2000 Road King drive belt adjustment

[00FHHRCI]

Greetings,
I have a question.  I got my bike back from the dealer after he installed a drive belt.  The guard is rubbing the side of the rear tire.  I removed the rear tire and made sure that all the spacers and everything was were it was supposed to be.   I took a coat hanger, made a few bends and measured the distance from the pivot arm to center of rear axle on each side of the bike.   I put the tire back on and am unsure of how to adjust the belt tension.   Is there a way to make an adjustment without someone to sit on the bike?  It's kinda impossible to do both.  Do I make the adjustment with the rear tire in the air or do I sit the bike on the ground?

Thanks,

James

[FLTRI]

Best to have someone sit on the bike as that would be the bike is ridden.
That said, you need a rather tight belt to keep it reliable. Most belt failures we've seen, other than defects, have been due to belts not being adjusted tight enough. 10lbs pressure needed to move the belt 3/8" mid span on the bottom should be good enough.
They have a scale to measure this tension but if you find the tight spot on the belt by rotating the wheel and checking deflection, you can use some common sense as to what approx 10lbs pressure is to self adjust.
Hope this helps,
Bob

[00FHHRCI]

Thanks for the info and reply.  I had the belt a little loose.  I did figure out how to get 10 lbs. of force.  I had a digital fish scale that I used.  I removed the belt guard and tied ziptights around the belt then hooked the digital fish scale to the zipties.  I just pulled the 10 lbs of force up from the bottom belt.  I had to call my neighbor over to sit on the bike while I took measurements.  At 5/16" belt deflection, I had around 9 lbs.  At 6/16" belt deflection, I had about 11 lbs.  I figure this is as close to Harley specs as I can get it.  I also measured the distance from the middle of the pivot arm to the middle of the rear axle on both sides.  No more belt guard rubbing tire, the belt tension is adjusted correctly and the rear tire is aligned.

5/16" - 6/16(3/8)" belt deflection with 10 lbs. of force.

Thanks,

James