Broken Belt

kjbsporty · #1 19th February 2005

I just got done warming my bike up. It was great to hear it run and sit on her and think about riding. I would have gone for a ride but I need a new belt. So here is the question. Has anyone broke a belt? I have broke THREE ! The first one was at 40,000. I am not sure if that was wear, loose belt or a combination. It did not show much wear and I was getting on it when it broke. I did not replace the pulley even though I was told it should be when a belt brakes. It didn't look that bad. The next one was at 46,000 miles. This one was probably the pulley. The belt shows no wear on the outside edges. They snap straight across. This last time was at 64,000 miles. I am now replacing the pulley also. The chrome is chipped off on the majority of the teeth. What kind of milage is everyone getting? Harley stealers have told me 40k-50k miles. I know some people with 65k-80k on an original belt.

Thanks
Kevin

IronMick · #2 19th February 2005

Mine broke at around 20,000 miles. There was a thread on this topic on the old XL forum. You might try a search there.

Desertfox · #3 20th February 2005

Probably depends how you ride. If you do a lot of burn outs and wheelies and flog it a lot probably pretty hard on the belt. If you're a mild mannered commuter, probably get a lot more life out of one.

stevo · #4 20th February 2005

Check your belt tension...

having it too tight will reduce the life of the belt...

How they are used seems to have little affect....

My first one lasted 40,000 HARD kays and snapped on a first/second gear change at the strip....

The second had another 42,000+k's and was fine when I pulled the bike down....
The second one was still fine

I know customers that are getting up near 100,000 kays and others that are lucky to get 20,000 ....ridin the same sort of rides..

willprevale · #5 20th February 2005

I've heard som scuttle about the pulley teeth. Seems like they sometimes wear sharp enough to cut thru the belt.