I've got the "Broken belt blues"

[LT_Rider]

Stopped for gas yesterday and as I pulled out of the parking lot and upshifted from 1ST to 2ND all I get is the whirr of unrestrained revolutions! I coast to the side of the road and into an adjacent parking lot and get off to see what the deal is. That's when I notice the drive belt trailing out the back of the bike. So after I calm myself down, I call for a ride and my Wife and daughter come to pick me up in our minivan. Now my mind is turning trying to figure out how to get the bike home. It's not really that far, I was about 8-10 miles from home when it happened and I have a trailer. But wait, my Wife loaned my 16 year old son my truck a week ago and he had an accident and totaled my truck. I don't have a vehicle with a hitch to pull the trailer to get my bike home. So I call a friend who happens to have recently bought a new pickup and still has his Blazer registered also. I call him and he agrees to loan me his Blazer. So now my Wife is driving me to get the Blazer and all of a sudden the minivan starts stuttering and dies. We coast to the side of the road and I get out to see what's going on. Can't find the cause on the side of the highway so now I resign myself to the fact that I'm stranded for the second time in less than 30 minutes. I call my friend back and ask him for help. He comes and rescues the 3 of us from the side of the road and drives us home. We get my tow chain and we proceed to tow the minivan home. Fortunately that was uneventful. Now we have to unload all the grass clippings and brush I had loaded on the trailer to take to the landfill ( I was supposed to make that trip last weekend but i was unable to - see above) so that we can get my bike home. We get that done, mount the wheel chock and go and retreive my bike. So now, here I sit on a Sunny Saturday morning with a Truck that is totaled, a minivan which is disabled and a bike with a broken belt. Can it get any worse? I must have some really bad karma going for me these days and I can't figure out why. My Wife is suggesting Exorcism, what do you guys think? It may be worth a try...

[cosmicsclassic]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, and I thought I was the only one that kind of luck, but think you could have a harley, like me, where replacing the belt is twice the work, you need the remove the inner and out primary covers along with the internal parts, engine drive sprocket,chain ,clutch etc. to get to the belt. good luck it'll turn around.

[Sick Tom]

How many miles on the bike?

[BrianTSmith99]

It could always be worse. Your fan belt did not break on the way to the airport and have to call your wife at 4AM (NOT PRETTY) to take you the rest of the way and then find that he car was impounded for being abandoned and ticketed to the tune of $500 when the car is not even WORTH $500...

But glad you and the bike were not injured when the belt let loose. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday

Brian

[CalPaul]

I've got 3 letters for you... AAA. It's well worth it.

[BrianTSmith99]

Yeah, we've had that. But would not have helped me in this situation. I had to get to the airport so as not to miss the flight so could not stay with the car. And while AAA is cheap insurance, AAA calls are at the bottom of the priority list for tow trucks from their low reimbursement rate. I've had to wait for hours sometimes.

Brian

[Jake '53]

Originally Posted by LT_Rider

Stopped for gas yesterday and as I pulled out of the parking lot and upshifted from 1ST to 2ND all I get is the whirr of unrestrained revolutions! I coast to the side of the road and into an adjacent parking lot and get off to see what the deal is. That's when I notice the drive belt trailing out the back of the bike. So after I calm myself down, I call for a ride and my Wife and daughter come to pick me up in our minivan. Now my mind is turning trying to figure out how to get the bike home. It's not really that far, I was about 8-10 miles from home when it happened and I have a trailer. But wait, my Wife loaned my 16 year old son my truck a week ago and he had an accident and totaled my truck. I don't have a vehicle with a hitch to pull the trailer to get my bike home. So I call a friend who happens to have recently bought a new pickup and still has his Blazer registered also. I call him and he agrees to loan me his Blazer. So now my Wife is driving me to get the Blazer and all of a sudden the minivan starts stuttering and dies. We coast to the side of the road and I get out to see what's going on. Can't find the cause on the side of the highway so now I resign myself to the fact that I'm stranded for the second time in less than 30 minutes. I call my friend back and ask him for help. He comes and rescues the 3 of us from the side of the road and drives us home. We get my tow chain and we proceed to tow the minivan home. Fortunately that was uneventful. Now we have to unload all the grass clippings and brush I had loaded on the trailer to take to the landfill ( I was supposed to make that trip last weekend but i was unable to - see above) so that we can get my bike home. We get that done, mount the wheel chock and go and retreive my bike. So now, here I sit on a Sunny Saturday morning with a Truck that is totaled, a minivan which is disabled and a bike with a broken belt. Can it get any worse? I must have some really bad karma going for me these days and I can't figure out why. My Wife is suggesting Exorcism, what do you guys think? It may be worth a try...

