Drive Belt Broke

[jthornton]

I was quite surprised to have the drive belt break today on the 2012 RT. I was lucky it was on a busy 4 lane during rush hour which only lasts 30 minutes here but busy none the the less. I had one fellow stop and offer assistance loading it on the trailer and was happy to see that.

The RT only has 18k miles... the engine maybe 2k. it was a clean break and all the fibers broke at the same place except 2, so I'm suspecting a faulty belt.

I've not looked close but how much fun is it to put a new one on?

JT

[Chupaca]

Very strange on such low mileage. Tend to agree in it's being faulty... glad you were able to get out of there safely. Replacing them is not that bad.

[Woodaddict]

its not the low mileage, but age years, some form of deterioration. maybe from sun?

[SpyderAnn01]

It isn’t a hard job to replace.

[jthornton]

its not the low mileage, but age years, some form of deterioration. maybe from sun?

It's in a garage all of the time so no it's not from exposure to sun... no sign of deterioration at all in the rubber.

JT

[ChicagoSpyder]

It's in a garage all of the time so no it's not from exposure to sun... no sign of deterioration at all in the rubber.

JT

It's the age JT, the compounds and oils in the rubber dry out and just give way to father time.

[jthornton]

It's the age JT, the compounds and oils in the rubber dry out and just give way to father time.

The rubber looks pristine, no sign of deterioration at all and I know what rubber looks like when it has deteriorated from sun exposure.

JT

[Eckhard]

The RT only has 18k miles... the engine maybe 2k.

How is that done?

[jthornton]

How is that done?

You have to work a lot and have more than one motorcycle... and you have pet chickens.

JT

[ARtraveler]

It's in a garage all of the time so no it's not from exposure to sun... no sign of deterioration at all in the rubber.

JT

For you, the belt should be easy to replace.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The rubber looks pristine, no sign of deterioration at all and I know what rubber looks like when it has deteriorated from sun exposure.

JT

JT, I don't think there is any Rubber in the drive belt..... I don't know about ill effects of the sun on the materials it is made from …… Mike

[r1100rider]

It's in a garage all of the time so no it's not from exposure to sun... no sign of deterioration at all in the rubber.
Rock
JT

rock?

[jthornton]

rock?

No, the teeth are in perfect condition and I have Harvey's rock guard installed.

JT

[Entropy]

JT, I don't think there is any Rubber in the drive belt..... I don't know about ill effects of the sun on the materials it is made from …… Mike

Howdy;

Sure there is - straight from BRP:

- High-tensile strength carbon cord and HNBR rubber construction delivers impressive durability, superior flexibility and reduced noise, while resisting abrasion.

- Tooth-side fabric composed of special low-friction fiber.


Regarding breakage:

- Exposure to Ozone and numerous other atmospheric contaminants that affect rubber and composites don't require exposure to sunlight

- Constant, repetitive dynamic stresses from rotation while in use will induce failure over time - for ANY belt system

- Over-spec tension

- Chit happens. Buy/install a new one, ensure there are NO obvious pre-existing failure modes (teeth, alignment, burrs, tension, etc), move on and enjoy. It's just an effin' BELT. This is just too simple to make more complicated, - or belabor over....

Cheers
E

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Howdy;

Sure there is - straight from BRP:

- High-tensile strength carbon cord and HNBR rubber construction delivers impressive durability, superior flexibility and reduced noise, while resisting abrasion.

- Tooth-side fabric composed of special low-friction fiber.


Regarding breakage:

- Exposure to Ozone and numerous other atmospheric contaminants that affect rubber and composites don't require exposure to sunlight

- Constant, repetitive dynamic stresses from rotation while in use will induce failure over time - for ANY belt system

- Over-spec tension

- Chit happens. Buy/install a new one, ensure there are NO obvious pre-existing failure modes (teeth, alignment, burrs, tension, etc), move on and enjoy. It's just an effin' BELT. This is just too simple to make more complicated, - or belabor over....

