Problem: Belt noise when I come to a stop???

[Mario77746]

I don't know what the problem is. I took my other 05 RB with 7k miles on it out for a test run and when I came to a stop, I heard the drive belt making some noise. It was only from 5mph to a stop. Could it be from overtightening? Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Roaddawg]

On a number of occasions I have had my belt drive "squeal" while riding. It does not do it all the time, generally at certain speeds. I have been led to believe it is due to misalignment. The shop boys just tell me to wet a rag with wd-40 and wipe the belt and that will stop it. It does, but only for awhile.

 

[Fibersnake]

I would take it right back in and say WTF, especially if it was not squelling before. A good portion of the time squell at the belt are due to misalignment and if this is the case and they just worked on it, more reasons to take it back. After all you paid for them to get it right.

A misaligned belt can and will created unneeded wear on the drive pulley and belt and potintial over a period of time wear the belt bad and weaken it to the point it may fell at the wrong time (not that there is any right time).

Worse you can have the belt create a problem and give you a major pucker factor while riding, best-you spend money before needed to get a new belt replaced and maybe other parts.

 

[Coolbreeze]

You should have it, but I'll ask anyway. Is your rear pulley TEFLON coated? If it is you may have an alignment problem. The belt tracks over against the outside lip of the pulley and squeels. If your pulley is not teflon coated, over time you'll wear the rear pulley to were the alluminum gets in the belt. My 04 Boxer is just starting to squeak.

 

[Mario77746]

The belt was hitting the lip on the rear pully. I checked alignment. It was ok. I took some gear lube and only put it on the outside edge of the belt where it came in contact with the pulley. Problem fixed. No more noise.

 

[danosrs]

I used to use the adjusters one side at a time to get the belt to ride in the middle of the pulley, it would take some time since back then I had no lift so I would take it for a short ride and then check the belt, like I said it always took time to get it just right so you know which side to adjust to get the belt to move left or right, also you need to maintain the belt tension to avoid squeek (loose) or overtighten the belt. On the Husky I have now I was lucky and the belt rides in the middle of the rear pulley, less then 1/16th of an inch on each side. Lately I have been using a dial caliper to make sure my adjusters are exactly the same length adjusted.

Am I crazy for using this method :loony:

 

[Gas Man]

The belt was hitting the lip on the rear pully. I checked alignment. It was ok. I took some gear lube and only put it on the outside edge of the belt where it came in contact with the pulley. Problem fixed. No more noise.

Sorry bud but that's not fixing the problem... that's covering it up!

Which lip was it hitting? If it was the inside you can buy a shim for the rear hub and space it out.

Could also loosen the motor and tranny and slide it over a bit to get the proper alignment on the drivetrain to rear pulley.

 

[surferdude]

How to take off the pulley?

Sorry bud but that's not fixing the problem... that's covering it up!

Which lip was it hitting? If it was the inside you can buy a shim for the rear hub and space it out.

Could also loosen the motor and tranny and slide it over a bit to get the proper alignment on the drivetrain to rear pulley.

Has anybody taken off the back pulley? I see the 2 bolts on each side of he axle ... is there an adjustment to loosen the belt to take it off ... I know a guy that will modify the pulley to stop belt sqweek and belt wear ... thanks

 

[Gas Man]

Removed the back wheel and pulley... let me think about that for a min...

yeah I think I've done that...

First off, "modify the pulley to stop belt sqweek and belt wear"... better check out what he plans on doing.. this has been discussed alot here lately. There are alot of half truths to this topic.

Taking off the rear pulley is as simple as pulling the rear wheel and then the bolts holding it on. Simple.

Those 2 bolts on each side of the axle are for your alignment adjustment as shown below.

 

[Raywood]

Has anybody taken off the back pulley? I see the 2 bolts on each side of he axle ... is there an adjustment to loosen the belt to take it off ... I know a guy that will modify the pulley to stop belt sqweek and belt wear ... thanks

Sounds like you need to pick up a manual if you are going to be tinkering on your scoot.

As for the pulley it's historically tension or alignment that causes the squelling. Your post says you have an 05 so it's teflon coated.
About the only mod I would recommend is this one as a permanent solution after you verify tension and alignment.

http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/dog-pound/1060-squeaky-ass-belt.html

 

[karata]

Knowledgebase:

Good afternoon,just a few tech tips on the belt noise and wear:
1--Gates PolyChain belts are prone to noise.
2--Belts will always track to the right if you are going forward,ie the cord is twisted in a Z twist to acomplish this and their are 2 more twist being a S&Z that makes the belt track to the left,used on left side drives.Supercharger drives for the drag cars use a S twist and the belt will track nuetral.
3--Alignment is very important for belt wear & noise,angular makes the tooth of the belt engage into the tooth of the pulley at 90 degrees and therefore applys the load on the full width of the tooth on the belt.
4--Use a straight edge from the face of the rear pulley to the face of the front pulley,check the thickness of each retaining flange of both pulleys and deduct the differance for parallel.Rear pulley may have to be moved in or out depending on the measurements.
5--Adjust axle for belt tension keeping in mind the parallel in step 4,move both the adjusters in until they touch the axle without moving your parallel alignment ,next do not measure anything just count the (flats or hex) on your adjusters evenly as you turn them in for the correct tension .
6--Wehave Goodyear belt that are quiet.
Jim@Karata

 

[bdmridgeback]

On another note, to screw you up. My 05 Ridgeback was doing the same thing.
Squeeking started at about 5-10 mph coming to a stop and quit when I stopped.

It started after I washed the bike one day, parked afterwards and it sat for about two weeks.

Well I figured out the squeek last week. I figured it was also only with the clutch lever pulled in and clutch disengaged. So, I pulled the pipes, the right side pulley cover and yanked the clutch pushrod. It got a little water in it and got dry and started sqeeking coming to a stop with the clutch in. After some grease, it was all good again.

Just another thing to look at.