[EzCruzer]

I just had my main belt drive go out, and the bike has only 10k miles. Granted, it's 5 years old, but it seems that a belt costing about $440 to replace should last more miles...
Just wondering if anyone also has any history where they had to replace their belt with a limited amount of use? Appreciate any feedback!!

 

[Peg]

Search the archives... It's been talked about often. My Voyager's second belt was at the end of it's life when I bought it with 23K km's on the clock. The issue was that it had been over-tensioned (Kaw spec is too tight) by the dealer the previous owner took it to. I bought a used set on Ebay shortly after I bought it, loosened the belt, and have had no further issue.

 

[SteveJB]

EzCruzer, I'm curious. When you say the belt went out, what exactly do you mean? My 900 has 50k miles and two weeks ago the belt still looked fine. My 1700 has 25k miles, and I guess I need to check it out.

 

[CarGuy]

At 45K I'm still on my original belt. Like @Peg said, the factory spec is too tight. I loosened mine shortly after buying the bike new, and inspect it fully at every rear tire change, and at least twice a year when I lift the bike and check for loose/missing bolts, tire problems, etc. It shows very little wear.

 

[EzCruzer]

Search the archives... It's been talked about often. My Voyager's second belt was at the end of it's life when I bought it with 23K km's on the clock. The issue was that it had been over-tensioned (Kaw spec is too tight) by the dealer the previous owner took it to. I bought a used set on Ebay shortly after I bought it, loosened the belt, and have had no further issue.

Thank You!!

 

[EzCruzer]

EzCruzer, I'm curious. When you say the belt went out, what exactly do you mean? My 900 has 50k miles and two weeks ago the belt still looked fine. My 1700 has 25k miles, and I guess I need to check it out.

The belt simply frayed and broke completely while riding!

 

[EzCruzer]

At 45K I'm still on my original belt. Like @Peg said, the factory spec is too tight. I loosened mine shortly after buying the bike new, and inspect it fully at every rear tire change, and at least twice a year when I lift the bike and check for loose/missing bolts, tire problems, etc. It shows very little wear.

Thanks for that confirmation CarGuy!! Appreciated for sure.

 

[BlueNorth44]

So it looks like consensus is to set the to set the tension at 10mm instead of the about 5mm the manual calls for?

 

[EzCruzer]

So it looks like consensus is to set the to set the tension at 10mm instead of the about 5mm the manual calls for?

Yes...That's exactly what I will have done...Thank You!

 

[Peg]

The belt simply frayed and broke completely while riding!

The Kevlar belt is extremely strong, and IMO you're very, very fortunate to have that outcome... There have been others who have had the belt remain intact, and the over-tension has destroyed the final drive bearing instead. That gets real expensive, because the engine needs to come out for disassembly.

My old belt had two thirds of the teeth cracked through, with both the front and rear pulleys chewed out and needing replacing at the same time.

 

[EzCruzer]

Thanks Peg for that info...