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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Drive Belt
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Message started by geo on 01/18/08 at 22:13:39

Title: Drive Belt
Post by geo on 01/18/08 at 22:13:39

How long will this drive belt last? If the belt is failing, will there be any visable clues?
I'm really happy with this belt drive. No more are the streaks of oil on my jacket.
The drawback: The belt drive does make it more difficult to change the rear tire.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/19/08 at 04:16:06

Mine has a hole in it from a small rock getting on the belt & running into the rear hub.. Still hangin in there tho.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/19/08 at 16:05:57

I only have 12K but the belt looks good still. I looked in the Fact Serv manual and they don't have a suggested replacement interval. Just says to inspect every 2K miles.

Belt # is "Bando: 133U-14M 40.0"

I guess you know this but here it is anyway, Belt wear is fraying on edges, missing teeth, rounded off teeth, dry rotting, cuts or damage .....

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/20/08 at 07:12:32

Actually, I don't recall anyone ever saying that their belt broke. Maybe no one has kept the bike long enough, but I don't even think anyone has bought a used bike that needed a new belt.

The worst one I've seen is Stinger's with pits and nicks from a little off road surfing and it still works at over 30K.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by T Mack 1 on 01/20/08 at 07:43:09

Forgot to add, I was told to keep my lower belt guard. They said it keeps road debris from getting kicked up into the rear sprocket. This comes from the Harley crew I ride with, that have betls.

I'm not too sure if this is true because the lower guard is only one sided, and you would think that the crud that the front tire kicks up would being coming from the centerline of the bike :-? .....

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/20/08 at 07:48:29

I think that most of the crud that gets on the belt is actually picked up by the rear tire, and the engine sort of shields the lower part of the belt. Just look how much stuff ends up on top of your swing arm.

Oh yeah, the lower guard is one sided...probably to keep your fingers out of it when you are backing up ::)

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by barry68v10 on 01/20/08 at 08:23:47

The lower belt guard on the Savage helps, but isn't as protective as the one on Harleys...if I still had a belt, I woulda kept the lower belt guard. ;D

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/21/08 at 11:07:15

242734343F707E307776460 wrote:

The lower belt guard on the Savage helps, but isn't as protective as the one on Harleys...if I still had a belt, I woulda kept the lower belt guard. ;D

Me too...and I haven't even gotten caught in my completely exposed chain yet...:P

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by steely on 01/22/08 at 17:04:49

I design machinery for a living and the company I work for has used the Gates Polychain system of drive belts for years. We run some pretty stout machinery with them. I don't know if Gates made the drive belt for our bikes, but I don't believe that I have ever seen another manufacturer of this particular style of drive belts. How long will it last? I am not sure, it believe go at least 100k miles provided there are no nicks in it.

When I get some free time at work I am planning to go through the Gates catalogs to see if I can't just come up with a slightly smaller rear sprocket and belt that will work to lessen the gear ratio. If I can, I will have a sprocket machined to fit my bike and report on it.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Onederer on 01/22/08 at 19:04:31

Kept properly adjusted, It's like a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. Harley has used them since the 80's, and with excellent results, and over the years, thier belts have gotten narrower, near half the width the Savage currently uses(Done to fit a wider rear tire). The main variable (maybe?)between Harley, and Savage belt would be materials and quality. One huge difference, if it breaks, you don't have to dissasemble half the engine :o, like big twin Harley owners do, just to replace the thing. If you ever take it off, 1.Put it back on running in the same direction. 2. Don't bend it backwards, or tighter than the front pulley would. Those things could, and have led to premature failure.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Trippah on 01/22/08 at 20:26:53

steely, I think most of us would prefer a higher top gear for highway riding. Wouldn't that translate into a larger rear sprocket? To be clear as I am not mechanically inclined, we are talking rear wheel located sprocket. All of which is to say, if you can get a machine shop to make, and a belts to go towards improving the highway ride (A major reason for the chain conversions) it might be a significant seller.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Reelthing on 01/22/08 at 20:29:49

53756E7777666F070 wrote:

steely, I think most of us would prefer a higher top gear for highway riding. Wouldn't that translate into a larger rear sprocket?

pssst... smaller rear would lower the engine rpms

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Trippah on 01/23/08 at 05:19:20

Thanks Reelthing.thats what I'm talking about. I always thought the smaller the rear sprocket the more torque but lower rpms..Yeah I flunked wood shop too, couldn't get a three legged stool to sit evenly, it just kept getting shorter and shorter funtil it was lpsided wooden disk. If it weren't 8 am, I get a beer and think this thing trough a bit more :D

