Broke Roadstar drive belt

[sleepy2]

Broke a second drive-belt on my Road star in a year &3months- a week ago Just got it back Fri. but now it needs new pulleys as they are worn and that is why the belt broke(mechanic).Got 30,000 or so on belt that broke spring of 09 and 20,000 or so on this one. Other shop says not to ride with the new belt and old pulleys and mechanic that changed it said I could?????????? Phantom wife says fix it (so no replacement bike to fix old 87\\for now)Have to wait till Tues. to see how long to get back pulley(on back order)Back pulley is $432can and front is $122 plus 3 1/2 hrs labor

[Squeeze]

I'm soo glad i choose Shaft Drives a long Time ago.

 

Don't get me wrong, i'm sorry to hear about your Problem, but i'm just glad this Repair Job never will be on my Schedule.

[Squeeze]

I forgot to add ...

 

From my (based on industrial Applications) Point of View, i'd ride a second new Belt with the first Set of Pulleys, but never a thrid new Belt with these old Pulleys. The old Pulleys will eat up the Belt very soon.

[RandyR]

20-30,000 miles per belt seems like lower life than what I've been led to expect by new bike sales critters.

[sleepy2]

Thanks guys and I wish my wife could see that it would be better to fix my 87 Venture Royale than sink all this money into a bike I just like and not into the bike I REALLY LOVE I also loved the shaft drive! Still looking for parts to fix it.

[flb_78]

I think you mechanic is BS's ya about the pulleys.

 

Belts break because they're too tight. Almost everyone adjusts them wrong. It needs to be adjusted while the bike is loaded down with rider, passenger and gear. When you're off the bike, the belt should be very loose. I know 1 guy that ran his belt so loose that he never had to move his adjusters when he changed his rear tire, he could just slip the belt around the pulley. He had 60,000 miles on his original belt when he traded his bike in.

[oldguy]

Sleepy,what parts do you need to fix the Venture."If" I have them you can have them,no charge.

Edited June 14, 2010 by oldguy

[Guest tx2sturgis]

They also break due to rocks or other debris getting into the belt/pulley system and causing a failure immediately or later-on. I had a belt fail on my ElectraGlide...from looking at the failure point I'm pretty sure something damaged it.

[BigBoyinMS]

Hey Sleepy,

Get over to the RoadStarClinic.com and tell the guys what happened. A lot of the guys swap their front pulley out for better lowend performance and a few will swap out the rear pulley for a custom look so someone will have spares laying around.

As far as how tight, the rule of thumb is you should only be able to twist the belt about 1/4 turn on the bottom loop.

They have a lot of good tech articles there too. One in particular on just this subject.