The Yamaha Road Star Warrior Forum

 Sorry, I thought you were referring to the rear pulley. That 1st pic doesn't look right, almost seems the rear axle is is not aligned properly or the rear pulley is spaced out too far? 

AlanH:

Not that i have a solution but just some thoughts. 

What's the condition of your frt aluminum pulley teeth in the drive & coast directions? Any excessive erosion as asked earlier.

Was your rear axle turned 180 deg or just lossened? If bent that would have an affect.

Have you chk'd the runout w/ an indicator of the frt and rear pulleys. Is the frt pulley bent?

With the aftermarket forged whl & cush hub what torque is used oin the rear wheel axle?

The 1-1/8 belt walking across the entire frt wider pulley flange to flange is not correct in my book.

thanx - I will try to answer all the above.. 

My 31 tooth front pullley is tha Yami Road Star pulley, and aside fom just wear marks on the teeth which seem superficial, the front pulley seems to be in good condition.  There is no uneven wear and the nut was tight when I checked while I had the pulley cover off...I also spun the front pulley around before I installed the new belt and it rotated evenly with no wobble that I can tell...I don't think the front pulley is bent...How do I check the "runout" (not sure what is meant by that?) of the front and rear pulleys?

I did nothing to the rear axle except loosen the rear axle nut to adjust the alignment and tension.  The rear axle was never pulled out, I kept the entire rear wheel assembly in tact.  I took out the swingarm pivot assembly and jacked up the bike to separate the swingarm from the rest of the frame in order to slip the new belt thru..I guess I don't see how I could have damaged the rear axle?...  The rear wheel seems to rotate smoothly with no noise or uneven snagging with rotations...

The CZ wheels have oversized bearings and thus call for 1/2 the torque specs of the oem wheel.  That's what I followed.  DO you think an overtightened or undertightened case would be responsible?

thanx for the suggestions/ideas.

JPWARRIOR:

 Sorry, I thought you were referring to the rear pulley. That 1st pic doesn't look right, almost seems the rear axle is is not aligned properly or the rear pulley is spaced out too far? 

I really appreciate the thoughts coming in, pls keep 'em coming... 

rear axle misalignment was the first impression I got.  2.5 hours later, after loosening the adjustment screws and moving the rear wheel every which way and adjusting it, I cannot seem to get rid of the "walk" across the front the belt does when the rear wheel is rotated...

Let me bounce a few thoughts and deductions off you guys....

Hypothetically speaking, I would think the rear wheel would have to be grossly misaligned if it were indeed responsible for making the belt walk like that right?..  Theoretically if the rear wheel was misaligned, it would be in error and cocked in the 11 or 10 o'clock position (or that direction anyways) of misalignment correct?  That would mean my left adjustment bolt would have to be pushed out significantly more than the irght correct?

If the above assumptions are correct, then I can I rule rear wheel misalignment out since both my adjustment bolts are within 1/16" of each other?  I think they are dead nuts on +/- 1/16"....

Now let's look at the other idea of perhaps the rear pulley being spaced out too far...

How can I determine if this is indeed the case?  It is the same spacer that was used with the Yami oem belt that tracked more true than this new belt...

Churchkey:

My polychain had a twist (memory) in it when new & did what you are refering to. Try riding it for a couple of hundred miles it should then behave normally.

Woody - I had resolved to just ride it a little bit and keep my eye on it after hours of unfruitful alignment last night.  But now after reading Alan and JP's latest comments today, I am reluctant to do so.  I really hate getting stuck with no way to get her home except at the mercy of a tow truck which almost always leaves your bike changed/with some sort of marks/damage...Aside from trying to realign the rear wheel again, I don;t know what to do....

In your opinion of my first pic showing the belt on the left edge of the front pulley, is that acceptabe/normal or is it too close to the edge?  I'm worried about putting excessive load (and perhaps cause even more damage to the primary drive assembly front pulley, spline, etc) with the belt that far to the left edge of the front puley...

Am I obsessing or correct to worry?

 I can see where the previous belt made contact and it's clear that the belt is tracking to the left. It's even raised on the right side. In this pic is the belt tensioned?

I need to reread your replies on page one. Did you remove the front pulley at all?

Although it's to one side it's not making contact on the edge of the pulley. How is it tracking in the rear.  I'm beginning to agree with Woody, looks like the belt needs to break in. I don't recall mine (gates poly) doing this when I changed it however it's not unlikely. 

JPWARRIOR:

 I can see where the previous belt made contact and it's clear that the belt is tracking to the left. It's even raised on the right side. In this pic is the belt tensioned?

I need to reread your replies on page one. Did you remove the front pulley at all?

