Topic: Belt drive????

[eldar]

Harley does not use a lot of things they should!  If you had a 4-1 exhaust, that would make things much easier but the swingarm thing would be a huge hurdle.

Quail, you will always have some noise but if it is very audible, it is sprocket time!  I have about 14000 miles on my sprockets and they look good. I have very little chain noise. I am sure I will discover more noise when I can get my hands on a welder and seal the exhaust!

[Quail "Owner of the comfortable k8"]

correct me if im wrong,but i dont think harley uses a tensioner on their bikes

Do not have to because unlike the honda the distance between the front and rear sprocket does not change as the rear shocks compress.  The pivot point is closer and centered between the sprockets.

[Terry in Australia]

I wouldn't be too concerned about having to remove the swingarm to change belts, my new CB750F1 came with an "endless" chain, and the owners manual advised that to remove the chain, you had to first remove the swingarm, and this is also the case with most modern bikes, as fewer chain suppliers are providing joining links with removeable clips nowadays.

I recently aquired a new RK X Ring chain for my racer project, and I have to find a chain rivetting tool to properly join the sucker, which is a pain. Terry Q is quite correct re: the tensioner, the belt remains in constant tension, regardless of the angle of the swingarm. Problem with our bikes is the distance from the swingarm pivot to the front sprocket, on modern bikes, the swingarm, in a lot of cases, is hinged off, or very close to the rear of the engine, thus placing the pivot point a lot closer to the front sprocket.

I guess the ideal set up would be a CB750 engine in an old Santee or Amen Hardtail frame, that way there would be no need to constantly tension the belt, as there is no pivot point between the engine and the rear wheel. C'mon you chopper guys, lets see the first belt drive SOHC-4! Cheers, Terry.

[Einyodeler]

Buell is another builder that uses belt drive and they have a tensioner too.

[eldar]

 Buell is basically harley though.

[jbailey]

Wrong Honda, but check it out:

http://www.scootworks.com/swcart/shop/partsh.htm

[Terry in Australia]

Bit expensive though, the belt's are around 80-100 bucks, so what are the pulleys made from, Platinum? Cheers, Terry.

[eldar]

Belts are expensive? Look at what some spend on their chains! many are $100 or more. If a belt lasts longer, doesnt that really make it cheaper in the long run? Oh well, I would not bother with a belt anyways. You may as well custom build a whole rear end to do something like that as I see no way to retrofit a cb frame.

[jime]

i was acctully going to set a belt drive up on my chopped nighthawk found front and rear pully's off a kaw 450 front pully almost matched right up with a little spacing and i had to modify the side cover..was able also to drill out new mount holes in the rear pully..only trouble is the belt is 1 inch too short even all the way forward in the adjustment..could not find a longer belt to fit..so i kept the chain..my reasons were same as yours..quiet,cleaner...lower maintinence