I finally decided that my drive belt needed adjustment on my '06 RK at 18000 miles. I used Harley's belt adjuster gauge and set in. Jacked the bike up and checked belt tension w/ 10 lbs. upward force. The belt had about 1/2" deflection, so I tightened the belt up so it had 1/4". It now seems tight as hell to me, but it's at spec according to the service manual. I've never run my belt this tight; even when the bike was new, the belt was looser. Another thing that concerns me too is that the adjuster cam is just about maxed out on the axle. Does all this sound normal?

 

I use to adjust mine to spec also,3/16-1/4 I think.Did this for the first 15K miles.It does seem tight but no problems.
I think I read something here about adjusting to 3/8".I did this at 15K service and now ready for the 20K.No problems with any chirping when set at 3/8".

 

Youu are supposed to adjust your belt with the tire on the ground. If you "jacked it up" as you stated then the tension will be off once you put it on the ground and probably worse once you put the riders weight on it. Did you check your owners manual, it will tell you if you need a riders weight on yhe bike before you adjust. If your belt is too tight it can/will hurt the bearing on the output side of the tranny.

 

I adjusted the belt on my '04 EG yesterday using my HD SM. The SM gives two ways to do it--with the bike on the kickstand or with the bike upright (which I didn't review because I did mine with the bike on its kickstand--it gave no instructions for doing it with the wheel off the ground.

I don't know what, if any, effect doing the adjustment on a lift would have--but I tend to simply follow the instructions in the SM on service items.

Perhaps you should simply take your belt gauge and check the deflection with the bike on the kickstand--you may be within spec or too tight--easy enough to find out.

 

As stated before you are suppose to do it with the tire on the ground, I think.

 

The '06 Touring service manual has two ways to adjust the belt.
1)On Jiffy Stand without rider or luggage 10 psi in rear shocks,1/4 - 5/16"

2)Motorcycle upright with rear tire in the air,3/16 - 1/4"

I have always done the later methed without problems.