Belt Tensioner noise...

[irvin48]

i found you can also self align docs roller by leaving the arm
a little loose, jacking up the back wheel off the ground and spinnig
it forward a while. then tighten the arm down in that position . easy peasy.

sounds good in theory anyway.:shocked::shocked:--irv

 

[Peteoz]

On your 14 RT at speeds around 70 mph you probably notice a vibration that goes away if you speed up or slow down. The F3 has the same harmonic vibration and BRP made s tensioner for the F3 to take care of the vibration. The BRP units have been failing at a rapid pace. The vibration drives some folks crazy

Hi Ann, when you say the BRP units are failing at a rapid pace, that is news to me. Have I missed some threads, or are you just seeing a lot in the workshop? I am not for one second questioning your statement, it's just that I haven't seen any reports of failures.......and......I have a BRP tensioner on my F3-L, and I AM hearing more whining than in the past, so I'll check the alignment now, and probably order one of Docs replacements.

Pete

 

[Firefly]

Refund issued. Will examine product once we receive it back.....

Hey Doc... not sure why you refunded me.. that isn't what I'm looking for.
We emailed earlier today.
I'll remove it and ship it out later this week for your inspection.

TThanks.

 

[Firefly]

I guess I should have been more specific, but I figured since I was posting in the F3 thread that would indicate what I own.

This is is on a 2015 F3.
It is the BRP tensioner kit WITH the Doc upgrade.

Foong to send it to Doc for inspection.

 

[wvedec]

I bought the entire assembly

I was going to take you up on the kit that would use BRP's adaptor with your pulley and arm, but I'm going to ask the question that a lot might be thinking. Would I be better served to go ahead and getting the full blown kit from you? I already took it it the shorts on the BRP unit and don't need to add to that misery.
I got the picture on the alignment thing. How about Loctite? Any torque value to use? Seems like there is a lot of potential for vibration and that is what makes things loosen up. As to the warranty, that for both kits, or the full kit of yours?
Thanks
Buckskin

I got my 2016 F3-T with a BRP tensioner installed. I decided to go with Doc's setup. I had the same quandary about whether to reuse the BRP bracket or go with the complete assembly from Doc. For me, it was not worth the difference in cost ($25) or hassle to reuse the BRP bracket. I just bought the entire assembly (Kit #2). I installed it today and fiddled with the alignment for while, gauging if it was centered by feeling each side with my fingers. Flipping the arm up and letting the wheel fall on the belt helped it self-center, I think. The slotted bracket on Doc's setup also allows for very fine adjustments to be made. I went for a test ride and then went underneath for a look. The blue roller was still perfectly centered. I did not notice any noise, but I never exceeded about 45 mph.

By the way, the BRP tensioner, with about 830 miles on it, had significant play in the roller, and it looked like the belt wandered and ground away part of the idler arm. I am so glad that I swapped out the BRP tensioner and now have Doc's installed. I think the BRP tensioner was going to give me trouble if the future.

Thanks, Doc!!!

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Hey Doc... not sure why you refunded me.. that isn't what I'm looking for.
We emailed earlier today.
I'll remove it and ship it out later this week for your inspection.

TThanks.

If you can, leave the BRP bracket attached to it. I'm wondering if you tightened the pivot bolt down too much. With the gasket washer in place, it only needs to be tightened enough to seal, not tightened down. The arm should freely move without binding.
Unless your byke has a ribbed outer belt, it should not be making noise. And checking your purchase record you have only had it about 1 month. Wondering if it might be a SM6 issue, and if so we need to know sooner than later.
Worse case, (or best) you may have to put one of Jim's on there, Dan.

 

[Road-Kill]

If you can, leave the BRP bracket attached to it. I'm wondering if you tightened the pivot bolt down too much. With the gasket washer in place, it only needs to be tightened enough to seal, not tightened down. The arm should freely move without binding.
Unless your byke has a ribbed outer belt, it should not be making noise. And checking your purchase record you have only had it about 1 month. Wondering if it might be a SM6 issue, and if so we need to know sooner than later.
Worse case, (or best) you may have to put one of Jim's on there, Dan.

Hey Doc. What is your website? I want to take a peek but only found Smooth Spyder, is that you? Are you going to be at Spyderquest Lake George NY in September? Thanks

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Hey Doc. What is your website? I want to take a peek but only found Smooth Spyder, is that you? Are you going to be at Spyderquest Lake George NY in September? Thanks

Road-Kill

Active MemberJoin DateDec 2016LocationN/E Pennsylvania USAPosts308Post Thanks / Like

[h=2]

[/h]

Originally Posted by Wildrice
I haven't been following the forum closely, last year everyone spoke highly about the $45 BRP belt tension mod. What happened to it?



Nothing happened to it. Last week I was in for my 9300 mile service and had my idler inspected as well. My dealer has not replaced one yet from failure. This fear mongering is probably someone trying to cash in.​

After this quote on another thread, I put you on my ignore list. You really don't need anything we sell, Roadkill. Cause, you know, I'm fear mongering about BRP's idler failure, right........

 

[Road-Kill]

dear Doc...

"After this quote on another thread, I put you on my ignore list. You really don't need anything we sell, Roadkill. Cause, you know, I'm fear mongering about BRP's idler failure, right........"

