2012 RT Belt Tension set too high??

[Biosafena]

I have a 2012 RT Ltd that recently had the belt tension adjusted/set by the dealer to try and address a vibration issue. The work they did took care of the vibration, but when I checked the belt tension with my Krickit gauge, I found that with the wheel off the ground they had the tension set at 220. I believe this is far above the spec, but when I reduce the tension, I get nasty vibrations coming from the belt even with the SmoothSpyder tensioner. Do you think it is a problem having the belt set at 220? Getting ready for a 3000+ Mile trip and don't want any problems.


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[Biosafena]

Bump.

 

[jtoro1]

I have a 2012 RT Ltd that recently had the belt tension adjusted/set by the dealer to try and address a vibration issue. The work they did took care of the vibration, but when I checked the belt tension with my Krickit gauge, I found that with the wheel off the ground they had the tension set at 220. I believe this is far above the spec, but when I reduce the tension, I get nasty vibrations coming from the belt even with the SmoothSpyder tensioner. Do you think it is a problem having the belt set at 220? Getting ready for a 3000+ Mile trip and don't want any problems.


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I set it to 101 lbs + - 33 lbs works good i have a 2012 RTS. 220 lbs might be to high for a 2012 RT

 

[finless]

Belt belt spec has changed several times.

Initially it was higher and then BRP lowered it and in 2013 upped it again. Some think it was increased again in 2013 due to customers complaining of belt vibes.

Too tight and the worry is you wear out the bearing on the motor fast.

Bottom line if I owned a 2013 and up 998, I would go with the 2012 spec and either live with the belt vibes or get a Smooth Spyder.

Baja Ron posted these specs not too long ago.

998cc All Models (2008 - 2012)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	300n	450n	600n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	67 lbs.	101 lbs.	135 lbs.
Pound Force - Wheel on the Ground - Krikit II	130 lbs.	160 lbs.	190 lbs.

998cc All Models (2013-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

1330cc All Models (2014-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

Bob

 

[Chupaca]

Depends..!

you could ask the shop what they set it at with the sonic meter. If they did not use one it could be off. They changed the measurements along the way but your manuak should have your setting. The krikit works but not as well as the sonic tester. Best way is to have it sonic set then check with your krikit and keep it there...:thumbup:

 

[Orange Spyder Man]

I am a little confused about "wheel elevated .. if I understand it correctly... meaning "wheel off the ground" ???

osm

Belt belt spec has changed several times.

Initially it was higher and then BRP lowered it and in 2013 upped it again. Some think it was increased again in 2013 due to customers complaining of belt vibes.

Too tight and the worry is you wear out the bearing on the motor fast.

Bottom line if I owned a 2013 and up 998, I would go with the 2012 spec and either live with the belt vibes or get a Smooth Spyder.

Baja Ron posted these specs not too long ago.

998cc All Models (2008 - 2012)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	300n	450n	600n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	67 lbs.	101 lbs.	135 lbs.
Pound Force - Wheel on the Ground - Krikit II	130 lbs.	160 lbs.	190 lbs.

998cc All Models (2013-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

1330cc All Models (2014-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

Bob

 

[2dogs]

Yep

Off the ground.

 

[BajaRon]

If your belt tension is too tight it can wear the rear wheel bearings quickly and you can also have very expensive front pulley bearing failure. A little belt vibration is a small thing compared to these. It is possible that your belt has been stretched unevenly if it has been over tightened at some point. This can create vibration.

All Spyder belts will have some vibration at different speeds. Usually you can speed up or slow down a few mph and find a smoother running speed.

If used correctly, the Krikit is pretty accurate. Certainly accurate enough to tell you if you're in spec or not.

220 with the wheel lifted is a great deal more tension than BRP recommends.

 

[jerpinoy]

You should check with the dealer before you reduce the tension. There the one who can answer your ?

