First Use of a Krikit II V-Belt Tension Gauge

[Capt. Bob]

I have been reading some of the threads on this forum about belt tension and decided that I ought to know how to use a Krikit II V-Belt Tension Gauge (Part# 91132). For about $30 off Amazon, I acquired one and used it for the first time after reading the instructions that came with the gauge.

I took off the belt guard on my 2015 F3-S, found the midpoint on the top of the belt and then proceeded to take several readings of my belt's tension. The gauge read about 195-200 pounds. The trike has 7300 miles on it and I bought it as a factory demonstrator with 6k miles. At the time of pickup, the dealer had gone through the trike and did a complete service minus an alignment. They said that the alignment was fine. They had put all brand-new tires on it at my request as part of the sale and I have not noticed any unusual wear in the 1300 miles I have put on the trike and there is no tendency to pull one way or the other when hands free. I have experience very little belt vibration that occurs somewhere around 70-75 mph and seems slightly more pronounced when going up an incline.

My question is that now that I have established a baseline of 195-200 pounds on the Krikit, is this pretty much an ideal belt tension? In my readings, I have heard all kinds of numbers bandied about and can't really get a good handle on what is an ideal belt tension? Thanks for any insights. Bob

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

KRITKIT

If your rear tire was on the ground when you got that reading you are good to go..... I have an RT and mine is about 185 ON-THE-GROUND ........Mike .....................where exactly is the wear on the tires appearing .....it makes a difference .....Mike :thumbup:

 

[Capt. Bob]

If your rear tire was on the ground when you got that reading you are good to go..... I have an RT and mine is about 185 ON-THE-GROUND ........Mike .....................where exactly is the wear on the tires appearing .....it makes a difference .....Mike :thumbup:

Thanks Mike, The rear tire was on the ground when I took my readings. Actually, in terms of wear, there is no significant wear noted on any of the three tires. I have a Ronbar and keep the fronts at a recommended 19 pounds and the rear at 29 pounds and everything seems to be working well. Anybody else have some suggested Krikit belt tension readings? Bob

 

[Sarge707]

My F3 is 160 on the ground as read from the bottom of the belt pushing up. Lower IS better?:yikes:

 

[jcthorne]

My experience has been that higher end of the recommend scale for your bike will lessen belt vibration somewhat or drive it up to a higher speed point.

That said, higher tension is a bad thing for the bearings in the output shaft and rear wheel.

With a SmoothSpyder tensioner installed, I have found you can run near the bottom of the recommended scale and still have no belt vibration. Even a bit below the bottom of the recommended scale does not seem to bother anything in this case.

It will be interesting to see if BRP publishes new tension guidelines to go with the new factory offered tensioner on the F3s. I bet they will.

 

[Capt. Bob]

My experience has been that higher end of the recommend scale for your bike will lessen belt vibration somewhat or drive it up to a higher speed point.

That said, higher tension is a bad thing for the bearings in the output shaft and rear wheel.

With a SmoothSpyder tensioner installed, I have found you can run near the bottom of the recommended scale and still have no belt vibration. Even a bit below the bottom of the recommended scale does not seem to bother anything in this case.

It will be interesting to see if BRP publishes new tension guidelines to go with the new factory offered tensioner on the F3s. I bet they will.

JC, Helpful. Where does one fined the "recommended scale" for my F3-S?

 

[jcthorne]

JC, Helpful. Where does one fined the "recommended scale" for my F3-S?

Per the latest service bulliten from BRP,

200 to 400 Newtons (45 to 90 lbs) which is nearly identical to what the 2008 thru 2012 998s ran.

 

[Capt. Bob]

Per the latest service bulliten from BRP,

200 to 400 Newtons (45 to 90 lbs) which is nearly identical to what the 2008 thru 2012 998s ran.

Whoa! Does that mean that my measured 195-200 pounds with my Krikit placed on the center of the belt between the two pullys means that the belt is WAY over-taught? The reason I ask this is that I had heard numbers like 200-250 bandied about as the correct taughtness.

