Properly adjusting my primary belt.

[jiggyfingers]

Bike: 87 FXST Softail

I am having a difficult time adjusting my rear primary belt. As simple as it should be for the life of me I cannot find the sweet spot. I measured both sides of the rear axle to make sure I am equally spaced. Once I set the axle nut to its defined torque spec the belt squelches and squeels upon rotation like an old door hing. Plus the belt seems a bit too close to the tire for my desire. Any assistance or tricks would be greatly appreciated. The rear tire is a 130 and I beleive my tooth count is 70 on my stock pulley.

[tinkerman]

Not sure what to tell you Jiggy, you threw me off a bit when you said "rear primary belt"...in any case after reading the rest of your post I got the gist of your question.

When I bought the 88 a few years back the guy that sold it to me gave me one of the little belt adjustment gauges for adjusting the drive belt, however having adjusted chains a good bit over the years I just dug up the deflection required between the sprockets with a certain tension and went with that....and it has worked well for me. (Basically press up on the bottom span of the belt at the center point between the sprockets with about 10 lbs pressure and the belt should deflect round about 3/8 of an inch...give or take.

I have heard people talking about squeaky belts and so on since I started hanging with the Harley crew but aside from adjusting the belt properly, making sure your sprockets and belt are in good shape and clean, and your rear wheel alignment is good I'm not sure what else you can do. My Heritage does make some slight squeaks when I am pushing it in reverse around the shop but never sure if it is the belt or the tires chirping on the painted floor.

I'm thinking the belt tension is not an exact science and that there is a lot of give and take on it...better to loose than to tight in my view. One other thing...adjust the tension with some weight...one of your buddies  sitting on the bike.


tink

[paulkay]

Adjust length for axle from center of front swingarm pivot to the center of axle. Bend an old shirt hanger and put a sliding indicator on it to line up with the axle center. If you want to get touchy try Radio Shack for a cheap laser level and stick it to side of rear pulley with laser on and measure laser to belt, should be same distance all the way up belt.

Cheap me again,
PaulK

[Bruno-Katz Fokkerpilot]

i`m running a 140 section rear tyre in my `97 Fatboy, the belt rubs the tyre only when i wheel it backwards, because of the alleged "Tracking" of the belt on the rear pulley. I set my alignment with a laser light, so i know its correct.
As for belt adjustment, if you can twist the belt to 45 degrees, mid run, between thumb and forefinger, she`s about right.

[martida01]

Just remember, when you torque that axle, the belt will tighten up.  Pre torqued, it should seem a bit loose.

[Bruno-Katz Fokkerpilot]

Just remember, when you torque that axle, the belt will tighten up.  Pre torqued, it should seem a bit loose.

Amen to that, summink to do with tapered wheel bearings i seem to remember.......

[paulkay]

READ the service manual!

[Twolane]

While "read the service manual" might sound like a pretty sensible thing to do, I have a question: if you don't have anyone to sit on the bike, upright, what good might "read the service manual" do?

Hmm?

On the other hand, the "twist it until it's at a 45 degree angle" as a tension guide, works for me.

Where do I go to read that in your service manual?

[paulkay]

SECONDARY BELT AND SPROCKET

FLST/C, FXST/C, FXSTS

1.  DO NOT LOOSEN AXLE NUT.

Caps are in the manual, followed by more directions.

[bobrk1]

i adjust it so when you spin it forward the gap is equal on both sides of pulley