Although it's to one side it's not making contact on the edge of the pulley. How is it tracking in the rear.  I'm beginning to agree with Woody, looks like the belt needs to break in. I don't recall mine (gates poly) doing this when I changed it however it's not unlikely. 

you know I am staring at the pic and it does look like the belt is raised to one side but I wonder if it is just an optical illusion from the angle that I took the pic..If you look at the white nylon roller above the top of the belt, it seems to run parralel with even spacing across the top of the belt.  I wonder if I was more to the left than directly behind the belt when I took the pic, thus creating an off angle effect....but thank you - it's worth another check!

I did not remove the front pulley.  I just spun her around a few times to check for true rotation and to inspect the teeth.  Both seemed fine...

the tracking at the rear seems normal.  There is a slight bit of travel of the belt from one side to the other, but never to the point where it touches the side of the pulley that I can tell.  When rotated in the forward direction, the belt does seem to tend toward the left of the rear pulley but stops short of touching the inner pulley rim...

I think your worrying way way way Way too much about this if you have dun all the checks we suggested all that is left is to test it! If your concerned just ride it with in a 1/2 mile of your house for a few hours.

TRex 

 I think Woody's suggestion wouldn't hurt. Ride her for a couple of hundred miles and recheck everything after that. You will not break the belt just riding it normally or even moderately agressive. Mine had around 500-700 miles on it but snapped at the drag strip after about 15 or so runs. It tracked normally as far as I can recall. I figure the grip of the heated up 240 and the combination of HP my motor had caused mine to snap. Took a 300++ # guy to break my Yamaha belt on the street.

Oh and that's a good time on the swap out. We did one in TN at the track somewhere close to that time. Longest part of the process was waiting on a socket that I didn't bring with me that two of the guys went to get from the auto shop next store to the track. 

mdfdwarrior:

 

Churchkey:

My polychain had a twist (memory) in it when new & did what you are refering to. Try riding it for a couple of hundred miles it should then behave normally.

In your opinion of my first pic showing the belt on the left edge of the front pulley, is that acceptabe/normal or is it too close to the edge?  I'm worried about putting excessive load (and perhaps cause even more damage to the primary drive assembly front pulley, spline, etc) with the belt that far to the left edge of the front puley...

Am I obsessing or correct to worry?

The frt pulley & middle shaft is the final drive and is designed for the overhung load.

Enclosed are some very recent photos i took of my 33T / 70T OEM Road* pulleys using a 1-1/2" Gates PC130 Polychain Belt. Notice how the belt tracks to the left side of the frt pulley just inside the outer flange ring. I have approx 14,000 miles on this mod now and no problems. My belt favors the left outer flange of the rear pulley. No noises, no nada

The Gates belt came from Phat Performance and was tagged with a Drag Specialties PN in a fiber carton that could have contributed to the belt having a twist/set as described by Churchkey. I adjusted the belt to the tight side out of the gate and would recommend the same here.

The stock 32T & 1-1/8" belt always ran on the left side of the frt pulley just inside the outer flange ring. The inside still has the factory paint. Considering this and looking at your photo above the belt appears to be 1/4" away from the outer flange ring which is normal with the wider 31T Road* pulley.

Enclosing a couple of url's for a closer look at my set-up if interested.

Once again, the middle shaft can handle the load as long as the pulley is tight.

Belt Handling: http://www.bikernet.com/garage/belthandling.asp

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2743721699_582d387d98_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2698987179_8374b81c0c_o.jpg

 What's puzzling to me Alan is the belt tracked in the center and now is to the left? My belt was twisted into a double loop when I got it. Was either of you guys belts this way? I coulda said "yous guys"

thanx a ton guys.  I adjusted to the tight side and am just gonna ride and monitor.

JP - my new gates belt came double looped as well and had a cardboard type sleeve in the middle. When unpacked and relaxed, it definitely did not have a circular shape.  Not even an oblong.  One end had a tighter radius than the other.  Don't know if this may contribute to the "memory" like Woody and Alan mentioned...I am guessing that it is more dependent upon the make of each belt....

Alan - good to know the front pulley can handle the load when the belt is on the left edge cuz that's where mine is now no matter how much adjustment I made.  I redid everything and retraced my steps.  I took the pulley cover off, undid the belt, spun the front pulley with the belt off.  Checked to see if it was spinning true.  Checked the teeth.  Did the same for the rear.  Loosened the swingarm pivot assembly and checked those.  Reinstalled the belt and torqued everything back down to spec.

Nothing else I can think of doing...If this belt goes kaboom I am either doing the 6-inch chain mail belt conversion or drive shaft conversion! lol!

JPWARRIOR:

 What's puzzling to me Alan is the belt tracked in the center and now is to the left? My belt was twisted into a double loop when I got it. Was either of you guys belts this way? I coulda said "yous guys"

Well if Thom is a glutton for punishment he can try turning the belt around as it only took him 25 mins to R&R the belt 

If the belt changes direction it's the belt!

