SuzukiSavage.com - Belts-R-Us!

Armen

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Belts-R-Us!
09/27/19 at 08:14:16

So, one of my early goals was to keep the belt drive on my Savage project (no name yet, but a bunch of lame possibilities).
Thanks to the clever research by Dave, I modified a Kawi front pulley to swap for the original. Good news, lower revs. Bad news, the wheel sits so far forward I had to open up the axle adjuster slot with a die grinder to be able to adjust the belt tension. And I had to cut the swingarm brace to clear (also using an 18" rear wheel).
Here is the axle position with the OEM belt and a little slack.

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Savage_adjuster_with_OEM_belt.jpg

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Armen

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Re: Belts-R-Us!
Reply #1 - 09/27/19 at 08:20:47

A few people have tried to find replacement belts for the bikes. But no reported success.
One thing that I just couldn't stand was how wide the belt was. 40mm. Over 1-1/2". For a lightweight bike making maybe 25 HP.
Kinda goofy.
Lots of belt drive heavier/more powerful bikes using MUCH narrower belts.
So, I decided to narrow the belts and pulleys. Cut the belt down on a table saw and whittled the pulleys on the lathe and milling machine. Now 25mm/1". Much less goofy looking.
And I offset the lower shock mount (of the shock itself) and shortened the top shock mount on the frame by about an inch/25mm.
Much less goofy looking.
Not wanting to have only one belt, I bought a used one on Ebay to modify. New OEM ones are a few million dollars, so I bought used.
Looking closely, I saw that both were in various states of dry rot. And one had a hole in it :-0
Not thrilled.

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Armen

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Re: Belts-R-Us!
Reply #2 - 09/27/19 at 08:30:18

I happened to be digging through the factory service manual and came upon the alphanumeric code for the belt.
I called up my favorite belt and bearing people (Worldwide Bearing in Fairfield NJ) and read off the number.
"Does this exist?" I asked. "And, any chance it exists in two teeth longer, and only 25mm?".
Hmm
Lots of head scratching and Chris come up with 3 possibilities.
He can get the equivalent of stock, with a fiberglass cord.
Or, they have a MUCH better/stronger one.
Or, they have a MUCHMUCHMUCH stronger steel braided core one.
How about the widths? I ask.
Hmm
Seems this belt comes on a roll. They cross cut it to whatever width you want.
At this point I have the stock width 40mm pulleys, a set of 25mm pulleys, and a 22mm-7/8" wide front pulley that I never made a matching rear one for.
"Any idea of the load ratings of these 3 belts?
No, but the manufacturer claims the steel core one is Much stronger than the middle grade one which is much stronger than the OEM type.
Doing a completely non-scientific comparison, I figure that the OohBabyOohBabyOoh steel one is prob what big heavy bikes are using.
So, I order one cut to 25mm/1", as I haven't finished modifying a rear pulley, and I kinda want to finish the bike before I die of old age.
A few days later a wonderful new belt, 2 teeth longer (140) shows up in the mail for a very reasonable $170 or so.

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Savage_OEM_and_Megadyne_belts.jpg

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Armen Serious Thumper Offline Half-Witted Wrench-Jockey from Jersey Posts: 1452	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #3 - 09/27/19 at 08:31:20 Of course I check the new belt with the OEM rear pulley and the fit is perfect!
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Armen Serious Thumper Offline Half-Witted Wrench-Jockey from Jersey Posts: 1452	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #4 - 09/27/19 at 08:32:31 And the best part, is I now have a belt that puts the adjuster in the happy zone.
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Armen Serious Thumper Offline Half-Witted Wrench-Jockey from Jersey Posts: 1452	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #5 - 09/27/19 at 08:36:34 My original test machining was done on a pretty nasty rear pulley. The chrome was flaking off, and so forth. Once I saw that the gag should work, I modified a second one. Here is a stock front pulley for reference, and two of my modified rear ones. Now have the thinner, cleaner, happier one on the bike
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DragBikeMike Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 4401 Honolulu	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #6 - 09/27/19 at 14:13:24 Wow! That is sweet. You are a genius Armen. Can you share some of those alpha numeric numbers, maybe the part number for the stock replacement in the mid-strength grade, the part number for the narrow belt you purchased, manufacturer, stuff like that? Really nice post.
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springman Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2217 Spring, Texas Gender:	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #7 - 09/27/19 at 18:40:05 That was impressive Armen. Cool!!
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Hiko

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Re: Belts-R-Us!
Reply #8 - 09/27/19 at 18:51:14

You really are a genius Armen
I too wondered why the belt was so wide compared to much bigger bikes
I suspect the narrower belt will track better too especially in concert with the double row rear pulley bearing mod.
Incidentally I have foung a smidgen of silicon grease on the pulley flange on each side quietens that annoying belt chirp It takes hardly any at all to do the trick.

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zevenenergie Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1384 The Netherlands Den Haag	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #9 - 09/28/19 at 01:02:27 Sweet
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Armen

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Re: Belts-R-Us!
Reply #10 - 09/28/19 at 04:51:25

Thanks for all the kind words.
Hiko- I did DBM's double wide bearing mod. I'm sire the carrier runs true and will stay that way. I also Loctited the stepped spacers into the double wide bearing from both sides to give a much longer engagement surface with the axle. It ain't going anywhere.
DBM-I'll dig out all the numbers and post them soon.
thanks,
-Armen

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ohiomoto Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2770	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #11 - 09/28/19 at 06:25:00 But you could have sliced that million dollar OEM belt and had two of them and saved even more weight!! Those 2 extra teeth and all that steel is adding so much weight!! Now your are going to have to get the mill fired up and put some more holes somewhere.
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Armen Serious Thumper Offline Half-Witted Wrench-Jockey from Jersey Posts: 1452	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #12 - 09/28/19 at 07:29:51 Yeah, Ohio, I sure your concern I'm going to put some pics up of the side stand. That def saved some weight. Maybe you'll feel better after you see those pics
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BrokeAss Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 69	Re: Belts-R-Us! Reply #13 - 09/28/19 at 14:01:05 Chain converson FTW...
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ohiomoto

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Re: Belts-R-Us!
Reply #14 - 09/28/19 at 16:47:37

Armen wrote on 09/28/19 at 07:29:51:

Yeah, Ohio, I sure your concern

I'm going to put some pics up of the side stand. That def saved some weight.
Maybe you'll feel better after you see those pics Wink

I love your pictures and can't wait to see more as the build progresses. And to be clear, I poke a little fun, but I actually love your work and your desire to cut weight off the bike.

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