Recenlty I was riding my 2006 Sportster 1200C with about 70,000 miles on a short strip highway and heard a screaching noise every half second barely over pipes at about 60 mph. I reached the end of the highway at a light and didn't hear it again. So I reved the engine and nothing but as I was ready to go through the light the bike was jerking slightly on level ground, when I was making a turn to go up a hill with my passenger on the back the jerking seemed to get worse. I pulled over where I was heading and inspected the bike and didn't see anything. So I left the bike and the next day had the bike pick up by my mechanic. When they got it to the shop, they said they put a jack under it and turned the rear wheel and heard some internal mechanical noise coming from the transmission. So they took off the covers and found that the rear belt drive was missing at least 4 or 5 teeth. They claim there was some damage to my transmission and it could be costly to fix. Then they called me another day and said the extent of the damage was not that bad, it was some small internal parts and the rest of the transmission was fine (gears and what ever) So my question is can a damaged rear belt drive with missing teeth do damage to my transmission? I have some low lever mechanic friends at a Harley dealer who say it is unlikely that there would be damage like that just cause the belt was skipping over the transmission pully. So I'm wondering if this information my mechanic was hitting me with in the head was a bit of a lie and was just trying to get some work out of it. He was never known for making things up. I question everything anyone tells me and somwhat knowledgable. Would appreciate someone with a definate answer. So I can aproach him regarding this.

 

No way to tell. Technically, missing teeth in conjunction with loose belt works as an impact wrench, hitting gears and primary hard every time it skips under load. So the answer would be yes, damage is possible. Whether it actually happened or not ... what part he said went bad?

 

+1 on the slamming of the gears and other components in the trans with a damaged belt. Small components? springs, drive dogs, cams???

 

I always ask for the old parts so I can inspect them myself if I have a shop do the work.

 

Yes, thats kind of what he said, small componets. I'm glad that it turned out he was telling the truth. But the thing is I made inquiries to HD service and the guy on the phone said it was highly unlikely that there would be damage like that, and thats what was keeping me up all night, pissed off thinking this guy just started lieing to me all of a sudden after 5 yrs of excellent service, but he did keep my ride running nice all this time after 70,000 miles. So I called him today and ran by him the information that I was told and he said they don't have the bike so they don't know whats going on, and reiterated to me that when they picked up the bike on a jack they heard something as they turned the rear wheel. So I gues I will go with that since you matched what he said. Thanks so much. Very helpful this forum. Lots of knowledge in here.

 

I think he was probably trying to cover his a$$. Think of it the other way around..."yeah, it just needed a belt, $450,(or whatever) and everything is fine. have a nice weekend" 200 miles down the road your trans locks up and...You get the picture.

 

So you disagree with the previous post, that it can't do damage and all it needs is a belt replacement?