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Belt squeal

spyderr

New member
I have a 2012 RT-S at about 140 miles my spider developed a squeal from the front sprocket. I returend my spider to the dealer to get the problem corrected. They had my bike a day and called and said it was ready I asked what the problem was and the said the front sprocket needed grease . So i showed up the next day and road the bike home about 65 miles and the problem seemed to be solved, About 40 miles later the problem returned. I looked at the belt and drive sprockets and realized they greased the belt side of the front sprocket being a auto mechanic I know greasing a belt is wrong. Can anybody tell me what could br wrong is it a belt alinment issue the clearance on the back sprocket seems to be ok the belt is not touching the inside of the back sprocket. Please help im going back to the dealership fri for my 600 mile inspection.
 
It only happens on accelleration all gear up to maybe 4500 rpm but wind noise covers up anything at that point
 
Very common problem. And yes BRP does recommend greasing. Do a search here and all the scoop is there. I have the same noise and grease does fix it.....for a while.
 
There was a thread about 2 months ago about greasing the belt. Apparently BRP issued a bulletin explaining the procedure and the proper grease to use. Maybe someone can find it quickly for us. It does sound odd but I think it's supposed to dampen the impact of the cogs entering and leaving the sprockets. I haven't done it yet since I'm not sure my 'howl' is coming from the belt. I'm equally suspicious of the rear brake.
 
O ill check out more post on the problem but it very annoying pulling off and people are staring not becaues of a nice bike but a loud squealing coming from your bike thanks for the info.:D:D:D:D
 
belt

I have had that problem off and on over the last couple years , the dealer asked me if I drove on dirt roads ? I do to one of my friends house maybe one time a month . Dearler said he thought that the dust mixes with the grease and that squeal is from that.
He did take a air house blow off the bike and grease the front and rear sprocet. I wash that rear wheel and area around the belt
 
My ongoing experiment on the vibration:

Put a new rear tire put on two days ago. The tech and I discussed the rear and front sprocket alignment as being a potential problem for not only the squealing, but also the "dreaded belt vibration" (and possibly excessive wear on the rear tire -- but more on that later).

The belt vibration, in particular, appears to only happen for most at higher speeds. High rpm's in lower gears does not appear to produce the same vibration; thus the rpm's are beginning not to be suspect of causing the "belt vibration".

It could be a combination of factors causing the vibration -- to include the alignment of the front and rear sprockets. If the rear sprocket (affected by the alignment of the rear tire) is out of alignment, even if an almost immeasurable amount, means the rear tire is skewed "ever so slightly" sideways. At higher speeds, the tire sliding sideways on the road causes undue friction and could easily cause tire vibration and harmonics at certain higher speeds.

When this happens, the rear sprocket will also vibrate, which then will send the vibration to the "long" belt -- causing it to vibrate.

There is an adjustment procedure when replacing the rear tire rim; however it may not be as accurate as it needs to be.

We worked on mine with some additional measurements, as sort of an experiment, to see if we could align the sprocket to tighter tolerances, in an effort to see if it would eliminate either of the problems.

About a 60 mile test ride provided no squeal, and the vibration only occurred twice for a split-second, and was not as intense as was previously.

Some have also mentioned the engine mounting needing some adjustment also. We believe this also can add to the vibration; however for different reasons than the alignment of the rear tire.

60 miles is not enough of a test yet... so I'll continue to watch it until either problem occurs again or I need servicing. If it does not appear until I need servicing... then we might have something we could recommend for others. Time will tell.
 
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My ongoing experiment on the vibration:

Put a new rear tire put on two days ago. The tech and I discussed the rear and front sprocket alignment as being a potential problem for not only the squealing, but also the "dreaded belt vibration" (and possibly excessive wear on the rear tire -- but more on that later).

The belt vibration, in particular, appears to only happen for most at higher speeds. High rpm's in lower gears does not appear to produce the same vibration; thus the rpm's are beginning not to be suspect of causing the "belt vibration".

It could be a combination of factors causing the vibration -- to include the alignment of the front and rear sprockets. If the rear sprocket (affected by the alignment of the rear tire) is out of alignment, even if an almost immeasurable amount, means the rear tire is skewed "ever so slightly" sideways. At higher speeds, the tire sliding sideways on the road causes undue friction and could easily cause tire vibration and harmonics at certain higher speeds.

When this happens, the rear sprocket will also vibrate, which then will send the vibration to the "long" belt -- causing it to vibrate.

There is an adjustment procedure when replacing the rear tire rim; however it may not be as accurate as it needs to be.

We worked on mine with some additional measurements, as sort of an experiment, to see if we could align the sprocket to tighter tolerances, in an effort to see if it would eliminate either of the problems.

About a 60 mile test ride provided no squeal, and the vibration only occurred twice for a split-second, and was not as intense as was previously.

Some have also mentioned the engine mounting needing some adjustment also. We believe this also can add to the vibration; however for different reasons than the alignment of the rear tire.

60 miles is not enough of a test yet... so I'll continue to watch it until either problem occurs again or I need servicing. If it does not appear until I need servicing... then we might have something we could recommend for others. Time will tell.

The rear tire will not skid or skew down the road but the whole bike will dog track due to the miss alignment of the rear wheel. It would be similar to the old vehicles with leaf springs when the center bolt sheared and the differential slid back somewhat.
 
The rear tire will not skid or skew down the road but the whole bike will dog track due to the miss alignment of the rear wheel. It would be similar to the old vehicles with leaf springs when the center bolt sheared and the differential slid back somewhat.

Your description is much better than mine... and I agree. That is what I was trying to say.

We suspect it only takes a very slight misalignment (almost immeasurable) to possibly be a factor -- which is why it requires higher speeds to cause the harmonics.

We'll see if we are crazy or not... most likely we are and it has nothing to do with anything. But so far so good.:thumbup:
 
Live on a gravel road--hope I don't ever need to grease my belt

Sadly I live on a gravel road and have to drive about 2 miles to pavement, but I only go about 10 to 15 mph when on the gravel.

If I had to grease my drive belt- I would think it would be nothing more than a sponge to road dust and that in turn would be far far worse for things than leaving it alone.

Just my thoughts!

;)
 
My 2011 has never squealed but my friends 2011 squeals like hell. I can hear him very clearly when following from behind, it gets really bad starting out in a corner or accelerating to around MPH
 
I have noticed a whine from mine at around 35 to 4000 rpm's . I have played with the alignment a little. when looking at the front and rear pulleys it looks to be running on the outside of the front flange and the inside of the rear flange. I'm trying to find the sweet spot to get the belt off of both flanges.
 
For the noise it is the alignment of the rear wheel
the belt rub on the sprocket gard you don't need grease
 
I if this "issue" might have something to do with the alignment of the belt and the sprocket? :dontknow:

Yes it does. Mine did it after a tire replacement. Found out the dealer had screwed the alignment up. It was so bad it was shaving the inside edge of the belt, and I was having to countersteer to go straight. Ended up fixing it myself. The book says the belt should track 1 milimeter to 5 milimeters from the flange of the rear sprocket. It took several tries but it now tracks correctly at 1 milimeter. No squeak. No noise. And it tracks straight.
 
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