[inultus]

So I noticed that my bike has drive belt noise coming from the rear sprocket, much more so when warmed up from riding. I have confirmed it's coming from there because I put it on a lift and rotated the wheel by hand. It does have a Rizoma rear sprocket installed. There does not appear to be any strange wear to the belt. Everything appears aligned correctly and I have adjusted the drive belt deflection (at 10 pounds pressure) to 6-8mm (1/4"-5"16"), both on the ground and up on the lift.

Speaking of which, I notice that I get 1/16" more deflection when the bike is in the air instead of on the jiffy stand. I have also lubed the sides of the belt with dielectric grease and then at a separate time with dish soap. Neither fixed it for more than 1 ride. Suggestions appreciated.

 

[Tassie Tony]

Wheel bearing?

 

[schwingding]

Could be a wheel bearing. Could also be too tight. The belt will definitely whine when too tight. You probably already know this but it is at its most tight when parallel to ground. Looser as the wheel moves up and down.

 

[rbabos]

So I noticed that my bike has drive belt noise coming from the rear sprocket, much more so when warmed up from riding. I have confirmed it's coming from there because I put it on a lift and rotated the wheel by hand. It does have a Rizoma rear sprocket installed. There does not appear to be any strange wear to the belt. Everything appears aligned correctly and I have adjusted the drive belt deflection (at 10 pounds pressure) to 6-8mm (1/4"-5"16"), both on the ground and up on the lift.

Speaking of which, I notice that I get 1/16" more deflection when the bike is in the air instead of on the jiffy stand. I have also lubed the sides of the belt with dielectric grease and then at a separate time with dish soap. Neither fixed it for more than 1 ride. Suggestions appreciated.

I've had that sound that best can be describe as a sort of a one revolution squeak or high pitched vibration before and only in hot weather and just rolling to a stop. Too areas of the belt and tension can cause this. First off the belt will not exert the same pressure against the rear sprocket flange all around it's path. There will be one spot that rubs a hair more. This is step one of the noise. The second and I've just done some testing recently is belt tension. It also does not have the same tension all the way around it's path, meaning where you check tension can vary depending on what part of the rotation it's checked. All this is normal since nothing is totally free of some form of run out tolerance.
Anyway, on a recent tire change I adjusted the belt to 10mm at the tight spot which gave me 14mm on the loosest spot in the checks. Upright or on the stand makes no difference on my bike and rider weight places the swing arm at the tightest spot, so knock off 2mm at most.
I came back from a recent ride , parked it and checked belt tension with warm sprockets. It was 6mm. Assuming this check was done in the same area as the 10mm cold setting, I was shocked to see the next morning checking the same spot after it cooled off, being 14mm. It wasn't even a hot summer day, yet from operational heat it tightened 8mm. This will even get tighter with increase in ambient heat. Not just the sprockets grow but the swing arm grows in length from cold to warm. Can you imagine setting a belt to 6mm and calling it good. Poor trans bearing. I've not heard the squeak since, but in the past with a snugger belt, I coated the outer face lightly with bees wax that I use to use on bow strings from my competitive archery days. That would last a couple of weeks. Just enough lube to keep the tight spot from squawking on the rear outer sprocket flange.
Morrow of the story is , belt tension is not as cut and dried as one would think. Run out tolerances, swing arm center line and temperatures factor in for optimum tension for a given rider and bike. Doesn't all this make you warm and fuzzy having a dealer set your belt tension?
Ron
Update: Since this post I've reset the belt to 8 on the tight spot. This gives me 12 on the loose area. Good enough average. This gave me an oportunity for once and for all make a device to hold that asshole right cam when torquing the nut . Tried all the other crap and it still moves. Not now. Alignment of rear wheel dead nuts to front and I've always set it up that way. Only now I don't have to do it ten times to get that cam to cooperate. Belt tracks to the outer flange as always. Still scratching my bag on how the belt tracks that way when everything is set at 0. I don't have verniers large enough to measure the rear sprocket lugs to see if there's a built in taper of a few tenths, or the front. There has to be something in play to program the belt to the outer edge, is what I'm saying. Anyone know or measured?

