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Ever had a primary chain wad up in the case on ya?illf8ed said:Saw one just like this at the INOA Wyoming rally lays July. Don't see many examples of similar destruction of chains. Primary chains...good.
I
Belt'agedon
- Thread starter Xpongebob
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Never.
- Joined
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It happened to me once @ about 65 MPH. I landed sliding on my arse in traffic.illf8ed said:
It doesn't happen often & good maintenance practices prevent it, (I was on someone else's bike @ the time) but it ain't good when it does.
It can even bind up the clutch basket so grabbing the clutch lever might not save you.
Just sayin' that chains aren't perfect either & a broken/stripped belt doesn't result in a lot of drama.
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End result on the hi-way is either a grenaded primary case, or as in my case when the chain let go in a tin primary case, (no grenading, just some bent steel) down you go.comnoz said:
I had similar problems chewing teeth off 8mm pitch belts on my stroker Panhead. I ended up modifying the transmission adjustment plate to keep everything in alignment. Some went to double adjusters similar in theory to what the Norton modification uses. Since the Harley tin primary adjustment system slides the transmission straight back on a flat plate, I used larger studs in the bottom of the case W/star washers on both sides of the plate. It worked.
In a system that uses transmission movement to adjust primary drive tension (no slipper shoe) I think that a belt drive is the way to go. A chain W/O a slipper on the slack side can get a lot of oscillation when the least amount of slack is present.
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BitchinBeezer said:
When the chain let go on my dyno it was during coast down. It just took out the primary case. The guy that lost his at the INOA rally in Ca. had a bent crank also -but at least he didn't go down.
The only time I have seen early belt failure was when they were not correctly adjusted or aligned. Usually too tight.
I got over 75,000 miles on the last belt on my hot rod 880. Even then it didn't break , it just got a flap that was hitting the inside of the case and I heard it when I was warming up the bike one morning. Jim
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The problem with belts isnt always simple.
I know of many problems with belts on road bikes but fewer on race bikes.
It can be caused by many issues but I guess it, as usual, lies in the quality
of the product, the fitting, the maintainance and the miles. It seems odd
that race bikes which usuually get absolute best maintainance and do the least
road miles have the least problems.
More importantly there is a simple law with all drives, belt or chain. High speed
equals low torque, low speed equals high torque. With race machines reving their
nuts off the chain or belt is real happy. On road bikes with owners not wanting to
rev the engines to get long component life the belt or chain will need looking at
frequently.
I know little about belts but something about chain and I would expect the following
statement to be true to each. In general owners do not really know the quality of
the component they are fitting but take the sellers word for its integrity. Those
of you who have had the pleasure of meeting me, or the pain, will know that I will
not bullshit on quality and will expose crap product. You break a chain then there is
a fundamental problem and find it. It may be down to crap product but even then you
will see extreme wear before failure and the same goes for belts.
Norton specialist dealers are the same as any other make, they look mainly at profit
and I could tell you where some get the product and the level of quality, but I wont
because I will get sued.
I will repeat something that I have said in other posts. Norton, Triumph, Matcheless etc etc etc
have run for many years with the original components, including good old Renold chain.
I did many thousands of miles on my bikes and yes they needed maintaining. Even my new project
380GT needs the gearbox oil changing at 2000 miles. Perhaps we expect too much or more importantly
perhaps the quality of the parts is lower. Before I get bricks launched in my direction yes I sell
iwis but then I like to sleep at night and 40 years selling it has proved the quality. The crap I got
over the spring clip issues proved that some people dont have the first idea about what they fit.
Any way rant over but I will say that belts dont suit all machines just ask T160 owners.
Andy
I know of many problems with belts on road bikes but fewer on race bikes.
It can be caused by many issues but I guess it, as usual, lies in the quality
of the product, the fitting, the maintainance and the miles. It seems odd
that race bikes which usuually get absolute best maintainance and do the least
road miles have the least problems.
More importantly there is a simple law with all drives, belt or chain. High speed
equals low torque, low speed equals high torque. With race machines reving their
nuts off the chain or belt is real happy. On road bikes with owners not wanting to
rev the engines to get long component life the belt or chain will need looking at
frequently.
I know little about belts but something about chain and I would expect the following
statement to be true to each. In general owners do not really know the quality of
the component they are fitting but take the sellers word for its integrity. Those
of you who have had the pleasure of meeting me, or the pain, will know that I will
not bullshit on quality and will expose crap product. You break a chain then there is
a fundamental problem and find it. It may be down to crap product but even then you
will see extreme wear before failure and the same goes for belts.
Norton specialist dealers are the same as any other make, they look mainly at profit
and I could tell you where some get the product and the level of quality, but I wont
because I will get sued.
I will repeat something that I have said in other posts. Norton, Triumph, Matcheless etc etc etc
have run for many years with the original components, including good old Renold chain.
I did many thousands of miles on my bikes and yes they needed maintaining. Even my new project
380GT needs the gearbox oil changing at 2000 miles. Perhaps we expect too much or more importantly
perhaps the quality of the parts is lower. Before I get bricks launched in my direction yes I sell
iwis but then I like to sleep at night and 40 years selling it has proved the quality. The crap I got
over the spring clip issues proved that some people dont have the first idea about what they fit.
Any way rant over but I will say that belts dont suit all machines just ask T160 owners.
Andy
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