What’s that smell?

[arachnyd]

After each ride (it has been cool out lately) I back the F3 into the garage and notice a smell. At first I thought it was a hot brake but now it is more like hot rubber.
Today after I got home I touched the belt and rear sprocket. They were room temperature.
I don’t ride the brake.

Does this sound (smell) like a problem?

Thank you,
ba

 

[Hypurone]

It is most likely a collection of cr@p sitting on top of the cat and burning.... One of the reasons I removed mine....

 

[Mikey]

:roflblack: How may burn outs did you do!!hyea:

 

[Grandpot]

It looks like your bike is fairly new. It may take awhile for all of the oils and other manufacting chemicals to burn off. After riding, put the Spyder in a dark area and shine a bright flashlight all around it. This should let you see if there is any smoke that you can track down.

 

[h0gr1der]

After each ride (it has been cool out lately) I back the F3 into the garage and notice a smell. At first I thought it was a hot brake but now it is more like hot rubber.
Today after I got home I touched the belt and rear sprocket. They were room temperature.
I don’t ride the brake.

Does this sound (smell) like a problem?

Thank you,
ba

I removed my belt vibration dampener for just this reason. It wasn't damaging the belt or dampener roller, nor was there ever any heat displayed on the pulley or belt. But I always smelled rubber burning. Removed the dampener and the smell went away. I'll live with the vibration as it was greatly reduced by lowering the belt tension to the lowest specification.

Are you running a belt vibration dampener?

 

[RICZ]

I was getting that burning smell too, but figured it was the "new" getting roasted. Got 700+ miles now and the smell isn't there now.

 

[trikermutha]

Mine did that from day one on my 14 RT.. Once I got rid of the CAT I dont smell burnt rubber anymore. But never posed a problem even when it did smell like I did a BURNOUT. :roflblack:

I sure miss those days when I could do burnouts

 

[arachnyd]

I was getting that burning smell too, but figured it was the "new" getting roasted. Got 700+ miles now and the smell isn't there now.

i have 500 miles so far. no vibration damper (yet). no smoky burnouts.

i guess i'll just see how it goes.

time to ride.

thank you all for the help,
ba

 

[Rharris]

Mine had that smell also, and it worried me. Now that I’ve done the cat delete the smell disappeared.

 

[carsong]

Weird. I've been getting that smell, also. I figured that it might be the belt. I was looking to see what people were saying about belt tensioners, when I came across your post. Definitely a burning rubber smell. It's mild, but I've been concerned. Don't really want to mess with the stock exhaust system.

 

[Gwolf]

The back tire can throw stuff from the road on top of the cat. It will cook there. Any damp mud or if you run through some road kill it will smell until it is washed off or burns off.

 

[2dogs]

Mine did that from day one on my 14 RT.. Once I got rid of the CAT I dont smell burnt rubber anymore. But never posed a problem even when it did smell like I did a BURNOUT. :roflblack:

I sure miss those days when I could do burnouts

Same roadster, same year, same smell, same modification, same results.

 

[grumpyoldretiredcop]

My F3T has the same hot rubber odor when I pull it into the garage. It didn't change one way or another when I added the factory belt tensioner. No signs of sprocket misalignment or unusual wear to date, either. Didn't think about road junk on the cat, but the smell is pure hot rubber. Guess I'll keep an eye on the belt when the riding season reopens.

 

[PMK]

Belt misalignment or excessive belt tension is a source of the rubber smell.

When new, our RTS had the rubber smell. Correctly aligned the belt and the smell was gone.

Just a suggestion. Possibly the others are correct and it is debris on the exhaust.

 

[Snakeyes]

I have noticed the same smell. I had "assumed" it was part of the break in period - tires, brakes etc. I now have 600 miles on the RTL and the smell has become less obvious each ride. I have done visual checks and everything seems to be in good order.

 

[AY4B]

When mine was new I had the same smell. It was the sticker on the Cat they did not remove on assembly burning up. It will go away after awhile.

 

[arachnyd]

thanks for all the replies.

ill keep and eye (nose) out for it once the riding season starts up again.

 

[Jethro]

thank you for posting

my F3 Limited has been doing this all summer