 

[Doc - Riverside]

Belt Tension

I have a 2012 RT Ltd that recently had the belt tension adjusted/set by the dealer to try and address a vibration issue. The work they did took care of the vibration, but when I checked the belt tension with my Krickit gauge, I found that with the wheel off the ground they had the tension set at 220. I believe this is far above the spec, but when I reduce the tension, I get nasty vibrations coming from the belt even with the SmoothSpyder tensioner. Do you think it is a problem having the belt set at 220? Getting ready for a 3000+ Mile trip and don't want any problems.


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I do believe the tech that set your tension had the belt spec for the 2014/2015 RT selected instead of the belt spec for the 998 V-twin engine configuration . I have the Gates Sonic Meter 507C and in February of 2014 I checked my Belt with the rear wheel of the ground and found that my tension was at 886n using the correct belt spec. As you can see my belt was just out of spec ( 1050n +/- 150n). I also was curious about what the reading would be if I selected the parameters for the 998 belt and it read 1054n.


Below explanation is from a experiment Roger and I did using the Gates meter on our belts.


One belt covers the V-Twin engine/Drive train and the other is for the 1330 engine/Drive train. The table below is the meter belt parameters.

[TABLE="class: cms_table_outer_border, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Engine[/TD]
[TD]Mass (M)[/TD]
[TD]Width (W)[/TD]
[TD] Span (S)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]V-Twin[/TD]
[TD]8.4 g/m[/TD]
[TD]28.0 mm[/TD]
[TD]1028 mm[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]ACE 1330[/TD]
[TD]8.0 g/m[/TD]
[TD]28.0 mm[/TD]
[TD]980 mm[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


The above values have to be programed into the Gates meter so the Tech at the dealer can tension your belt properly according to the spec for your SPYDER. But what would happen if the wrong set was selected for your belt and the tech tensioned your belt anyhow. Roger and I did an experiment as he has a 2010 RT and a Gates Meter and I have the 2014 RT and a gates meter. This is the results we got using the above parameters.

[TABLE="class: cms_table_outer_border, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]V-Twin (Span 1028mm)[/TD]
[TD]ACE 1330 (Span 980mm)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Roger 2010 RT[/TD]
[TD]535n[/TD]
[TD]431n[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Doc 2014 RT[/TD]
[TD]1054n[/TD]
[TD]886n[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]



Roger's belt spec is 450n +/-150n and you can see that his belt is in spec using both parameters. My belt spec is 1050n +/-150n is in spec using the V-Twin belt data but just below spec for the ACE 1330 belt. The data is close and mistakes can be made setting up the meter and you wouldn't know it.

 

[finless]

Bottom line of all this... The Krickit WORKS as this is not freakin rocket science guys!
Why BRP chose to make this seem like "taboo" is beyond me.
I have been using the Krickit since my 600 mile service.

FYI, the 2013 and up spec was not around when I got my 600 mile service. When I got home I put the Krickit on it and it read EXACTLY what everyone else was seeing doing the exact same thing with the Krickit!!!!
Imagine that...
So the idea of "get your belt sonic adjusted by the dealer" and THEN read it with the Krickit... is BS... There is no variance from these readings and YES... My opinion is in fact you can get it right using the Krickit!

Listen to those that have been here before..... Done it many times.... and know what they are talking about!

Personally the belt tension "thing" scaring people into a "dealer only" adjustment is just BS.... Again folks.. this is NOT rocket science!
If the spec called for a tolerance level of 1% then YES... But realize the spec has a 30% variance! THAT IS HUGE! Makes no sense with a spec like that to be using a sonic gauge that can measure a nats ass tension.....

Be in the middle of the "ball park" and your good... THAT is what the Krickit does.....

Bob

 

[Biosafena]

What did they change in 2013 to allow for the heavier tension specs? More robust bearings? And is there any way to tell if my belt has been stretched unevenly? I am wondering if I should just replace it. I m very disappointed that the dealer did this to my bike.

 

[danotech]

Belt belt spec has changed several times.

Initially it was higher and then BRP lowered it and in 2013 upped it again. Some think it was increased again in 2013 due to customers complaining of belt vibes.