A good company can withstand criticism, a great company can withstand anything you throw at it. For what its worth, before I bought BajaRons sway bar I was a sceptic. I threw every possible argument at him on this forum (and on the phone). He even offered to ship his bar free of charge and offered 100% of my money back if I was not satisfied. I told him if his sway bar was BS I would post it as such, he was not worried in the slightest. He stood behind his product with such veracity that I bought it without his "free" offer. I'm 100% satisfied with his product, now I'm doing the same to you. I research everything I buy so as not to be taken. If you want to "block" me feel free. This will not stop me from researching or buying your product if its worth the cash.
Best wishes: Road-Kill

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Hey Doc... not sure why you refunded me.. that isn't what I'm looking for.
We emailed earlier today.
I'll remove it and ship it out later this week for your inspection.

TThanks.

Was wondering if you had our damper removed and sent out yet? If you have tracking, you can PM me with it and we will keep an eye out for it!

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Hey, Firefly, haven't heard back from you on returning our kit. The quicker you get it to me the quicker I can figure out what is going on......

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Anybody heard from Firefly??

 

[Firefly]

Anybody heard from Firefly??

Hey Doc, I finally was able to remove the tensioner on Sunday morning and go for a ride.......

The whining noise was still there !

So obviously this isn't an issue with your tensioner.
I'll send you back the money you refunded.
While I appreciate your wanting to solve this ASAP and giving a quick refund is a stand-up thing to do, I would have preferred waiting until we sorted out just what the problem actually was. As it turns out the noise is not coming from the tensioner.

The noise comes from the belt area and my previous experience with another tensioner on my 2008 GS led me to believe the noise was from the tensioner.

I've taken videos of the noise and will post them to get some ideas, or maybe people will tell me this sound is normal. I usually ride with buds in and don't hear that much, but this can be heard even with them in. When I play music I can't hear it.

It's a whining belt rub noise, could be a rear bearing but I've had those go before and don't remember them sounding quite like this.

 

[Bob Denman]

Dan,
Thanks for letting all of us know that it wasn't the belt tensioner.
I hope that you find the real cause soon! :thumbup:
Good luck!!

 

[Firefly]

Video of noise

Here's a video of the noise I'm having. This is with the tensioner REMOVED.

The metal 'shaking' sound at the end at low speed is the Centramatic wheel balancers on the front.

Any ideas or input? Is this sound normal? Doesn't seem normal to me.

This is rolling to a stop with the engine shut off.

https://youtu.be/T0Jv95GC9zo

 

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: Wow... :shocked:
My really simple guess, is that it's in the cogs of the belt.
Have you taken a closer look for any debris that might cause it?
As an alternative source: what about the belt alignment?
(Try a dab of grease on the cogs, and see if it makes a change.)

I apologize for giving you the easiest answers: they just happen to be the ones that I know.
Good luck!! :thumbup:

 

[Firefly]

So to clear the air on this matter... Doc took my posting about this noise as a negative review of his product and refunded my money. This is NOT what I requested or wanted. I have since paid him back so we are even again.

This is a post about my personal issue with some noise and what I felt it was attributed to, and perhaps that noise is perfectly normal.

I previously had a Smooth Spyder tensioner on my 2008 GS which made a very similar noise, hence why I would think this noise might be due to the tensioner.

I believe posting potential issues for the public to read about and learn about is important.

I feel the tensioner upgrade from Doc is a solid kit.

I was initially concerned that the play at the pivot would cause a problem as it could allow a 1/4" movement back and forth of the roller on the belt. This doesn't seem to be an issue at all. So if anyone else has that concern when looking at theirs during the install, I would not worry about it. Doc told me that it was normal and would be fine and I believe him. The pressure from the spring seems to keep things from moving back and forth.

The noise is still there without his tensioner installed per above videos.

Hopefully this clears things up and everyone is happy.

I've also updated the first post so there is no confusion or impression that this is a bad review... it's not meant to be a review at all.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

All I am saying is:
1. If I have a problem with a product, I first contact the seller and then give them a chance to make it right.
2. Prior to that contact I will make sure it actually IS their product.
I appreciate your honesty in this matter. Thank You.

 

[Firefly]

Part of the process of figuring out what may be wrong is seeing if others are having the same issue. For all I knew this noise was just common once you put a tensioner on.

Pulling the tensioner off is much more involved for me as I have to remove my Corbin Smuggler Trunk, Then the backrest and seat, panels, etc. to get to it.. and it's still a pain to get to as are many things on the Spyder.

I'm really not noticing a big difference in the vibrations since removing the tensioner. Did 100+ miles on Sunday and it felt pretty good.

My next step will probably be to the dealer in a few weeks while I'll be on a vacation via cage. I've got some other issues for them to look at anyway, cluster has gone wonky where you can't read the lower 1/4, signature light lost the left side and I had some serious TPS issues on my last trip which left me in limp mode in heavy traffic...:banghead:

So I'll add this belt noise to the list for them to check. Going to leave the tensioner off as I know how dealers like to point the finger at 3rd party items. I will reinstall after they address the noise issue.

They had tightened the belt when I took it in complaining of vibration/wobble. They said it was very loose. I had it adjusted a few times at Pittbull while at Spyderfest and they couldn't get the vibration/wobble fixed. It may be that the tighter belt has helped with the vibration/wobble but is now making the horrible noise. I can't believe that noise would be considered normal.

I have put some grease on the belt (used to have to do this on the RT) and didn't notice much difference. I'll try it again and take another video.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'd love to hear a similar video from someone with an F3... get it up to about 35, hit the kill switch and coast in neutral while videoing.

 

[bscrive]

Firefly, I have listened to that video a couple of times and it really sounds like a bad bearing to me. Don't know if it is the one under the front cog, or if it the rear wheel. Maybe both? It kind of sounds like two different sounds at the same time.
Let us know what the dealer says. My wife owns a F3 as well.