belt question

[spickus]

My Spyder has always had a faint low speed whine, I assumed it was the transmission. I had the opportunity to ride another Spyder Saturday and it had no whine. When I look at the front sprocket, the belt is tight against the flange. In fact, there is not enough room for a thin sheet of paper between the flange and the belt. There are very slight wear marks on the outside edge of the belt and fine rubber shavings around the sprocket. I assume that this likely the source of the whine and an incorrectly adjusted belt?

[mike3069]

How many miles do you have on your Spyder? Done first service yet?

The belts all seem to come from factory REAL tight and up against the REAR flange. There must be a reason for this but I don't know for sure what it is. I messed around with mine before the first service and wound up with it real LOOSE when I had first service done. It got rid of the whine and did not seem to create any problems.

At the factory during homecoming, I asked one of the engeeniers about it and he said belt tension is not a critical issue if you do not experiance excessive belt vibration.

[SpyderMark]

The belts all seem to come from factory REAL tight and up against the REAR flange. There must be a reason for this but I don't know for sure what it is.

At the factory during homecoming, I asked one of the engeeniers about it and he said belt tension is not a critical issue if you do not experiance excessive belt vibration.

Apparently the rubber engine mounts give a great deal during the first 600 miles of service. As the mounts compress, the engine will move to a new position. The drive belt is set tight to account for this engine movement.

If your belt get too loose you could skip cogs during acceleration. That would be hard on MANY components in the engine and transmission.

Regards,

Mark