When we had the Ultra, I kept forgetting there WAS a radio.

And ya couldn't wind it up and drop it, the 124" woulda taken the belt out.

Not zacklee sure where in the H*LL that puts me IA.

I have BDL belt primaries on both the pan and shovel. Needless to say, no tunes.

IF I want 'conversation', NO intercom. Jus' go off the meds for 2 days, instead of one or 2 voices, there's a whole herd. Pack riding at it's finest.



.

 

Add me to the no radio list.

 

Reminds me of a story.
When I was still active, it happened that I rode fairly often with one of the german chapters. One of the members, Langer (means "Tall one"), was an older (50-ish, I was in my mid 30s) beat up outlaw. I used to make fun of him, kinda "everyboy on the bikes in 10 minutes, Langer, find a probate who helps you get on", stuff like that.
Then, one day, Langer (he was around 7 foot 2 inches) showed up with a new Ultra, and as we get ready to rock, he turns the music on and takes off. I couldn't believe it. POLKA! And farking loud! At the first gas stop, I told him to stop that, as pretty much nobody wanted to ride even close to him. He didn't give a flying fugg. More Polka. even louder! Half the way, I couldn't take it anymore. I was riding the taillight position (the place for the sergeant at arms), passed the whole group, and yelled at him, at around 90 MPH. He just made a sign that he didn't undersand me, because the music was so loud. Anyway, Langer did that for 2 years, that ****.
One day, I had to borrow his car, and of course, I go through his CD collection to see if there was anything that was close to my taste. I couldn't believe it. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, all the good stuff. Back at the clubhouse, I asked him why he was torturing the whole chapter with his polka crap when we were riding. He told me that he was playing the same polka CD over and over, and that he bought it especially for us to pizz us off. Just because we always made those old man jokes. He hated it as much as we did...
We found Langer a couple weeks later, in his garage, in riding gear and his colours on his back where they belonged. Heart attack. God, I loved that brother. RIP, Langer.

 

Heck yea. can't stand the belt. Chain easy to work on can replace one in a few mins. Cost less then a belt. Don't need no radio cd or ipod wanna hear the wind ,pipes , and chain. I now ride a Trike got to pull the whole back end off the Trike plus take the diff apart to replace the belt. A chain nothing comes off.

 

no windshield, no stereo, no cruise.

my pipes make sweet sweet music and that's good enough for me. last year my dad and i put about 500 miles on the bikes one saturday and i started the trip with my i-pod on, earbuds in. 30 miles later i took one earbud out. at the first gas stop i turned the whole thing off and put it in my bag. i felt deaf out there. i'm a firm believer in riding with all of your senses, and to me, not being able to hear a car coming up or a potential horn just threw me completely off kilter.

i've ridden my pops' street glide some and fugged with the radio a little. nothing appealing about reaching in to change stations on the dash, no thanks.

BUT when we ride, i look over at him and he's cruisin, humming along to a WHO cd or something and just enjoying himself. i guess after 40 years of riding hardtails and choppers and big engine customs he's enjoying the spoils offered to him by his bagger.

to each his own, some of it just isn't for me.

 

To a large degree it's the something else. I agree that the chance of a belt breaking is pretty slim as are the chances of someone winning the lottery. People win the lottery every week and when I was working as a Harley Tech 20 years ago we replaced a fair amount of belts with relatively low miles on them. Granted the belts of today may be of a better quality then the ones when I was a wrench but the amount of work involved in a belt replacement is enough for me to go back to the chain.

Replacing a belt is not a job that most would want to do on the side of the road. A chain repair on the other hand is a job that is easily done on the side of the road.

My last bike was an 84 Evo Softail which came stock with a chain. I rode it for 20 years prior to getting my 05. I ran O ring chains which when properly maintained will last well beyond 50,000 miles. I do lube and check my chain adjustment about every 1,000 miles or so but it's not a time consuming thing to do and it is a good time to find any other problems that may be lurking around down there.

I am curious as to how often most of you actually do check your belt tension? I know for my bike it is recommended every 5,000 miles but I wonder how many actually do check it? Because most people feel belts are pretty much bullet proof I would think the number is rather small. I also wonder how many take a look at the teeth on the pulley? Not an easy item to check unless you have removed your belt guards. Worn teeth which are usually caused by loose belt was one of the major causes of belt failure when I was working on them for a living.

It is however also a Nostalgia thing for me. I do like the looks and simplicity of the older bikes but I also like the dependability of the new ones. Baker Drive Line makes a 5 speed Kicker kit that I plan on installing on my bike in the fall.

 

Yeah! I feel the same way! Seats belong on cars. Wheels & tires belong on cars! Brakes belong on cars! Only wimpy bikers need car stuff on their bikes!

 

I hear ya on the difference between replacing a chain as opposed to a belt. No argument there, but I put a new Gates belt on in 1991 and have over 200,000 miles on it. I made sure it was straight from the get-go and check the deflection every time I head out (yep, every time). I don't have any guards to get in the way so it's no big deal, and with the open primary, I could probably swap one out in an hour (in the garage, not on the roadside).
On the other hand, I've heard some real horror stories about 'em, and I can understand anyone being wary of belts simply because of what it takes to replace one.

 

Ya..That's what I'm talkin bout.....Hold on a second. I've said this before and I'm gonna say it now........Am I gonna be pizzed off when I figure that out?