So before I do more work on my 95 I was wondering if I should address my front pulley noise.  I read through the troubleshooting guides here and they typically point to pulley/belt issues.

 A local mechanic said since its only squealing (and its loud) when I apply throttle that its a final drive issue and it needs reworked.  Its silent unless I apply throttle and its worse in higher gears.

 It seems like the belt is a bit too tight and I'm pretty sure that there's an oversize tire (150 - 90) so there isn't any more room to move the rear tire forward.  So I'm looking for suggestions, do I have a smaller tire put on, a new belt, or dump a few grand into the front pulley shaft (or whatever its officially called) before I have some catastrophic failure?

 Thanks for any insight here.

You need to be sure the front pulley nut is tight - this is really important.

If you can't move your rear wheel forward to adjust proper belt tension - your rear tire is too big.  Having the belt too tight will ruin it - look for small tension cracks across the outside of the belt.....for some reason they develop white streaks after a while that make them easy to spot.  (Tighten your pants belt 3 notches too tight, and you will get an idea what this is doing to your bike).

Grab your rear pulley, and see how badly it wobbles - don't rotate it - but try moving the front of the pulley in toward the tire and then out from the tire.  If it wobbles more than a small amount, you have worn the pulley hub bearing with your overly tight belt.  You can try the rubber floor mat shim method listed in the Tech Section - or you may have to replace the bearing.  It is also possible to have a bushing machined for the rear pulley hub that eliminates the excess play....and this keeps the belt in alignment and the associated noise (When you accelerate the torque is pulling the rear pulley crooked - and the belt then rubs on the side of the front pulley.

You can also bevel the edge of the teeth on the belt, and this helps to reduce noise.

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1446828836/0

Eegore wrote on 04/22/17 at 07:20:21:


I think we've heard just as many issues with the main shaft bearing as the wheel bearings.  Neither one usually.

I don't see where you've told us how much tension is on the belt.
How much can you twist it?
or how much will it flop up and down?  Typical chain measurement.

I've had a bad bearing in my counter balancer, and that would squeal very loudly... intermittently like bad belt on a car.

Until the belt tension and alignment are correct knowing if something is wrong deeper inside won't be easy. You've gotta get those things right, even if you hafta get a tire. You should not be riding with the belt like a banjo string. That could cause problems.

 Regarding belt tension I can twist it 90 degrees by gripping the center lower band with one hand (thumb and all fingers) however my friend can not unless he applies "decent" force.  His girlfriend cant twist it more than maybe 40 degrees.  I can not twist it a full 90 degrees with one finger and thumb.

 I cant find anything about testing tension by moving the belt up/down.  Also unless I'm seeing how to do this wrong I can not adjust the tension to be more loose as the tire is all the way forward.

 Ive used this as reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2ZsZzTwRyk

 I can pretty much replicate whats going on there although there's no real "measurements" going on.

 

A method that I use for "chain" alignment is to remove the belt/chain guard so that I can look along the belt and easily see the alignment. A long straight edge also helps. As Batman said the marks are not really a good guide for accurate work.

 Alright so after looking through these forums and making what adjustments I can I think I have it down to the problem being both options, bad belt alignment and front bearing (or whatever it is that makes up the front pulley assembly).

 If I lube up my belt there is less noise, but once I'm in 3rd gear there is definitely squeal off the front pulley that happens even if throttle isn't applied.  

 Problem is I have a 150/90 tire (even though Ive been told it wont fit, I assure you its there) so I cant adjust the rear pulley any further forward so I might just be stuck with bad belt tension for a while.

4500-5500.  Is that dollars?  Sorry, no idea where you are.  You can get a new bike for that.