 

[stever975]

So I noticed that my bike has drive belt noise coming from the rear sprocket, much more so when warmed up from riding. I have confirmed it's coming from there because I put it on a lift and rotated the wheel by hand. It does have a Rizoma rear sprocket installed. There does not appear to be any strange wear to the belt. Everything appears aligned correctly and I have adjusted the drive belt deflection (at 10 pounds pressure) to 6-8mm (1/4"-5"16"), both on the ground and up on the lift.

Speaking of which, I notice that I get 1/16" more deflection when the bike is in the air instead of on the jiffy stand. I have also lubed the sides of the belt with dielectric grease and then at a separate time with dish soap. Neither fixed it for more than 1 ride. Suggestions appreciated.

There are a lot of factors to consider when adjusting belt tension but the first thing to do is make sure you align the bike up right off the side stand with no rider or other extra load on the bike. This places the swingarm near an "aligned" position where the belt is at maximum tension as shown in this picture:

If you raise or lower the bike allowing the swingarm to pivot up or down from this aligned position the belt tension will drop (deflection @ 10 lbs will increase). The exception to this is the VRSCR that has long shocks rotating the swingarm down past this aligned position. That's why it's belt deflection spec is higher than the other models.

As Ron mentioned, belt tension will also vary as you spin the wheel so you should move the bike a couple of times so the wheel rotates a ¼ turn each time and recheck tension to be sure it's not too tight. The more common error is having the belt too loose. This will result in self tightening on acceleration and possible "ratcheting" of the belt over the sprocket teeth with resulting bearing and belt damage likely.

 

[inultus]

I took off the front sprocket cover and lower belt guard yesterday and went down the road looking at the belt while riding (I wouldn't recommend this, I made sure there wasn't much traffic around). The belt track to the outer edge of the rear sprocket and stays in the same spot on the front sprocket (just a little to the outside, but not touching the lip).

I do not have calipers big enough to measure the rear sprocket either. I do have a thought and question regarding the eccentrics that affect how much tension is put on the belt. The one on the left side of the bike is welded to the axle. The one on the right is keyed to the axle but there is quite a bit of play in it. How do you know the proper position of that one? What I did was to completely loosen the axle nut, turn the right side eccentric as far in the "loose" direction (clockwise, looking at it from the right side) as it would go, then turn the left nut so that it is moving both at the same time while tightening. Please let me know if that makes sense and if I did it right or wrong. I have the service manual but it's not much help in this department.

Also, I'm thinking this all comes down to my chromed Rizoma sprocket because I can get it to make noise without even turning the wheel, just by pushing down on the belt near where it mates with the rear sprocket. I've heard chromed sprockets tend to make noise.

 

[rbabos]

I took off the front sprocket cover and lower belt guard yesterday and went down the road looking at the belt while riding (I wouldn't recommend this, I made sure there wasn't much traffic around). The belt track to the outer edge of the rear sprocket and stays in the same spot on the front sprocket (just a little to the outside, but not touching the lip).

I do not have calipers big enough to measure the rear sprocket either. I do have a thought and question regarding the eccentrics that affect how much tension is put on the belt. The one on the left side of the bike is welded to the axle. The one on the right is keyed to the axle but there is quite a bit of play in it. How do you know the proper position of that one? What I did was to completely loosen the axle nut, turn the right side eccentric as far in the "loose" direction (clockwise, looking at it from the right side) as it would go, then turn the left nut so that it is moving both at the same time while tightening. Please let me know if that makes sense and if I did it right or wrong. I have the service manual but it's not much help in this department.

Also, I'm thinking this all comes down to my chromed Rizoma sprocket because I can get it to make noise without even turning the wheel, just by pushing down on the belt near where it mates with the rear sprocket. I've heard chromed sprockets tend to make noise.

