Wide variation on belt specs

[rugercharger]

well after going over my newly acquired 2019 F3 limited, the alignment, handlebar adjustment, oil level etc.,,.,.. After checking the belt adjustment which i measured at 170 lbs, which does match the manual specification ; i have a question to put to you folks.
I have read about premature front pulley failure and bearing failure. From what i gather could be caused by the belt spec being too tight. There is tst issued by brp on revised belt specs that in some respects cut belt tension specs in half. What i am asking out there is for some input from some of you folks that have some mileage on your later model spyders and at what spec you have running your belt with no problems with the front pulley and bearing. i have included the tst from brp, which is pretty drastic on reduced specification.

 

[BajaRon]

170 lifted or on the floor?

 

[rugercharger]

170 lifted or on the floor?

https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1492602

lifted

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

That TST is 5 years old and did nothing but cause confusion since the moment it was first issued. Background - Technicians had been RAISING belt tension in an effort to reduce belt vibrations when a customer complained about it. This turned out to be the wrong approach. Thus, this TST was issued in order to give technicians in the shop a target and range on how far to LOWER the belt tension when a customer complains of belt vibration. Lowering belt tension was much more successful in reducing vibration. The TST was issued for vibration issues ONLY and was performed only if a customer complained about it. It did NOT change the official belt tension spec in the manual, nor will it in the future. It's 5 years old. That kind of stuff is done by Service Bulletin. The front sprocket problems plaguing F3 units and others in the past few years weren't related to belt tension. It was due to sprocket material / assembly issues. Back in the day, 2008 to 2012 998 units were affected by a Service Bulletin that lowered the official tension spec due to bearing failure issues. That design problem was corrected in 2013.

Bottom line - This TST is not a spec change. However, you won't go wrong, both from a wear standpoint and a vibration standpoint, by running your belt tension low in the band as indicated in this TST - but it isn't mandatory. Many folks are doing just that with no ill effects and highly recommend it. Just don't expect to see a manual revision from it.

 

[Freddy]

Back in the day, 2008 to 2012 998 units were affected by a Service Bulletin that lowered the official tension spec due to bearing failure issues. Not so - no bearing failures, just pulley/spline failures as repeated on later models. :cheers:

 

[PMK]

We had vibrations at oem belt tension specs. Lowered belt tension to 143 lbf, with wheel off ground. Essentially the median spec in the bulletin. Never ran a belt tensioner / damper. 99.9% of a ride, no vibrations.

 

[LeftCoast]

I don’t know why but once I replaced the front Kendas the vibration mostly went away

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I don’t know why but once I replaced the front Kendas the vibration mostly went away

Well imho if you changed the tires and the vibes went away, then I doubt any vibration was related to the belt ….. Mike

 

[LeftCoast]

Well imho if you changed the tires and the vibes went away, then I doubt any vibration was related to the belt ….. Mike

Excellent point. I had always associated the vibration I got at 73 mph with the belt. Don’t want to derail this thread any further so I’ll stop there.

 

[rugercharger]

just as an fyi, my belt being set at 170, i have no vibration. my interest is mainly pulley or bearing damage. and my measurement is lifted.

 

[PMK]

just as an fyi, my belt being set at 170, i have no vibration. my interest is mainly pulley or bearing damage. and my measurement is lifted.

Going by the service bulletin, your Spyder would not have the belt tension reduced since you have no complaint of vibration. As for bearing or pulley wear, seems that increased belt tension will increase wear and stress on applicable parts.

 

[h0gr1der]

I may be confused, but isn't the F3 belt tension lower than the RT? The TST on belt tension for the 2015 F3 is 300 ±100 Newtons. That's a low range of 67.44 Lbs all the way down to 44.96 Lbs with the wheel raised. I'm running my RT at 120 Lbs raised (alleged RT minimum), which give me about 135-140 on the ground. Much lower and with less vibration than when set it at 236 Lb the dealer set it at, even after I pointed out the bulletin. This is for the RT, I think the F3 runs lower belt tension than the RT due to belt length. Seems like the dealers always set it to the maximum, even if you request different.