Cheers
E

Thank you for clearing up that Myth …...….. Mike

[jthornton]

Got the belt changed, the only thing I didn't anticipate was having to take the shifter arm off but it was marked with a dot on the shaft so no big issue getting it back on correctly.

I'm using a Krikit II to set the belt tension and my notes have it at 100lbs with a 2013 at 235lbs wheel elevated. Quite a big difference. Is there a current setting for the 2012 belt tension 100lbs looks way to loose to me?

JT

[Gwolf]

Right, age not miles have an effect on the belts. Same with tires and anything else made of rubber or plastic. They deteriorate over time. A set of tires with only 500 miles on them might be unsafe if they are 7 or 8 years old.......... even if they show no signs of deterioration. I guess you know that tires have their birth date stamped on them so you can see how long they sat in some hot warehouse before they put them on your bike, car, truck, whatever.

http://rebuyer.com/education/how-to-...-of-your-tires

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Hey JT. Looking up Ron’s original notes - with wheel ON the ground, the range was 130 - 160lbs with the Krikit. With wheel elevated, the range was 67 - 135lbs. So, 100lbs would be middle of the range with wheel elevated. Your notes would be correct for wheel elevated.

Of course, there was that TST that allowed a lower tension in order to reduce belt vibration. It wasn’t mandatory, just established a lower tension to try. The lower limit from the TST was 270 N with wheel elevated, which is something like 60 lbs on the krikit.

And yes the specs increased starting in 2013.

[CopperSpyder]

Got the belt changed, the only thing I didn't anticipate was having to take the shifter arm off but it was marked with a dot on the shaft so no big issue getting it back on correctly.

I'm using a Krikit II to set the belt tension and my notes have it at 100lbs with a 2013 at 235lbs wheel elevated. Quite a big difference. Is there a current setting for the 2012 belt tension 100lbs looks way to loose to me?

JT

2012 RT with wheel off the ground "DRIVE BELT TENSION (PARTS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND REAR WHEEL LIFTED)
450 N ± 150 N " If you convert N to lbs it is 67 lbs to 134 lbs, 450N = 101 lbs

[jthornton]

Hey JT. Looking up Ron’s original notes - with wheel ON the ground, the range was 130 - 160lbs with the Krikit. With wheel elevated, the range was 67 - 135lbs. So, 100lbs would be middle of the range with wheel elevated. Your notes would be correct for wheel elevated.

Of course, there was that TST that allowed a lower tension in order to reduce belt vibration. It wasn’t mandatory, just established a lower tension to try. The lower limit from the TST was 270 N with wheel elevated, which is something like 60 lbs on the krikit.

And yes the specs increased starting in 2013.

Hey Doug,

I got 160 on the ground and 180 with the tensioner in place, it looks right, smells right and passed the thump test as well as the Krikit test. Thanks for verifying my numbers, it's been a long time since I had to tension and align the belt.

JT

[jcoats1]

You think the belt got damaged when the engine was replaced????

[jthornton]

You think the belt got damaged when the engine was replaced????

No the mechanic at the dealer is very good and I have several thousand miles on it since that happened. The rubber and the teeth look like new so it's not old age deterioration. Something might have got in there to over stretch the belt but I didn't feel the thump associated with that type of event. I used to get very small rocks in between the belt and rear pulley before installing a rock guard and know what that feels like so I'm still thinking a cord failure.

JT

[TerryTheSpyderRyder]

The rubber looks pristine, no sign of deterioration at all and I know what rubber looks like when it has deteriorated from sun exposure.

JT

Is it possible some joker might have been playing with a knife while you weren't looking?

[JayBros]

My first thought before Entropy's post was ozone. Even though the garage protects it from the sun any electric motor systems in the garage contribute to the ozone.

[BajaRon]

It's the age JT, the compounds and oils in the rubber dry out and just give way to father time.

Age is always a component. But I don't think age had anything to do with this. My vote is for a defective belt. Even if some damage was done (chemical, sun, etc.) it is unlikely to have such a clean break as described unless the belt was cut.

There are a ton of original 2008 Spyders out there still running the original belt. (Including mine). Some with over 100k on them.