Eegore wrote on 05/06/17 at 16:20:33:


Mine fit too.  Going down the road, centrifugal forces would cause the tire''s radius to grow, allowing it to rub in the center of the swingarm about the time I shifted from third to forth.  If you can't move the rear tire forward enough to adjust the belt, then does the tire really fit?

SALB wrote on 05/07/17 at 14:40:06:



 I'm familiar with tire expansion, but I have no wear/rub marks on my swingarm which I assume I would see something where it rubs right?  With the bike jacked up I can definitely hear noise only at the front pulley while my friend shifts forward in gears.  Once this tire wears out I will reduce size so I wont have to worry about replacing pulleys and belts.

 I can twist the belt with no problem, however my friend cant get a full 90 degrees and his girlfriend can barely move it so it might be too tight.  The 90 degree twist method has a lot of variables.

 In any case since the front pulley is not completely straight I was looking to find out if I have options beyond replacing the pulley or if that doesn't work rebuilding the front drive and if I go that route Im just going to have the whole engine done while its apart.

I can twist the belt with no problem, however my friend cant get a full 90 degrees and his girlfriend can barely move it so it might be too tight.

I wouldn't argue with you.
The cost of replacing stuff inside the engine might be more than one tire.
Not saying you w i ll, but it would seem like a possible problem a Too Tight belt Could cause.
If a Genuine Suzuki belt tensioner guide says it's okay, it's too tight to run quietly.

If you can't adjust the proper belt tension without the tire rubbing the swing arm.....the tire is too big.

A belt that is a bit too loose is much better than a belt that is too tight.  When you have the belt too tight it puts excessive pressure on the countershaft bearing at the front pulley, the rear pulley, and the belt.  A new belt is 3 times the cost of a new tire......and far cheaper than replacing a countershaft bearing that requires complete disassembly of the engine.

If you have cracks across the outside of the belt....your belt is already damaged.  Here is a photo that shows a crack beginning on the outside of a belt - for some reason they get white deposits at the cracks.

It seems funny that your willing to spend 5000 on a rebuild ,but you won't spend the money to just buy a 140/90/15 tire to try and fix part your problem. (the belt being to tight)  the bearings on the drive shaft being inside the case have very little chance of being damaged,if you take off the drive pulley cover ,you should be looking at the in side of it ,there are a couple of raised webs and if you see anywhere the pulley has scraped it ,your front pulley is loose and moving in and out on the splines,You should have the rear wheel off to change the tire ,so remove the belt a try to shake the shaft ,to check for play in the bearings,next place the bike in gear and try to move the pulley front and back this would tell you the splines are worn another indication the nut is loose. the nut should be torqued to 94 ft/lbs. Next you need to inspect the rear drive,check the bearing in the drive pulley for play ,and before removal grab it at 3and 9 o'clock does it wiggle? Bad bearing or you need to do the "rubber mat "mod or seeing you had it off to do the 150 tire mount did you put the spacer that goes between the wheel and the drive pulley in properly or backward or missing? On reassembly spin the tire frontward and backward to align ,don't go buy the factory lines on the swingarm .You could buy a new bike for5000, you could spend 5000 on a motor rebuild and still have the same problem,or you could spend less than 200 and  fix the problem ,you choose!

Pick up some belt dressing....

Eegore,

I'm going to chime in here to suggest that you are ignoring some valuable advice that a few of the previous responders to your posts have offered. I don't wan't to offend you but I think you need to consider this.

Quote:


In my opinion, regardless of what is causing the noise, a 4500 to 5000 dollar engine rebuild on a 22 year old motorcycle that is worth, optimistically and in excellent condition, about a thousand dollars, is not "handy" it is economic insanity.

The MSRP of a brand new 2017, S40 ( what Suzuki now calls the Savage)  is $5,799. Excellent condition five to ten year old examples with very low mileage can be found in the two to three thousand dollar range.

I don't know what the used motorcycle market is like where you live, but I suspect it can't be that different from what it is like here in Western New York. Craigslist and even the large motorsports dealers within 50 or so miles of where I live are literally awash in excellent, mechanically sound used motorcycles of all different brands in the 4 to 5 thousand dollar price range.

It's your money,  and your motorcycle, and I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do, but before you hand your bike over to the guy who offered to rebuild the motor at least give my comments some consideration.

 Im not really looking for another bike to chop up, at this point Im just wondering more along the technical lines of if belt would make noise only after 3rd gear.

 My assumption is that it would make noise in all gears and not just 3 on up, but I could be wrong.