V2K belt noise-----gone!!!!!

[Lattimer]

I finally fixed my squeaking squawking annoying belt. I've probably had 3 or 4 threads on this subject, and I have always maintained that the issue is belt alignment on the rear pulley. I believe Ma Kaw is lying to us saying that the belt should ride to the left side of the pulley.

I do a lot of engineering work with mechanical drive systems, and I have never heard of a single case where it is "normal" to have a belt ride anywhere but center. You always want everything to center out. With a cog tooth belt like on the V2K, the sides of the belt should never even touch the pulley. Its this way in industrial designs, I see no reason for a difference in vehicle designs. My theory is reinforced by the fact that my belt is starting to show wear on the left edge. The right side looks fine. I really do not want to damage this belt. Too expensive to be replacing prematurely.

Anyways, I saw a post a month or so ago by Bare, stating the same things I have been thinking, and offering a shim plate to move the pulley and correct the alignment so the belt can ride in the center. So, I bought Bare's $40 shim, and I finally had time to install it this morning.

Install took me about an hour, and was fairly easy. This was the first time I had removed a tire from the back of a bike, let alone this bike, but it all went ok. Dropped the tire out, removed the pulley, installed shim, re-installed the pulley, then the tire.

I was able to align the adjuster marks the same on both sides and get the belt to track in the center of both front and rear pulleys. I set the tension back to where I had it previously, about 2.5 tic marks.

I just got back from the initial test ride of about an hour. NO MORE NOISE!!!!!! All I hear now is the normal gear whine, and a little bit of road noise. I am so happy this is fixed!!! The belt still tracks correctly after my ride, and I found absolutely nothing negative to report. No clearance issues, no new noises, no nothing except quiet!!!!!!

I have to say, I highly recommend this fix to anybody with a squeaking belt on the V2K. Until this, I was so annoyed I was considering trading the bike to go back to a shaft drive. $40 seems like a lot for a ring of metal with soem holes in it, but its a cheap fix to keep me fraom hating the bike because of the noise.

Now I just need to stop that headlight rattle and I'll be golden!!!

[plasma blue]

I too am a mechanical engineer and use belt drive systems in the factory. In machinery that is stable and fixed I would agree, but a motorcycle frame flexes, and twists, so I think Maw Kaw wants it to stay left to keep it tracking on the pulleys no matter what. Wearing and replacing a belt is OK by thier standards. If they could put a flange on both sides of pulley and still have clearance to take belt on/off that might be different. Any variances in part assemby is hidden by thier method, it would be more costly for them to perfectly alighn it at the factory.
My $.02 for whatever that's worth

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by plasma blue

I too am a mechanical engineer and use belt drive systems in the factory. In machinery that is stable and fixed I would agree, but a motorcycle frame flexes, and twists, so I think Maw Kaw wants it to stay left to keep it tracking on the pulleys no matter what. Wearing and replacing a belt is OK by thier standards. If they could put a flange on both sides of pulley and still have clearance to take belt on/off that might be different. Any variances in part assemby is hidden by thier method, it would be more costly for them to perfectly alighn it at the factory.
My $.02 for whatever that's worth

The movement in the system is up and down, not axial to the center of the pulleys. There is absolutely no reason for the belt to ride to one side, or to move side to side at all. The belt won't move on the pulleys, just the normal tension is enough to keep it from sliding. Try prying it to the side, it won't move. As long as it is straight on both pulleys, the belt will stay in position. And natural movement of the belt due to flex in the frame, etc., should be taken care of by clearance, and this should be designed into the width of the pulley. While I understand what you are saying, the belt should still be centered, and as an average over its lifetime it should stay in the center.

And there is a flange on both sides of the rear pulley. The left side is part of the casting and the right side is bolted on.

I know exactly how the manufacturer thinks----they want us to buy spare parts anyways, so the minor increased wear of the belt and any by-product noise is acceptable to them. It is not acceptable to me, espcially the noise. So, since their drivetrain is out of line by a small margin, Kawi performs an administrative fix and says "its suppose to be that way", and everybody follows along. This keeps their costs down and everybody just listens to the corporate crap line. Sorry, not me.