I use the left cam to fine tune rear wheel alignment to the front wheel. Tolerance is 1/4" but I'm in the 1/16 area and the belt tracks to the solid outside flange. I firmly believe having a + 1/4 more space on the left would cause belt to move inward and not remain on the outer flange. inner flange is not designed to have a belt rub it, plus belt to tank clearance will reduce if not tracking the outside. Moving right cam also has a small effect on belt tension as it alters sprocket relation to the left cam adjuster, so it's a balancing act between the left cam for tension and the right for alignment. Both need to be touching the roll pin in the swing arm when it's right. Now that bastard right cam needs to be bone dry touching the swing arm and a tad of lube where the nut rides. It has a tendency to rotate with the nut when tightened and pull away from the swingarm roll pin. I finally got so pissed off with it I made an adjustable holding device so it won't spin when torquing. I got a huge reduction in four letter words by doing so.
As for belt noise, keep in mind, once the sprockets heat up and swing arm grows from sunlight or exhaust heat, that belt gets a lot tighter. That's generally when the belt to sprocket interface will make squaky or squeaky noises. I settled on 8mm in the tightest spot of rotation , adjusted at room temp. 6mm is way to tight for a start point in my view.
Ron

 

[QuickRick]

Thanks for all of your help.

I didn't realize that once you loosen the right axle lock nut, the left nut operates both side's adjustment cams. I'd experienced the chirp chirp sound and now don't and the deflection is within that 6mm adjustment range.

I "tested" it on the stand and so far all seems well, no noise and the gap on the left side of the rear has increased which is a good thing.

I'd advise taking a Sharpie pen to the cams on both sides. In that way you will be able to reference where you were.
QR

 

[rbabos]

Thanks for all of your help.

I didn't realize that once you loosen the right axle lock nut, the left nut operates both side's adjustment cams. I'd experienced the chirp chirp sound and now don't and the deflection is within that 6mm adjustment range.

I "tested" it on the stand and so far all seems well, no noise and the gap on the left side of the rear has increased which is a good thing.

I'd advise taking a Sharpie pen to the cams on both sides. In that way you will be able to reference where you were.
QR

Yes, heavy outer rub will cause a sqeaking in rotation. You don't really want a gap on the outer edge of the sprocket but light contact. Axle cams, well they suck as in they do not offer exacting left and right side equalness due to a slight rotation on the right cam due to slop. This most noted if it slips (rotates) when you torque the nut. Unless lucky or a means to restrain it , there will be a slight gap between the cam and the roll pin in the swing arm. Only way I can trust the alignment is to straight edge thre rear wheel to the front wheel. Out of frustration, which should be a simple belt adjustment, I did make up a cam restraining device that has adjustment. I'm much calmer now.
Ron

 

[Mromaus]

I'm going to put my thoughts in this.

For starters, I am struggling with the belt losing or gaining any significance tension when the wheel spins because the sprockets are circles. So assuming the wheel has no change in suspension or is lifted off the ground the tension on the belt should not change. The only thing I can think of off hand is uneven wear which happens on chains I don't know on belts. I just want to point out I am going crazy double checking what I am saying here before I post this and everything I am finding on what you guys are describing is uneven wear or a deeper issue.

As mentioned suspension causes the belt tension to change. A common error which I am guilty of is to tighten a chain or in this case belt on the tight side. Doing so limits suspension travel, even tight within spec. I learned this from my track day experiences. You should keep your belt within spec but towards the looser side, you will be amazed how that will free up your rear suspension. My race bike chains are actually left loose just outside of spec. If you watch slow motion clips of motorcycle racing you can see how loose the chain is because it is waving around all over the place. They have it adjusted to the point where it is just about to fall off, I am not willing to do that.