 

[jcthorne]

Whoa! Does that mean that my measured 195-200 pounds with my Krikit placed on the center of the belt between the two pullys means that the belt is WAY over-taught? The reason I ask this is that I had heard numbers like 200-250 bandied about as the correct taughtness.

the specs were in that range when the F3 was released and still are for the RT. The revised specs were issued last year on a service bulletin. Yes, yours would be well above the recommended range as I suspect most F3s are.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

KRITKIT

the specs were in that range when the F3 was released and still are for the RT. The revised specs were issued last year on a service bulletin. Yes, yours would be well above the recommended range as I suspect most F3s are.

JC, if I understand you on the KritKit .....your saying my readings for a 2014 RT should be 45 to 90 lbs & similar for an F-3 ??????..................Mike :thumbup:

 

[Capt. Bob]

The revised 2010/2013 Service Bulletins that my dealer informed me of stated that the F3 belt tension needed to be tested with the rear wheel off the ground. I confirmed this with another Spyder dealer. For the F3, the belt tension value at room temperature with the rear wheel off the ground should be 775 N (Newton Meters) plus or minus 150 N which would translate into 460, 571 and 682 foot pounds. I don't even have those values on my Krikit II.

JC, I don't even know how you came up with 45-90 foot pounds?

I am more confused than ever as to what is what? This is from the Can-Am ROADSTER belt specification table 71535 for the F3.

 

[Chupaca]

Is puzzeling....

If in doubt have your dealer set the tension with the sonic meter and then measure it with your krikit. You can also use the old rule of thumb and if you can twist the belt to a perpendicular 90° it is too loose. somewhere in between is a safe place to be..I run it at 180 give or take....:thumbup:

 

[Capt. Bob]

If in doubt have your dealer set the tension with the sonic meter and then measure it with your krikit. You can also use the old rule of thumb and if you can twist the belt to a perpendicular 90° it is too loose. somewhere in between is a safe place to be..I run it at 180 give or take....:thumbup:

Chupaca, great suggestion to get the sonic meter on my belt and then get baseline values on my Krikit II. Being that there is a fair amount of "slop" with the +/- value of 111 foot-pounds acceptable variation from the 571 foot-pounds median value, it will be interesting to see how that translates with the use of the Krikit? Kind of confusing to me before I realized that the Krikit values are not the values used by BRP in setting the belt tension.

 

[jcthorne]

JC, if I understand you on the KritKit .....your saying my readings for a 2014 RT should be 45 to 90 lbs & similar for an F-3 ??????..................Mike :thumbup:

No, the revised lower tension numbers were for the F3 only. The RT still uses the higher spec.

 

[jcthorne]

The revised 2010/2013 Service Bulletins that my dealer informed me of stated that the F3 belt tension needed to be tested with the rear wheel off the ground. I confirmed this with another Spyder dealer. For the F3, the belt tension value at room temperature with the rear wheel off the ground should be 775 N (Newton Meters) plus or minus 150 N which would translate into 460, 571 and 682 foot pounds. I don't even have those values on my Krikit II.

JC, I don't even know how you came up with 45-90 foot pounds?

I am more confused than ever as to what is what? This is from the Can-Am ROADSTER belt specification table 71535 for the F3.

Newtons is a force, foot lbs is a torque and the two cannot be converted. I said 45 to 90 POUNDS, not foot pounds, two very different things. The specs are in Newtons, NOT Newton Meters. You are confusing a tension in force with a torque on a bolt. Here is the bulletin showing the 300 +/- 100 Newtons spec.

 

[Capt. Bob]

Newtons is a force, foot lbs is a torque and the two cannot be converted. I said 45 to 90 POUNDS, not foot pounds, two very different things. The specs are in Newtons, NOT Newton Meters. You are confusing a tension in force with a torque on a bolt. Here is the bulletin showing the 300 +/- 100 Newtons spec.

