a budy of mine had a sturgis when they came out he had more problems with it was in the shop alot hd finally put the chain system back on after they replaced everything a few times. i also tried a primo 8mm belt set up in 1980 with a 5" stroker motor and at will could snap it with a crack of the throttel i also went back to chain dont know how much they have changed over the years but im not willing to spend the money today thats just me good luck bud

 

My 1981 Fat Bob has a primary belt drive. Just changed the belt for the first time. 31k miles
And 31 yrs. works great

 

Been running belt drives since the 1970s; even had a Gilmer belt (square teeth) on a 77" stroker 1972 XLCH, and it ran in an oil bath. I've broken 1 belt in all that time and that was because I didn't vent the primary on my '78 Shovel. I've put nearly 400,000 miles on 3 different bikes, and a total of 4 belts, with primary belt drives.

Is a standard enclosed drive going to hold up to a big inch/high HP motor? Nope, and none of the manufacturers claim that.

Lighter, less vibration, no oil to leak - works for me...

 

@grbrown still building my softail and i gotta rebuild primary settup notice the primo kit came up with a pretty cool idea to vent primary and its cheaper yaaay

 

Yea I used to like exposed primaries on my old Shovels.

 

3" open belt drives last forever. 1 3/4" internal belts last about 12,000 miles.

 

Except that I have a 1-3/4" on a 1987 Sloptail that has about 100,000 miles on the belt. The key is ventilation. My outer primary is basically cut away so that it is a shell; enough there to keep my pants leg out of the belt, to provide support for the starter solenoid and its works, but otherwise open.