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Jerry Eichenberger on 01/23/08 at 06:31:16

Go out and look at the rear sprockets on a ten speed bicycle. The smaller the sprocket, the higher the gearing and the higher the forward speed for a given pedal rpm.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Reelthing on 01/23/08 at 06:37:07

cheers [smiley=beer.gif] it's 5 o'clock somewhere -

back on subject looks to me like the rear pulley is likely to wear out first unless you get some damage/holes in the belt like I did - it was still going around but a near new one was had off ebay for like $15-20 so it was swap'd out - here's a pic of one with thats 12 years old and had 25k miles on it kept it for a spare - likely still has a lot of miles left in it

http://reelthing.savageriders.com/pics/savage/DSCF0124.JPG

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by steely on 01/27/08 at 06:54:10

After doing a little more research, I believe that the drive belt on the Savage is made by a company called Bando. I haven't been able to get any more information on our specific belt.

The Gates belt I am looking at is the Polychain GT Carbon. It boasts a maintenance-free lifetime of three times that of a properly maintained roller chain. Plus, it has the added bonus of having a cool blue inner surface! I will post more information when I have more...

Whew, I am not sure about the above belt. I just got done looking up comparable sizes to what we have on the bike now. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $470.00 on the belt alone. :o At that price, the chain conversion makes a lot of sense.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Savage_Greg on 01/27/08 at 06:59:27

7A7D6C6C6570090 wrote:

Yes, that's the name. I think it is visible on the belts of newer bikes.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by steely on 01/27/08 at 07:27:46

A Gates product may not be the way to go on this. The cheapest synchronous belt with the proper tooth profile and approximate length runs about $280.00. The stock belt from Suzuki is about $180.00.

I need to contact Bando in my official capacity and find out more about their product.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Oldfeller on 01/27/08 at 07:33:44

Steely,

Ask Bando if they have smaller rear pulleys that would fit our bike. Then ask them if they have a slack tensioner assembly (little free spinning pulley on a bearing that is jacked out on the bottom of our belt loop to take up the slack generated from smaller rear pulley).

I own a chain conversion that I haven't put in place yet, would prefer a smaller Bando rear pulley with a slack-taker-upper to let me keep my stock belt.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by steely on 01/27/08 at 07:42:49

4F6C6466656C6C6572000 wrote:

I know Gates makes a tensioner that would work. Synchronous belts have to be tensioned from the back (non-toothed) side of the belt. I am not sure if there would be room for it with all of the guards on.

I will get an email in to Bando on Monday from work to see what they have for this particular drive system.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Oldfeller on 01/27/08 at 07:48:17

They can be retensioned from the toothed side, it just takes a free wheeling small toothed pulley to do it. Smooth side tensioner is simply easier to do. Both sides are available to us on the bottom run of our stock belts.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Reelthing on 01/27/08 at 07:52:13

pretty tough to justify even the $180 suzuki list price ($129.22 @ crotchrocket.com) when ebay belts come up like this one - it's from a 2003 bike with 11k miles on it - likely to sell w/ship'n for around $30

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2003-SUZUKI-LS650-LS-650-SAVAGE-DRIVE-BELT_W0QQitemZ110214678582QQihZ001QQcategoryZ35600QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by steely on 01/27/08 at 08:08:21

4176767F677B7A7D74130 wrote:

Yeah, and that is where a tensioner would come in handy. No need to replace a perfectly good belt with a very pricey replacement. I have been thinking about it, and it would not be hard to make a new tensioner base to mount to the swing arm and tension the belt for a smaller rear pulley.

Title: Re: Drive Belt
Post by Lazy Old Rider on 01/27/08 at 10:44:16

This site is really good, looked at the change to chain thread and asked myself why?
Thought I better ask why?, then here we have a thread on the pro side, mostly.

In uk Most bikes are chain driven, my learner 125cc bike was chain driven, my Daughters was too. Now my chain was lubed and I had no problem but my daughter used it more and did not lube as much as she should, chain kept getting slack and she eneded up having to change chain and sprockets.

So one up for a maintenance free belt.

Now I do have a number of friends who are Victory Riders, we had a local agent, so I talked to a number of owners with da belts.

The most common problem with a belt is when you get a bit of sharp grit caught in the belt as it starts to cut it ending with a break.

So you should always check to make sure the belt is clean (brushing off grit etc).

Now over here normal road use is on hard roads, a bit bumpy and pot holed at times, but still a Road.

Now in the States I expect some may drive a little off road in some states and are more liable to pick up stones etc on back woods road or something, so I am guessing that your preference is based on where you ride, so when you report your experiences of belt useage the conditions of use would also be advantageous.