I do think you need to be careful with an out of spec loose belt on the earlier vrods because it might cause the belt to rub a hole in the tank. I dealt with that issue, but I replaced it with one of those unlimited engineering with a metal guard so I am over that. I don't remember if it was a loose belt or an issue with that tank that cause that.

I agree with all the statements that the rear adjuster cams are uneven. personally I don't know what the hell HD was thinking with that garbage system. There was a time where I considered trying to convert to independent adjusters but then I figured what is the big deal.

The only procedure I know of to change the alignment of the belt or real wheel is to adjust the motor at the front engine mount. This is really changing the angle at which the front sprocket. If there is another procedure I would be very interested to hear it.

On my vrod I can't even put the axle in backwards, I tried that to change the way the wheel aligns.

My guess is to the original problem the belt is too tight.

Here is a simple check for the wheel bearings, works on cars too.

I hope you find this helpful.

 

[vrodnz]

Hey all put new pm pully on my 05a ten years back made a squeaky noise hated it tried all sorts of things sold it to my mate he put lube on the belt niose went away faaaaark oh well

 

[rbabos]

Hey all put new pm pully on my 05a ten years back made a squeaky noise hated it tried all sorts of things sold it to my mate he put lube on the belt niose went away faaaaark oh well

I've mentioned bees wax on the outer edge many times. Your belt might have been too tight as well.
Ron

 

[Geoffr]

I took off the front sprocket cover and lower belt guard yesterday and went down the road looking at the belt while riding (I wouldn't recommend this, I made sure there wasn't much traffic around). The belt track to the outer edge of the rear sprocket and stays in the same spot on the front sprocket (just a little to the outside, but not touching the lip).

I do not have calipers big enough to measure the rear sprocket either. I do have a thought and question regarding the eccentrics that affect how much tension is put on the belt. The one on the left side of the bike is welded to the axle. The one on the right is keyed to the axle but there is quite a bit of play in it. How do you know the proper position of that one? What I did was to completely loosen the axle nut, turn the right side eccentric as far in the "loose" direction (clockwise, looking at it from the right side) as it would go, then turn the left nut so that it is moving both at the same time while tightening. Please let me know if that makes sense and if I did it right or wrong. I have the service manual but it's not much help in this department.

Also, I'm thinking this all comes down to my chromed Rizoma sprocket because I can get it to make noise without even turning the wheel, just by pushing down on the belt near where it mates with the rear sprocket. I've heard chromed sprockets tend to make noise.

Got exactly the same issue with my 2012 RK with OEM rear sprocket. Measuring with a cheap belt gauge shows it is too loose and twisting it to 45 degrees too easily by hand corroborates this. It is stated that tight drive belts squeak. I think being slightly out of alignment will also make the drive belt squeak.
Simply moving the belt up and down or rocking the bike back and forth makes the drive belt squeak.


I’ll refocus my attention on the alignment.

 

[rbabos]

Got exactly the same issue with my 2012 RK with OEM rear sprocket. Measuring with a cheap belt gauge shows it is too loose and twisting it to 45 degrees too easily by hand corroborates this. It is stated that tight drive belts squeak. I think being slightly out of alignment will also make the drive belt squeak.
Simply moving the belt up and down or rocking the bike back and forth makes the drive belt squeak.


I’ll refocus my attention on the alignment.

I've found the squeaking is from the belt rubbing the outer flange. It is suppose to , to some extent if alignment is correct. The tighter the belt tension the more it can squeak. Most notable is it's quiet when cold but after a long ride where things heat up and belt tightens further it's more noticeable. At one point I use to rub bee's wax on the outer edge of belt but recently reduced belt tension to about 12mm cold and have not heard it since.
Ron

 

[rsc]

If you spray water on belt and it stops making any sounds, then it is the belt.
The right eccentric might be worn out and is not keeping alignment with the other. Check it. worn then replace it.
Most of the time it comes from the pulley bearing. It is a double rolled bearing.

Feel the bearing with your fingers if there is any grinding, replace it.

Just my 2 cents

rsc