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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Belt Squeak!
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Message started by mscepu101 on 08/24/11 at 15:23:45

Title: Belt Squeak!
Post by mscepu101 on 08/24/11 at 15:23:45

I ride a 1999 LS650 with 7400 original miles and I sure it has the original belt. However, when ever I push my bike into the garage (bike is not running) for the night after my daily ride from work the [b]belt squeaks!

Is this normal?

My brother-in-law has a two year old HD and has no belt "sqeakage".

Should I be concern?

Title: Re: Belt Squeak!
Post by verslagen1 on 08/24/11 at 15:33:54

if you can't hear it while riding it's not important.

Title: Re: Belt Squeak!
Post by lukeduck on 08/24/11 at 19:11:39

Loud belts save lives??????

Title: Re: Belt Squeak!
Post by Oldfeller on 08/24/11 at 19:32:00

What you hear is perfectly normal -- your belt is practically new so it will squeak some on occasion, especially if it gets wet in the rain. You get used to it, the squeak becomes less and less noisy over time.

You can lube the belt with wax (paraffin) or other forms of wax based lubricants, it helps only temporarily.

Remember, our belt is not made of rubber like a hurley belt, it is hard industrial high temp plastic and the inner core is a straight line of very very strong tire cord.

What will blow your mind is that the plastic cracks that will form on the upper surface inside the bend grooves -- and this is intentional and it means nothing to the integrity of the teeth and the cords. Perfectly normal.

Some of us (me included) took 4" angle grinders to the sides of the teeth and relieved them at a narrow 5-7 degree angle on the tooth portion, leaving the flat portion pretty much alone. This removes the squeak more or less permanently (don't have to wax it very much any more). The plastic is very hard and very tough, grinders remove it but very slowly.

It takes like 20,000 miles to wear the teeth in to the pulleys and there is about equal wear on the aluminum pulley to the wear amount on the teeth.

Belt breakage is very very rare, even with rocks getting pushed up through the belt the belts last 10.000's more miles with a hole in them. I can count failed (broken) belts on one hand. We treat the belts as immortal and by and large no matter how we abuse them, they are immortal.

Hurley belts require replacement -- ours don't.

Title: Re: Belt Squeak!
Post by Routy on 08/25/11 at 05:07:14

Yep, mine squeaks, but only when it feels like it, mostly when cold.
It had me worried for a while after replacing the rear tire, because it didn't hardly squeak,.....but its back to normal now, except I hardly hear it anymore.

Title: Re: Belt Squeak!
Post by Bubba on 08/25/11 at 06:23:58

Also, if your belt is too tight it will squeak more. Most folks seem to set their belt tension by twisting it with your hand right in the center/bottom. If you can twist it to 90 degrees then that's about right. :)