Too tight and the worry is you wear out the bearing on the motor fast.

Bottom line if I owned a 2013 and up 998, I would go with the 2012 spec and either live with the belt vibes or get a Smooth Spyder.

Baja Ron posted these specs not too long ago.

998cc All Models (2008 - 2012)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	300n	450n	600n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	67 lbs.	101 lbs.	135 lbs.
Pound Force - Wheel on the Ground - Krikit II	130 lbs.	160 lbs.	190 lbs.

998cc All Models (2013-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

1330cc All Models (2014-2015)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	900n	1050n	1200n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	202 lbs.	236 lbs.	270 lbs.

Bob

Just so I'm clear. I have a 2014 RT. My belt elevated reads 220 elevated. About 280 on the ground. This is using the krickrt UP. All this reading but I believe I'm mid spec. Correct?

Thanks Dan

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[Doc - Riverside]

Just so I'm clear. I have a 2014 RT. My belt elevated reads 220 elevated. About 280 on the ground. This is using the krickrt UP. All this reading but I believe I'm mid spec. Correct?

Thanks Dan

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Dan you are correct. The elevated reading is the good reading when checking the tension. The on the ground reading may very based on what you do or do not have loaded in the storage locations. On the ground reading also varies as a function of what the tension is of the belt. My belt is set near the high end of the spec and the ground value is only 35 lbs higher (empty storage).

 

[Dennis in Lodi]

adjusted mine with common sense and no tools

Bottom line of all this... The Krickit WORKS as this is not freakin rocket science guys!

Newby here with a new 2015 RT-s. I had a serious vibration with the cruise control set at 76mph. It felt like I was going over mini rumple strips on the road. I knew BRP would not design a touring bike to allow harmonic vibrations to occur at this critical cruising speed. I have read many comments about this and the one that fixed it for me was the most simple. He stated after he adjsuted his belt correctly he could just rotate the belt in the center 90 degrees. Mine was so tight I could not do this. I lifted the rear of the bike, loosened each adjuster just short of one full turn until I could reasonably rotate the belt 90 degrees. When I tested the bike. All vibration is gone related to the belt. I still feel the belt is to tight, but thanks to reading these post I have come to accept it. I come from an industrial world where a belt this tight would smoke bearings. So I find it a bit concerning when there is references to damaged bearings from overly tight belts.

How many years or miles does it take before I quit reaching for the front brake?

 

[finless]

By the way, I was talking to Doc and he did point out something to me.

The spec for 2008-2012

998cc All Models (2008 - 2012)	Min	Spec	Max
Newtons - Wheel Elevated	300n	450n	600n
Pound Force - Wheel Elevated - Krikit II	67 lbs.	101 lbs.	135 lbs.
Pound Force - Wheel on the Ground - Krikit II	130 lbs.	160 lbs.	190 lbs.

The Kirkit II is not good for reading with the wheel off the ground. As you can see that reading is to low for the KirKit II.

So people with a 2008-2012 should consider also getting a Kirkit I. You can then read on the ground and off the ground.

As Doc pointed out above, the on the ground reading can vary based on what's in your Spyder thus off the ground is a more accurate reading.

Also if you have an iPhone you should have a look at Doc's excellent post about using a APP to check belt tension sonically!

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...one-Ipad-and-Ipod-touch&highlight=belt+iphone

Bob

 

[Biosafena]

Well, I guess I am going to have to run it set tighter than spec. I backed my tension down to minimum spec and started test driving at freeway cruising speeds. I kept stoping and adjusting it tighter until I could finally tolerate the vibrations. Checked it and found that is about 50 pounds above spec. Either there is something wrong with this belt, the engine alignment or the whole darn bike is possessed. There is no way anyone could tolerate the belt vibrations that this thing generates at a lower tension setting...and I do have the smoothspyder on it. I have asked the dealer I try changing the belt, but they won't. I guess I might have to try that myself. Has anyone ever heard of a belt just not behaving the way it should?