Thought I would tell you guys how I fixed my belt squeal squeak
I Just started getting the darn belt squeal squeak lately and was talking
with a guy who knows a lot about farm equipment that use belts.
Anyway ... he suggested that I look at the adjusters on both sides
and see were they were set. and adjust the right side one a little loser.
This will bring the belt AWAY from the outside edge of the pulley.
On my bike BOTH were set to the 4th mark exactly on both sides.
So I lose end the right side a tad so the mark was at 4 + 1/8 + or so.
Do not move the left side one !
I would assume you could move it + more if it doesn't help.
And Guess What ? No More belt squeal squeak !
And on the plus side bike seems to run "smother" at like 70mph!
Anyway .. IDK if this will work for you but it did me ...
Hope this helps! Good Luck !
Last time I changed my rear tire, I matched the alignment marks up with the belt at the proper tension and the wheel was so bound up it would not turn. Had to take the belt guards off and do it the old fashioned way, by the old eye-ball method. Measured the alignment marks to the swing arm pivot point and there was almost 1/8" difference (one full mark). Wheel turns freely, belt is centered in the pulleys with no squeal and the bike tracks straight as an arrow. Left side is on #4 mark, right is on #3. Go figure.
I went though the same process of adjusting the wheel so the belt would run right down the middle of the rear belt pulley. Yes, I ended up with the let and right sides off by one mark, about a 1/4". Yes, there was no belt squeak. However the bike did not feel right afterwards.
So after doing this adjustment, I check the Kawasaki VN2000 shop manual. The manual says, "To keep the belt and wheel aligned, the notch on the right belt adjuster should align with the same swing arm mark that the left belt adjuster notch aligns with".
Think about it this way, if the belt adjusters are not on the same notch, is the rear wheel perpendicular to the direction the bike is moving? No... So what is the long term result? the rear tire will not last as long and possible affect mpg.
I put the adjustment back to the factory recommended specification and put up with the squeak. The bike has 45K+ and the belt still looks good.
Think about it this way, if the belt adjusters are not on the same notch, is the rear wheel perpendicular to the direction the bike is moving? No... So what is the long term result? the rear tire will not last as long and possible affect mpg.
I put the adjustment back to the factory recommended specification and put up with the squeak. The bike has 45K+ and the belt still looks good.
I don't mean to belittle anyones expertise, but a farmers knowledge on conveyors should not be transferred to the drive belt on ones bike. two completely different things. just arbriraly adjusting the tensioners to center the belt is wrong. there are many posts on here that go into great detail on how to stop the squeal. by doing what you have done, there is a good chance the bearings are now not running true in their races, resulting in premature failure. its agreed that the markes on the frame can be inaccurate, so the best way to be square is to measure the thread out of the tensioners. the squeal is then dealt with by adjusting the tension of the belt, and finding that sweet spot.
Drive and or Driven pulleys don't last forever. I just put on a new front pulley with 70k on my 06' VN900 and that solved all of my belt noises and the bike smoothed out some also. I also used my belt tensioner gauge to properly set the belt tension the way the engineers designed it to be. Also set the wheel adjusters so the belt ran just slightly to the outside of the rear pulley. I look at the edges of the rear pulley and the outside edge has a lot of meat on it and a slight bevel to it while the inside edge has a very thin edge to it like sheet metal almost. I would want my belt running on the outside more than the inside of the pulley for just that reason. Also the front pulley has no inside edge to it while it also has a meaty and beveled edge to it on the outside. I'd bet thats by design for a reason. Just wanted to add my 2 cents on this one.
I had a belt squeal plus my handlebars were pointed to the right running straight down the road. I adjusted the rear wheel and it stopped the squeal and straightened up my handlebars. The bearings on the rear are sealed bearing on a shaft. They run one way and one way only no matter what you do to your rear wheel............:nerd:
Running with the tensioners at different lengths will misaligne the bearings, the attached picture shows what this looks like. It doesn't matter if the bearing is a sealed unit or not, and in fact, if you induce enough misalignment to a sealed bearing you will knock out the seals and quickly lose the lubrication and allow contamination to enter. But.... anyone is welcome to run their bike as they see fit.
I agree...to an extent. But that pic you posted at the length of the belt would put the bike out of alignment by a foot. Impossible. What these people are saying is they are off by millimeters I would guess. Which 'could' after extensive use harm a bearing. But my GUESS it that a mm or 2 of misalignment isn't going to be that big a deal.
My bike is shaft driven so I don't have to worry about a stupid belt.
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