[plasma blue]

Yeah they sure won't mind selling more $350 belts!
Does Bare have shim for 900?
I think the problem is identical as the 900's have the same "defect"...... LOL

[jimboy61]

i have almost 15,000 miles on mine and theres no more noise, the belt still rides to the left of the pulley with no wear. The shop told me to squirt WD-40 on it when it was squealing and it worked great, until id run into a heavy rain. But now i dont even have to do that, it just stopped making noise at about 11,000 miles. Maybe im just lucky.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by plasma blue

Yeah they sure won't mind selling more $350 belts!
Does Bare have shim for 900?
I think the problem is identical as the 900's have the same "defect"...... LOL

I know he was looking for a test bike to design a shim for the 900. I don't know if he found a volunteer yet.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by jimboy61

i have almost 15,000 miles on mine and theres no more noise, the belt still rides to the left of the pulley with no wear. The shop told me to squirt WD-40 on it when it was squealing and it worked great, until id run into a heavy rain. But now i dont even have to do that, it just stopped making noise at about 11,000 miles. Maybe im just lucky.

I did the WD-40 thing for a while. But its just a band aid. Plus, WD-40 is petroleum based, which most types of rubber do not agree with. I did not like squirting diluted kerosene on my $350 belt.

[trikebubble]

Interesting. I don't notice anything coming from my belt really. That, or it's drowned out by the pipes.

Now the headlight rattle. I was finally able to solve that one, thankfully.

[msa1956]

Shawn

Is there a website I can get this shim? I will make that happen next time I change a tire.

Originally Posted by Lattimer

The movement in the system is up and down, not axial to the center of the pulleys. There is absolutely no reason for the belt to ride to one side, or to move side to side at all. The belt won't move on the pulleys, just the normal tension is enough to keep it from sliding. Try prying it to the side, it won't move. As long as it is straight on both pulleys, the belt will stay in position. And natural movement of the belt due to flex in the frame, etc., should be taken care of by clearance, and this should be designed into the width of the pulley. While I understand what you are saying, the belt should still be centered, and as an average over its lifetime it should stay in the center.

And there is a flange on both sides of the rear pulley. The left side is part of the casting and the right side is bolted on.

I know exactly how the manufacturer thinks----they want us to buy spare parts anyways, so the minor increased wear of the belt and any by-product noise is acceptable to them. It is not acceptable to me, espcially the noise. So, since their drivetrain is out of line by a small margin, Kawi performs an administrative fix and says "its suppose to be that way", and everybody follows along. This keeps their costs down and everybody just listens to the corporate crap line. Sorry, not me.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by msa1956

Shawn

Is there a website I can get this shim? I will make that happen next time I change a tire.

Do a search here on posts by Bare. He has all his info in one of the recent posts.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by trikebubble

Interesting. I don't notice anything coming from my belt really. That, or it's drowned out by the pipes.

Now the headlight rattle. I was finally able to solve that one, thankfully.

Mine drove me nuts. I have stock pipes, but even at 70 mph with a beanie helmet, I could hear the squeaking. This wasn't even the "normal" V2K belt chirp, this was more of an on/off squeal. It was fingernails on the chalkboard type annoying.

[mbigica]

Glad it worked out, On my 06 V2k LT I don't have any more belt noise since 1st service, prior to that it was driving me nuts. The dealer must of rode it in and out of the garage four times, but they got it right.

For that matter the more miles I put on it, the less noises it makes. The hard/loud shifting seamed to of quite down some after 2500 miles.

[2WheelFun]

I have around 12K plus on my V2K and it still squeals like a pig. I'll need that shim also since it drives me crazy as well.

Thanks Shawn for the info!

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by 2WheelFun

I have around 12K plus on my V2K and it still squeals like a pig. I'll need that shim also since it drives me crazy as well.

Thanks Shawn for the info!

I figured somebody on here might as well be the guinea pig so I volunteered!

[trikebubble]

Originally Posted by 2WheelFun

I have around 12K plus on my V2K and it still squeals like a pig. I'll need that shim also since it drives me crazy as well.

Thanks Shawn for the info!

Cary, you should rename your bike Ned Beatty perhaps?

[scrcrw792]

Why not make shure your rear wheel is tracking straight,maybe it wasn't assembled properly at the factory,check it out jack it up off the ground .sit down and eyeball the belt on the pullyand spin the tire and see if the belt is tracking straight.see if the pully is running straight you might be able too adjust thewheel just enough to stop the squeal.