Yes it can. Lean back, relax and just be for today.

[SteelMonkey]

Normally, I would suggest going for a ride to clear your head and make your troubles go away but.............nice day to mow the lawn?

[ZeroDown!]

Originally Posted by SteelMonkey

Normally, I would suggest going for a ride to clear your head and make your troubles go away but.............nice day to mow the lawn?

Ouch, ouch...that was bad!!!

With his luck lately, I'd stick to pushmowers with the rotating revolving blades....

[THRILLA]

The Dali Lamma is in vancouver today. If I see him I will see if he can help with your Karma thing!

[internet_bully]

Your just short of your wife leaving you taking your gun and the dog running away to have the making of a #1 country western hit.

[SteelMonkey]

Originally Posted by internet_bully

Your just short of your wife leaving you taking your gun and the dog running away to have the making of a #1 country western hit.

And there is the silver lining!!

[LT_Rider]

Well, after a day of trying to diagnose what happened with the minivan it turns out that it was the same problem that the bike had, it threw a belt. I had already checked fuel pump pressure, injectors, crankshaft sensor, coilpak, plugs, wires, among other things. As I was getting ready to call it a day and getting everything together to put back in the garage I decided to pull off the cover that covers the gears for the dual cams. Much to my surprise, there was no belt visible. I was thinking it may have jumped a tooth and was planning on checking the timing marks, I never would have guessed it would have snapped. I guess it must be down by the crankshaft gear somewhere. I'm hoping there wasn't any contact between the valves and the pistons but I think I would have heard something if there was with all the cranking I did trying to start it after each step of the diagnosis. I'm hoping for the best, as I picked up a new timing belt last night to install. I had hoped to work on it Today but at the moment it's raining pretty good outside so I guess it will have to wait a bit.

On another note, the best price I've been able to find for a new belt for the 900 is $270. Anyone found it for a better price? I just mist one on ebay off a wreck which went for $103. Gonna keep looking as I want to make sure the minivan gets repaired before I lay put the $ to fix the bike as funds a limited at the moment and teh van is the local "Bus" for the family.

Thanks for all the "encouraging" words!

[BrianTSmith99]

Hope it is not an interference engine. Good luck! It is raining here also but supposed to stop. Need to clean the chain today.

Brian

[HoopleHead]

Sympathies to both of you guys. Always good to have one extra vehicle, but sounds like that hasn't worked for you.

Maybe it's time to consider calling enterprise to pick you up?

My 900 is the first belt-driven bike I've owned and anytime I'm far from home I start thinking what would I do if the belt popped. Keeping it aligned and tensioned properly is a high priority, just like checking your oil.

[2WheelFun]

WOW! That's quite a story. Sometimes Murphy just camps out and stays awhile. Hopefully you're luck will be changing for the better.....SOON!

[Bummer1]

Lord have Murphy!

[LT_Rider]

Well I searched online until I was blue in the face and wasn't able to find a supplier who had a belt in stock and that it would be several weeks to order one. Then I decided to search for motorcycle salvage yards and try my luck. I found a yard in called CYCLE SPORTS INC. in Munford, AL. who had a belt from a wreck and would let me have it for $50.00 plus shipping. While I was skeptical, I decided to take a chance. The belt arrived in two days and when I opened the box I was happy with the condition on the belt. I will try to get it installed this weekend and see if I can salvage what's left of the mild weather here in the Northeast.

[Bucket Head]

Good find! With your luck with belts recently, personally, I would wear suspenders. lol

[pat0021]

Originally Posted by CalPaul

I've got 3 letters for you... AAA. It's well worth it.

Or AMA with MOTOW road side assistance.