My .02 follows based on my personal observations and understanding of the assembly:

The other component that could affect the alignment is the swing arm hollow bushing/sleeve that the swing arm pivots on when the swing arm bolt is torqued. If this part was bent it could cause a misalignment of the sprocket or possibly the procedure of how Thom tightened the bolts. I don't know if the sleeve was rotated during the R&R of the belt, just a thought

When i've replaced my belt and removed my swing arm i always pay attention to only snugging the middle shaft housing bolts and spacer and torque the swing arm bolt 1st so that it squares-off the frame. I then follow up with tightening the 4-bolts for the middle shaft housing since a couple of them are slotted by design.

Its possible that Thom has created a misalignment with those bolts because of the sequence of tightening  

There is nothing that i have ever read or heard to support my methodology.....that's all i can think of

AlanH:

JPWARRIOR:

 What's puzzling to me Alan is the belt tracked in the center and now is to the left? My belt was twisted into a double loop when I got it. Was either of you guys belts this way? I coulda said "yous guys"

My belt was looped too that's why i included the url for Proper Belt Handling by BDL

Well if Thom is a glutton for punishment he can try turning the belt around as it only took him 25 mins to R&R the belt 

If the belt changes direction it's the belt!

My .02 follows based on my personal observations and understanding of the assembly:

The other component that could affect the alignment is the swing arm hollow bushing/sleeve that the swing arm pivots on when the swing arm bolt is torqued. If this part was bent it could cause a misalignment of the sprocket or possibly the procedure of how Thom tightened the bolts. I don't know if the sleeve was rotated during the R&R of the belt, just a thought

When i've replaced my belt and removed my swing arm i always pay attention to only snugging the middle shaft housing bolts and spacer and torque the swing arm bolt 1st so that it squares-off the frame. I then follow up with tightening the 4-bolts for the middle shaft housing since a couple of them are slotted by design.

Its possible that Thom has created a misalignment with those bolts because of the sequence of tightening  

There is nothing that i have ever read or heard to support my methodology.....that's all i can think of

gosh Alan, would you believe me if I said I thought of the same possibility as you regarding the swingarm bushing/sleeve causing the misalighnment?  That's what made me take everything off and re-install...Dang I didn't think to swap the belt in the other directional as I figured if it was indeed a unidirectional belt there should have been some indicator like on tires or something...

Anyways, I did inspect this suspect bushing/sleeve and aside from just being a bit dirty/greasy, there was no apparent damage.  I actually slid the swingarm pivot out and reinserted it thru to make sure there was no binding and made sure it fit flush...

I also thought perhaps the sequence of tightening the bolts had something to do with it.  Well after several combinations of what I thought is logical, it had no effect on the belt travel.  Still favoring the left...

I did however notice that the belt traveled a little more to the left as I tightened down the axle nut....whether a little belt travel (perhaps 1/8"?) when the axle nut is torqued down is acceptable/normal I do not know....It's the same axle nut, same spacer, same everything as I used with the oem belt so at least that part is consistent.... 

mdfdwarrior:

I did however notice that the belt traveled a little more to the left as I tightened down the axle nut....whether a little belt travel (perhaps 1/8"?) when the axle nut is torqued down is acceptable/normal I do not know....It's the same axle nut, same spacer, same everything as I used with the oem belt so at least that part is consistent.... 

When i adjust belt tension my axle nut is quite snug and i make a minor adjustment with the take-up screws. If i over adjust i use a plastic mallet against the axle RH or LH hex and drive the axle fwd! With this method i find that the torquing has little affect to the aligment.

Proper inspection for a bent swing arm bushing requires a flat machinist plate,  ground straight edge or accurate level. I happen to have a 3/4" thk float glass coffee table with precision ground sides that is great for this purpose.

When I replaced mine it was doing the same thing as yours is, rolling it foreword the belt would ride to the outside of the pulleys and when rolled backward it would ride to the inside of the pulleys it even rubs on the inside rear pulley pretty hard when going in reverse. I was told not to worry about it because you can't ride the bike in reverse!!

The best way to check the alignment of the belt is to get a piece of nylon string and tape it to the front edge of the front pulley and tape the other end to the rear edge of the rear pulley as close to the center line of the pulleys as possible. the string should touch the rear edge of the front pulley and the front edge of the rear pulley when properly aligned. NO GAPS! When I tried to measure back from the swing arm pivot to the axle and adjust it the same length on both sides it threw the belt out of line and rubbed on the outside really bad.

This worked like a charm for me even though when I back it up it still rubs on the inside of the pulley. If done this way you know for sure the rear tire is tracking perfectly and is square to the engine so I'm not worrying about it. Got about 1000 miles on it since then with no apparent trouble.