Aerco Belt Kit?

Anybody out there in Radioland running an Aerco belt kit on a 750 Commando? The one that's 'Made In England, Belt made in Italy.' I'm tired of the little red drops on the garage floor out of the 50+ year old pitted sealing face primary, and the missus is looking for Birthmas ideas... hit up Matt at cNw (first pick), he's out till probably mid winter, hit up RGM (second pick), they're out till who knows, Ebay prices are psychotic, Andover doesn't believe in belt-foolery, and I'd rather not go Norvil... What's a guy to do? Aerco I can find for reasonable, but I don't know nuthin' bout no Aerco. Enlighten me!

RGM have crank pulleys, clutch bodies and belts in stock. Just buy the individual parts

tompkins said:

Anybody out there in Radioland running an Aerco belt kit on a 750 Commando? The one that's 'Made In England, Belt made in Italy.' I'm tired of the little red drops on the garage floor out of the 50+ year old pitted sealing face primary, and the missus is looking for Birthmas ideas... hit up Matt at cNw (first pick), he's out till probably mid winter, hit up RGM (second pick), they're out till who knows, Ebay prices are psychotic, Andover doesn't believe in belt-foolery, and I'd rather not go Norvil... What's a guy to do? Aerco I can find for reasonable, but I don't know nuthin' bout no Aerco. Enlighten me!

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Hi tompkins- We have had pretty good success with the Aerco belt kits for both Norton and Triumph applications. They are sourced in the UK from Velocette Motorcycle Company Ltd. The kit we offer for Norton 750 and 850 Commandos (pre-MK3) is listed as BELTN01 from the supplier, but we have it available on our website under part number TBS-BELT05. You can run it wet or dry, but might want some airflow if you choose to run it dry. Here's a link to our Aerco kit:
-Dave

The RGM kits come with all that is shown for the Aerco as well as an installed center hub and complete clutch. That is when they are in stock. The RGM also use the AT10 belt that the Aerco uses. Point is the basic Aerco kit is almost the same as the RGM. One advantage with the RGM is it has a belt guard on both sides of the drive pulley to prevent the belt from coming off the inside and/or outside of the pulley.

I have an RGM belt clutch, and once one figures out how to adjust the AT10 polyurethane belt, which by the way is not done like the rubber belts, it is a good belt clutch. The Aerco is probably as good except for the difference in the drive pulley.

what is special about the AT 10 belt adjustment?

so far, no takers eh? If nobody has real world experience with this kit, (I.E. owned it for a while, couple thousand miles) I guess I'll just wait for Matt to come up with some new ones. I'll toss a pie pan under the primary for the time being.

seattle##gs said:

what is special about the AT 10 belt adjustment?

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Based on real world AT10 belt use.

Polyurethane belts are much stiffer and a bit slicker than the rubber belts. Both have metal strands running through them, but the rubber belts are more flexible and easier to twist. If you do the twist to 70-90 degrees type of adjustment on a bike that makes good power quickly an AT10 belt will slip on the drive pulley. Done it and it does not work on my bike. The adjustment is a little over 1" total up and down movement when cold and not tight as a drum hot. That said my 750 engine is not typical and maybe it would not be an issue to use the twist method of adjustment on a stock 750 engine.

tompkins said:

so far, no takers eh? If nobody has real world experience with this kit, (I.E. owned it for a while, couple thousand miles) I guess I'll just wait for Matt to come up with some new ones. I'll toss a pie pan under the primary for the time being.

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I had a very similar one bought from British Cycle Supply 35 - 40 years ago. When I sold the bike in 2011, it was still there on its original belt (40 K miles I'd say). I ran it wet for the first while and dry for the rest of my ownership of the bike. Not one problem ! It needs proper initial adjustment and most certainly the right pulley alignment as with any belt drive. The placement of the shoulder on the drive pulley is logical considering the load from the engine to the clutch basket. It wants to pull the belt to the outside naturally. Hence the shoulder on the drive pulley being on the exterior and the critical pulley alignment and belt tension!

tompkins said:

Anybody out there in Radioland running an Aerco belt kit on a 750 Commando? The one that's 'Made In England, Belt made in Italy.' I'm tired of the little red drops on the garage floor out of the 50+ year old pitted sealing face primary, and the missus is looking for Birthmas ideas... hit up Matt at cNw (first pick), he's out till probably mid winter, hit up RGM (second pick), they're out till who knows, Ebay prices are psychotic, Andover doesn't believe in belt-foolery, and I'd rather not go Norvil... What's a guy to do? Aerco I can find for reasonable, but I don't know nuthin' bout no Aerco. Enlighten me!

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The Norvil ones work, and they’re inexpensive.
Admittedly one wouldn’t be my first choice either (front pulley wore on mine) but they work, they’re cheap and they’re available !

tompkins said:

so far, no takers eh? If nobody has real world experience with this kit, (I.E. owned it for a while, couple thousand miles) I guess I'll just wait for Matt to come up with some new ones. I'll toss a pie pan under the primary for the time being.

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It is the same as a RGM belt clutch which I have a couple of thousand miles on.