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.  At that price, the chain conversion makes a lot of sense.

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.

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 01/27/08 at 07:33:44:


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.

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_W0Q...

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.