[hogster2003]

I've become a victim of aftermarket parts again.
The rear pulley I got with my Hogpro "six pak" wheels is wearing out. I have about 5000-6000 mis. on it. The belt is squeeking and the teeth are starting to square off.
I guess this is a common problem on aftermarket pulleys.(Honest shops will confirm this.) PM is starting to anodize theirs but Harley's hard chromed cogs seem to work the best. Most non-OEM are just plain Aluminum.
I can get a replacement aftermarket pulley, then get it powder coated, pinstriped and installed...$400-600 if I do it myself. I figure this will occur about every 10k mis. Great...
I've researched ways to get pulleys hardened or repaired and found Phil at SuperMax belt drives.http://www.supermax.net/Pages/home.asp He retrofits pulleys with polyurethane cogs and says they last indefinately.(some out there with 300,000 mis and still going) cost:I think around $400...ONCE!
The problem is he only does 70 and 65 tooth pulleys. He says he has received a few calls about v-rod pulleys but isn't sure if it will be worth the tooling issues. (read:is there a demand?)
Has anyone else had this issue? Is there another option for a long lasting pulley besides ugly ass MoCo stuff?
Maybe if there is enough interest from the members here Phil would get set-up to fix our stuff.

 

[SKJOLD]

Do they make 65-70 tooth pulleys for a vrsca?

 

[Max]

Do they make 65-70 tooth pulleys for a vrsca?

No the v-rod is 72 teeth.

I have over 25k miles on my weld pulley and it only shows normal wear.

 

[Cheatin]

A buddy of mine had this on one of his FXR's that used to wear out pulleys. Great product from what he says.

 

[Max]

Neat product though I took a few minutes and went over his pages and service. If he does start to do a 72 tooth pulley it would be nice.

 

[hogster2003]

I'm hoping he does. Hogpro has offered to give me a break on a replacement but It will still cost me a bundle.
Max, are you running stock belt tension?

 

[Max]

I'm hoping he does. Hogpro has offered to give me a break on a replacement but It will still cost me a bundle.
Max, are you running stock belt tension?

I don't use a belt tension tool but I have about 6mm deflection with 10 lbs so it should be pretty close to stock. I think tighter is better since the load of the belt during acceleration would be much worse if the belt were not pulled into the pulley good.

 

[hogster2003]

Update:
I ended up getting a new pulley from Hogpro. (They helped out on the replacement price due to the short life span of the original)
I then sent the pulley out and had the teeth "hard chromed" (A dull gray finish about .005-.007" thick on average. It registers about 70 on the rockwell scale) This is the same process Harley uses on their pulleys. It was very expensive ($450) due to a single piece run. It requires powder coating or remachining and polishing the sides of the pulley due to some of the hard chrome "flashing" on to the sides along with the teeth.
So far I have around 1000 miles on the new pulley with no signs of wear.

New pulley + hardening + powdercoating + new belt = around $1000 DAMN!! I hope this works....

I'll try to keep the forum updated as time goes on.

Note:
I suspect that chrome plated after market pulley are more common than plain billet. I have looked at several and I am guessing that the chrome that ends up on the teeth from the plating process reduces wear somewhat over bare aluminum. Along with the fact that many people don't ride "pretty" motorcycles as much as stock bikes, this may be why this problem isn't more talked about.

 

[Max]

Don't forget hard anodize is an option for the aluminum pulleys. I know the front pulley I got from cfr with the hard anodized coating wears better then the steel front pulleys do. IMHO.

 

[Ketsugo]

I had an aluminum 28t pulley from TurboTec wear and the belt road inward and ruptured the fuel cell. They reimbursed me for the pulley but not the fuel cell. I went to the HD 28T steel pulley and no further issues.

 

[Steelsmith]

Good evening. Has anyone had any further contact/experience with the Supermax polyurethane pulleys? Like everyone else, my aftermarket pulleys are worn very thin after only 6,000 miles and I have to change them. Thanks for any and all comments.