View attachment 136783

JC, This is VERY helpful. Now, what math do I use to convert the recommended force of 300 Newtons in order to use my Krikit II which measures belt tension in either KG's or pounds which is what the Krikit measures? Thanks for your time. Bob

 

[jcthorne]

JC, This is VERY helpful. Now, what math do I use to convert the recommended force of 300 Newtons in order to use my Krikit II which measures belt tension in either KG's or pounds which is what the Krikit measures? Thanks for your time. Bob

One newton = approx 0.225 pounds force

So 300N is approx 68lbs force. This is where I got the 45 to 90 lbs range.

 

[Capt. Bob]

One newton = approx 0.225 pounds force

So 300N is approx 68lbs force. This is where I got the 45 to 90 lbs range.

I read the bulletin and the description of the harmonic vibration is exactly what I have experienced under load. Would it be safe to say that if I am using a Krikit on my drive belt and it is measuring say 190-195 pounds when the gauge clicks that I need to reduce the tension on my drive belt so that the gauge reads about 70 pounds when it clicks? Sorry that I keep asking so many questions but I can tell you for sure that there are a pot full of misconceptions about what the drive belt tension should be. Additionally, since BRP specs are for a trike whos rear wheel is off the ground, is the 45-90 pounds with the trike rear tire on the ground? (JC, honestly, I am not a total dumbass and have a Ph.D. in two areas of specializationnojoke). Dr. Bob (I think?)

 

[spyderyderjim]

I read the bulletin and the description of the harmonic vibration is exactly what I have experienced under load. Would it be safe to say that if I am using a Krikit on my drive belt and it is measuring say 190-195 pounds when the gauge clicks that I need to reduce the tension on my drive belt so that the gauge reads about 70 pounds when it clicks? Sorry that I keep asking so many questions but I can tell you for sure that there are a pot full of misconceptions about what the drive belt tension should be. Additionally, since BRP specs are for a trike whos rear wheel is off the ground, is the 45-90 pounds with the trike rear tire on the ground? (JC, honestly, I am not a total dumbass and have a Ph.D. in two areas of specializationnojoke). Dr. Bob (I think?)

Hi Dr. Bob,
Forget all the confusing above BRP/ F3 drive belt spec # settings info.
Yes, lower your F3 drive belt tension to 180# on your Kricket gauge.
If you don't feel comfy on releasing Parking Brake, loosening 36mm axle nut & adjust Drive belt adjusters 1/2 turn counter clockwise each one evenly using a 6mm hex wrench; then just take your F3 to a Service shop & ask them to set your belt at 180# on your Kricket gauge!
With my 2015 F3S Spyder sitting on the ground, I just push up from bottom of Drive belt in about center for the 180# Kricket read.
This should help eliminate any annoying Drive belt vibs for you.
Hope this helps you with me sharing my 21,500 miles experience on 2015 F3S Spyder, using the 180# Kricket read, & no vibs.
Enjoy your rydes.
Jim

 

[jcthorne]

I read the bulletin and the description of the harmonic vibration is exactly what I have experienced under load. Would it be safe to say that if I am using a Krikit on my drive belt and it is measuring say 190-195 pounds when the gauge clicks that I need to reduce the tension on my drive belt so that the gauge reads about 70 pounds when it clicks? Sorry that I keep asking so many questions but I can tell you for sure that there are a pot full of misconceptions about what the drive belt tension should be. Additionally, since BRP specs are for a trike whos rear wheel is off the ground, is the 45-90 pounds with the trike rear tire on the ground? (JC, honestly, I am not a total dumbass and have a Ph.D. in two areas of specializationnojoke). Dr. Bob (I think?)

The BRP spec is with the rear tire off the ground and a stock rear shock (known length). If an aftermarket shock is used the length can be different and the tension will measure different. Tension goes up as the rear wheel goes up.