Brown dust on rear tire

[Tatonka]

2013 rt-s sm5.... first thought brake dust but it's on the drive belt side of the tire....brake side...nothing.....ideas?

[Chupaca]

Brown dust.... not a clue unless it is more to the red side of brown which could be from the engine pulley area transferred by the belt. I get a lot of black but never brown unless I have been on some dusty roads....

[IgoFar2]

Have look at this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f67875iPuOg

The mechanic is diagnosing a "grumbling" sound near the front of the bike. Also, take a look at 11:12 mark. The mechanic shows what the front pulley looks like when the splines have failed, and the color of the dust.

[KX5062]

Yeah, drive pulley failing is what came to my mind. Although, it seems to be more common on newer models.

[stevencovert]

I saw similar. I think the pulley bolt is $12 or so; pulley is decent price at cheapcycleparts.com. Mine (bolt) came with the yellow locktite already on it. I added blue. Some threads were getting wonky, and the bolt came out with little effort. Probably a good idea to replace regardless. Was a BRP tech bulletin on this to torque the bolt higher. I forget the final number, but my manual said 89ft/lbs. There are several good threads here on that bolt and pulley!

EDIT: On a 2008GS - so it happens to all bikes! A friends 2008GS sheared the bolt off, and the pulley took off in a field, lost forever! Also checking torque on my 2013 STL it wasn't right, replaced bolt even though it looked OK. For $12, not taking chances.

[Tatonka]

The video was informative....if I start hearing a sound I'll know what it is. The color could be rust... hopefully that could be from the bike setting for so long before I bought it ....

[IgoFar2]

The video was informative....if I start hearing a sound I'll know what it is. The color could be rust... hopefully that could be from the bike setting for so long before I bought it ....

It might be worth having it checked out; peace of mind.