside watching my approach. Not sure what that would be except maybe the belt.
 
Rocketman 2012 said:
Thanks Folks for the replies! I was concerned enough that I was going to investigate a chain drive conversion. I believe I saw one on a Spyder on YouTube once??

I've had 3 Harleys and 2 had belt drive and never any problems with the belts whatsoever, only requiring adjustments every 25,000 miles or so.

Just for the fun of it, what does a belt cost and is it easily replaced? What does a Dealer typically get to replace one?

Sam;)
Click to expand...

New belt about $250. Another $100 or so for install labor. I have replaced two.
 
Riding a stock 2012 RS. I live 1 mile off the pavement and have ridden many miles of "dirt" roads in my travels (Google doesn't always pick paved roads). I do tend to drive slower on the dirt roads but doing 35-40 mph happens quite often.

I've never had an issue with rocks and my belt.
 
akspyderman said:
New belt about $250. Another $100 or so for install labor. I have replaced two.
Click to expand...
for a belt that probably costs 10 bucks to make. Like everyone else said just take it slow on the driveway and you will be fine. Can i have a google map image from anyone that has to drive more than 2 miles from their house to the nearest paved road? :)
 
latony007 said:
for a belt that probably costs 10 bucks to make. Like everyone else said just take it slow on the driveway and you will be fine. Can i have a google map image from anyone that has to drive more than 2 miles from their house to the nearest paved road? :)
Click to expand...

Hey Tony, 1.1 miles of gravel road from my home on top of Brock Mtn (its on Google) to the only paved road off of it. My wife and I both have STL's and have just purchased the "missing gravel guard" for $35. each. It is good and cheap insurance item since I would rather be riding without the worry about my speed when I come and go (our 4 combined miles).
I came off the HD to alleviate stress ! ;)
 
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