Gidday folks ... had a situation recently where i had a belt let go on me few K`s out side of Tennterfield on a weekender with a few mates and partners ... got the pride and joy home thanks to RACQ ... no out of pocket costs for a tow of over 250 K`s back home just west of Brisbane ... but thats another story .
The query is have any other Softail owners had issues with their belts ... specifically models from 2007 to 2011 ... these models because appanently these were the only years that had the smaller 19 / 20 mil rear belt before Harley went back to a 24 mil belt which would make one think they knew something was wrong but are not going to admit it .
I had a genuine belt on but got a hole in the guts of it awhile back so when i had some susspension work done i thought stuff it better change the belt ... the guy who sold me the belt said it was as good as a genuine one and near half the price and that he had used them on drag bikes ... well i thought have to give it a go and save some money at the same time .
The brand name was BDL ... now to be fair when i had it installed my motor was rather stock apart from small Cams , pipes and Power Commander ... nothing major ... since then i have taken my 08 Softail Custom from Standard to 106 S&S with S&S Heads ... bigger Cams ... same power Commander ... bigger SE Throttle Body ... same pipes ... so while more HP than Standard i wouldn`t have thought it a huge motor by any strecth of the imagination .
When i went back to the guy who sold and installed the BDL belt ... which by the way i have replaced with a genuine one at another place ... he said there was always a issue with my model because of the smaller belt when adding horse power ... like i said i didn`t consider my beast to be all that powerful ... 110 HP ... I mean i like it but surley there are far bigger motors out there with the smaller belts .
He said he had to change a couple over to chain drive because of it ... anyhow was just courious to hear if other people with these models have had any simular situtations ... would be less than 10,000 K`s on it ... never done a burnout ... very rarely have done hard takeoffs ... but do admit to quite a bit of mid to high speed thashing ... some here may remember me having issues with the beast not getting over 170 / 180 K`s top end .
Just a side note he was adement that it was because Harley fucked up by putting on such a small belt to fit the big 200 rear tyre and that it only affected 2 years .. 2007 and my year 2008 and when i informed him that there were many more models with the smaller belts he said he was pretty sure it was only those 2 years ... i of course checked with dealer ship and 07 to 11 were the years that had them on .
Anyhow any thoughts gents .
Hi TJU No idea here but I am interested to hear what your query uncovers. Ive got a 2008 fxst with that same little anorexic belt and have souped the motor up somewhat as well. In general terms you rarely hear of belt failures in the modern models. From what I have heard you can actually install the belts the wrong way around. Yes. they are designed to go one way only due to the way they make them (kind of like a great big mold from which they slice em into individual belts), so they are ever so slightly tapered to make em mold-able. Bloke who told me seemed to know his stuff and said he'd seen factory fitted belts fitted arse about, On a few occasions. Having said that though, cannot complain about mine.
Don't know about the later belts but ,Harley don't make there belts gates use to make them for Harley and bdl Just rebranded back with the 1 1/2 inch
And I have found with the 1 1/2 and the 1 1/8 that even when set up on the bike that you need. To
Readjust them pretty quick after 10ks or so as thay seem to stretch a fair bit in that first ten
If ya can fit a wider belt by putting on a later model rear pulley, then that would be preferable to a chain wouldn't it?
Belt drive bikes have pretty limited adjustment, chains stretch and make a mess.
How come your first belt broke? Did something get stuck in it?
Gates & Good Year n Uniroyal , are the only ones i know make the belts, BDL use Gates i think, but more than one type of belt. eventually they all break at sometime.
my bike useing an S&S belt ( probably special order Gates ) heat stones sand n so on, effects belt life & adjustment important , there is no issue, nothing no belt will last indefinatly or have a set lifspan.
i've seen the primary Belt on a Nito Harley melt from heat generated from clutch in only a few seconds, only way they stop it happening is pull clutch out put blower to blow air in hub to cool it. but Nitro Harleys don't run a belt drive secondarly they run a Chain that's worth about$1.5k $2k.
myself if a Belt breaks i go chain , but i get best chain i can buy & made in USA counter sproket, not the cheap ones that wear fast. i put a chain on FXD in 2002 it's done 100,0000k sold bike to a mate original sprokets n chain still going ok, carry a joining link , i have never used a road service with a bike yet, but good you could. chains are dirty but you can clean them. if they do break its bad news but, a good one can take a lot to break. good luck.
Hey guys just wanted to post the pics of the belt that let go on me ... bit slow to post , been to busy moving and trying to get some rides in .
