Belt final drive interest?

Hey all, another post on another subject.

All those who have/previously used primary drives of the belt variety rather than chain on any bike, I'm sure will agree, have experienced a vast improvement.

Due to contacts I have thru my work I recently came across a belt drive system in a completely different application to automotive power transmission that will fit nortons and withstand the loads/torque/hp etc. This system is only 25mm/1" wide.

Based on experience I've had with both primary and final belt drives on 3 Harleys the benefits of these systems by way of longevity (it is not uncommon for properly maintained synchronous belt drives to last 60 to 80K), drive cushioning affect (protect that gearbox along with even smoother take offs), cleanliness (no more chain lube is enough of a bonus in itself let me tell you) and noise far outweigh the costs.

A mate of mine who's a mechanical engineer (ex Ford Motor Company) and whose partner is a current Ford engineer is reviewing my calculations. His initial comments are that on the face of things the system will work perfectly with vast improvements over chain drive systems. (this guy is a current national championship sidecar racer as well as being a retired A grade solo racer (builds everything himself) as well as running/owns a company that custom builds data aquisition equipment like Dynomometers etc. so he knows a thing or two about motorcycles as well as engineering)

Now for the crunch. One set of pulleys and a belt from the manufacturer is approximately $1800.00 AU and there is still some machining required as this puilley/belt set is designed for a completely different application. The system is patented by the way.

That's one set. I've contacted the supplier and asked them to obtain a price for 10 and 20 sets. I won't be suprised if the costs are halved at these numbers. If this is the case we are talking a not insubstantial sum of between 9 and 18k AUD.

Based on previous personal experience I'm going to do this eventually anyway but that eventually will come a whole lot sooner if there are a group of us who want to do the same thing and can bulk buy.

I/mates can do the machining at a price or you can do/arrange it yourselves.

My thoughts are that those interested, if any, get together on here initially and if it generates enough interest cost/s will be collected and held in trust to ensure security. These funds would be used to place a deposit on a firm order and payment upon receipt of goods etc etc.

Is anyone interested? Tell your English bike riding mates as well because, and I'm only guessing here, if this system fits/works on Commandos then there are a whole lot of bikes out there besides Nortons that would benefit from belt final drive.

Someone in the Netherlands Norton Club has a Commando with belt final drive. It also has Upside-down White Powers.

I have a suspicion that it uses Kawasaki parts but I'm not certain. (Was it the GPz 305 or something ?)

I recall him saying that it was a lot of work, but it seemed like a good idea.

Sorry but I have no contact details although I usually see the bike once or twice a year at rallies. Their website has a forum but it is Dutch language, as you'd expect.

There are 2 questions I could raise straight away, how are you going to fit it in the restricted space between primary case and gearbox, it is tight in there, you cannot even fit an o ring chain in of the same size, also look at the new BMW 800 twin, look at the cowling round the lower chain run, I reckon this is to stop stones getting picked up which would cause instant destruction. This is not a problem on H arlesy as they dont fo fast enough to pick up stones or swat flies but needs thinking about on Nortons

This is not a problem on H arlesy as they dont fo fast enough to pick up stones or swat flies but needs thinking about on Nortons[/quote]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Now, Now, that wasn't very P.C.

These guys may have already been there - www.quietpowerdrive.com

They only show modern Triumphs on the products page but note "Rear Belt Systems for the Classic British Bikes are also one of his specialties" on the "About Us" page.

All I have read leads me to belive that there is no cushion to the drive from a belt. So if your in need of room keep the rear wheel rubbers. There also seems to be a limitation on how small the sprockets can get and have the belt last, leading to really large sprocket sizes. With the out rigger bearing that big power bikes need you could move the primary outward to gain some room. Then just mod the primary inter case to sute. An outrigger that joins the end of the crank to the end of the main shaft woud be the best providing the primary belt with a lack of deflection that plages them. Perfect alinment right from the start is key to have high milage belts. I run them on both of my Nortons.

This is not a problem on H arlesy as they dont fo fast enough to pick up stones or swat flies but needs thinking about on Nortons

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Even bandicoots, wombats and kangeroos are safe eh .. :roll:

Geoff said:

There are 2 questions I could raise straight away, how are you going to fit it in the restricted space between primary case and gearbox, it is tight in there, you cannot even fit an o ring chain in of the same size, also look at the new BMW 800 twin, look at the cowling round the lower chain run, I reckon this is to stop stones getting picked up which would cause instant destruction. This is not a problem on H arlesy as they dont fo fast enough to pick up stones or swat flies but needs thinking about on Nortons

Click to expand...

That is the advantage of this system. It will fit in the restricted space between the gearbox and primary. And believe me, Harleys suffer from broken belts too, even standard powered examples. I've had 2 previous harleys break final drive belts. The suspicions in both cases were stones but I couldn't be certain.