Mysterious drive belt adjustment change

[jjc54]

Last evening, after my last stop for a bathroom break and hydration, the bike started having a vibration. I was only about 12 miles from home, so I decided to continue. When I got home, I noticed that the belt was riding on the flange on the rear sprocket. This is strange because the belt has always run closer to the outside than the flange. I raised the rear by jacking on the left swing arm and started to rotate the tire by hand. It was free spinning but would get tighter in spots and you could hear a rubber scraping noise. On further inspection, I could see a gap forming between the belt and sprocket at the tighter spots. Expecting to find a rock in the belt, I did not find one. I did find a rock lodged in the teeth of the sprocket. I was able to remove the rock without the use of any tool. The bike is back to smooth as silk and I did not find any damage to the teeth of the belt. The alignment is maybe a little bit better than before. Very surprised that the rock was not dislodged by itself.

 

[canamjhb]

I'd check your sprocket very, very carefully for any burrs. A good way to find them is to wipe the sprocket with a nylon stocking or something similar. Carefully smooth even the smallest burr. Also do a close detailed inspection of your belt. Small rocks and bits can embed themselves in the belt. These belts are tougher than you can imagine but keeping everything clean and smooth will insure a very long life.

 

[jjc54]

The one I found 50,000 miles ago, was embedded into the belt. I found it by running my hand over the belt and felt this bump. Used a pick to remove what I could from the underside of the belt. It still has not come all the way thru.

 

[Freddy]

Mine 15 years ago.

 

[KX5062]

I'd also suggest checking the front sprocket too. There's been tons of problems with front sprockets over the years. IE: the red dust of death.

 

[jjc54]

I had the recall performed. Has anybody had any issues once the recall was done?

 

[BajaRon]

I had the recall performed. Has anybody had any issues once the recall was done?

Yes, especially if they did not let the repair cure for 24 hours.

 

[jjc54]

I rode mine over and drove it back home the same day! No mention of a cure time. That was 3.5 years ago and almost 54,000 miles ago. It was frigid that day so i doubt there was any wildcat driving. I guess i will need to keep an eye on it!

 

[BajaRon]

I rode mine over and drove it back home the same day! No mention of a cure time. That was 3.5 years ago and almost 54,000 miles ago. It was frigid that day so i doubt there was any wildcat driving. I guess i will need to keep an eye on it!

Most recalls seemed to do OK with this lack of cure time. With the time and mileage you've got, I'd say you're safe. Though it's never a bad idea to take a look now and then for the Red Dust of Death!

On the other hand, we had a few customers that had the recall done. Some with no evidence of a problem going it, who ended up stripping the pulley splines in fairly short order. They did what you did. They waited for the repair and rode away as soon as it was done. It appears that if the recall is going to fail, it will do so fairly soon (mileage wise)

Of course, there is another reason that this assembly can suffer failure, such as insufficiently torqued bolt.

 

[jjc54]

Any idea what the torque spec is for the bolt?

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Any idea what the torque spec is for the bolt?

Yes, but what are you going to do with that information once you get it?

111 lbs-ft +/-4.

Keep in mind that the bolt comes with that encapsulated thread locker on it that is one time use. If you simply put a torque wrench on it, thinking that you can check the torque, that’s inaccurate as all heck anyway, and more so because of the thread locker. If you loosen the bolt, just to re-torque it to your satisfaction, then you destroy the thread locker usefulness.

If you’re really that concerned/curious about it, just get some of your paint or nail polish, and make a witness mark line across the sprocket hub onto the bolt flange. Check for relative movement.

Or….. ride more and worry less.