Headlight Bulb and Drive Belt - 2004 Chopper

[Moespeeds]

Hey guys, my headlight is blown out, I took the thing apart, then lost the paper with the headlight number on it. Can anyone tell me what headlight bulb I need for my 2004 Chopper? The headlight is a PM. Also, I'm going to need a new final drive belt this spring. Is there an upgrade from what Big Dog supplies? Mine squeaks, and I've already been through the whole alignment thing 10 times without any improvement. I've actually been greasing the sides of the belt. I'm hoping a different brand or better belt will fix the problem. I've got the 04 Chopper/Daytec frame with the 117" engine, left side drive. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Moe
2004 Big Dog Chopper DT

 

[Gas Man]

First a welcome/intro in that section would be great.

The headlight. Most likely its a H4. With the exception of the color it should look like this, being the PM one is the same as the stocks.

That being said, it should also be engraved on the metal just around the bulb.

On the belt. Why do you say you need to replace the belt? Could be the pulley. What has been done to "align" it. I'm not sure about the 04's but there are plenty of guys here more familiar.

 

[Moespeeds]

Actually I'm from the old Big Dog Owners Group, just my first post here. Anyway, I'm changing the belt because I'm switching to an open primary, and may as well do the belt while I'm at it, I've got 7500 very hard miles on it, 3000 of which the rear wheel was badly out of alignment. Belt is showing some minor wear on the teeth. It has not been laser aligned, but aligned by myself and more experienced mechanic buddies several times, with no change in the squeal. Next step will be to change to a chrome pulley as per Big Dog.

Moe

 

[rwill20]

Had the same problem on my 04 Chopper ,belt broke at 18000 some odd miles replace with a Gateway belt then only did it a little backing the Dog up.seems like it was 132 teeth belt hope this helps.

 

[Gas Man]

Well you should do some checking... there is a thread here on chrome pulley. That is not where you want to go from the sounds of it...

 

[lee]

if you have been riding hard with the belt misaligned is there a chance you could have worn the teflon coating on the pulley?

 

[alhall88]

Good to hear from you moe, I've been lucky on my 04 chopper (daytec as well) on the belt squeal never had it. By the way what belt drive you going with, as you may already know the primo brute IV is the only made to fit for our 1-7/16 offset. There are other ways to fit one but you'll have to machine down some spacers and front pulley to use a standard offset.

 

[Moespeeds]

When I bought the bike it needed a new rear tire. I brought it to Big Dog and they did the change. About 1k miles later it started chirping. I dealt with it for a summer, about 3k miles, then decided to rip everything apart at the end of the season. This was my first belt drive bike and I had no idea what I was dealing with. I got a lift and when I had the rear wheel in the air, it looked like Ray Charles did the alignment on a bad drunk. I got everything straight, checked the belt tracking, opened primary and checked bushings/bearings, changed dust shields, adjusted primary chain. No improvement. I found that washing the belt/pulley fixed the problem for a few hundred miles. Big Dog is telling me the chirping is caused by the aluminum rear pulley wearing and the dust on the belt, and that a chrome pulley will fix the problem? I'm considering going to a chain drive as well, but it's so close to riding season I don't want to get involved in all the custom fitting. I was planning on getting that BDL drive, but I haven't researched it yet. I saw an 04 Chopper with this setup, but just assumed it would fit? I gotta call Viki and get the scoop.

Moe

 

[barhopper]

When I bought the bike it needed a new rear tire. I brought it to Big Dog and they did the change. About 1k miles later it started chirping. I dealt with it for a summer, about 3k miles, then decided to rip everything apart at the end of the season. This was my first belt drive bike and I had no idea what I was dealing with. I got a lift and when I had the rear wheel in the air, it looked like Ray Charles did the alignment on a bad drunk. I got everything straight, checked the belt tracking, opened primary and checked bushings/bearings, changed dust shields, adjusted primary chain. No improvement. I found that washing the belt/pulley fixed the problem for a few hundred miles. Big Dog is telling me the chirping is caused by the aluminum rear pulley wearing and the dust on the belt, and that a chrome pulley will fix the problem? I'm considering going to a chain drive as well, but it's so close to riding season I don't want to get involved in all the custom fitting. I was planning on getting that BDL drive, but I haven't researched it yet. I saw an 04 Chopper with this setup, but just assumed it would fit? I gotta call Viki and get the scoop.

Moe

BDL on mine. 04 bulldog, RSD. works great.

 

[Moespeeds]

Actually I was looking at the Ultima with the bearing supports, not sure what I was thinking when I wrote BDL there...

 

[barhopper]

Mine has bearing supports also.

 

[Gas Man]

Al... can he align this the same way we did mine? By loosening the motor and tranny, checking the alignment of the rear axle to the pivit bolt, then tightening everything back up?

 

[alhall88]

yep the process is the same left or right side drive/ sounds like he done this a couple times already. my thinking is to replace the belt and rear pulley and possibly check the front pulley as well because if this thing has been out of alignment for so long the wear pattern may be irreversable

 

[Moespeeds]

That's what we did, using steel straight edges, and in the end really just eyeballing the way the belt runs on the pulleys. Front and rear pulley look ok but who knows. I keep the squealing to a minimum by keeping the belt and pulleys clean, and rubbing some grease on the sides of the belt every once in awile. When I rode to wildwood last summer, I actually brought a small can of WD40 with me to lube my belt so my friends wouldn't bust my balls! Anyway, if it bothers me enough this summer, I'll just switch it to a chain. I'm going to keep the bike for awile, with the chopper prices being in the toilet and all.

Moe

 

[Drewv1]

I feel you on the squeek, I just replaced the belt with a panther belt which was supposed to run quietter according to my dealer. It is better than the Gates belt but I still have the chip on acceleraton. I also replaced the front pulley. It was quiet as can bee for about 100 miles and then it started back up again.
Let me know if replacing with the chrome helps out.