I took my 07 Ultra (44,000 miles)in to simply get new rear tire installed. The mechanic came out shaking his head and had "the look" on his face and told me he had some bad news. The teeth on my "carbon fiber" drive belt were all ripped and some were missing. The rear sprocket is worn, but no sharp edges.

The service manager says the sprocket is bad, but doesn't know if the belt made the sprocket go bad - or did the sprocket make the belt go bad. Either way, I'm out some money. The next bit of news is that H-D says the repairs are not covered with the extended warranty, because it is simple wear and tear. I almost dread to see what shape the front sprocket is in....

Does anyone have a clue as to what has happened to cause this and is it a common problem? I have ridden this bike, but it has never been abused in any way.

 

wow i would like to hear what the outcome is please post it-ride safe

 

Your bike came stock with a "carbon fiber" pulley ?

 

Never heard of a carbon fiber pulley from the factory. Did you buy it new? My pulleys, front and rear, lasted 97,000 miles along with the belt. Changed all, extended warranty did not cover belt or rear pulley.

 

sumpthin' aint right here , unless you abused the crap outta it , the belt and pulleys shud go near 100k

says the carbon fiber drive belt

 

Bagger Driver,
You have the same thoughts as I. I have never spun the rear wheel and don't downshift to brake - at all! This bike has been up and down the road for sure, but has never been abused. I'm perplexed.

Guys the sprocket is not carbon fiber - only the belt. And I don't even know this for a fact - it's what the mechanic said. I thought the belts were made of kevlar. The sprocket is stock and I was told that it is made of aluminum and has some "special" coating to make it harder. I'll confess - I know how to ride it and do some wrenching myself, but this is a bit beyond my skill level.

This weird thing is - I just got back on a 2,000 mile road trip from eastern NC to the upper part of West Virginia. I'm just lucky it didn't fail me there.

I'm looking at several dollars for parts and labor and I wonder what good the extended warranty is on these kind of parts that should last a lot longer than it has.

I hope they get it ready tomorrow and I'll post y'all on what the final outcome is....

I still want to know what the cause for this damage is...

 

You got something between the belt and the sprocket.

The polychain belts are great and the newer carbon fiber belts are even better and more forgiving than ever before but tension and alignment must be perfect and your cannot allow anything to get under the teeth but it can and does happen. I know of nothing else that would have caused this.

 

My 07 Classic has started squeaking badly, am now waiting on new sprockets and belt. 26,000 miles, and nothing under extended warranty. Shop said both are worn (can see the wear). quoted around 8 bills for everything.

 

I had a rock or something ruin my 99 ultras belt and pully .....it sucks .... I changed it myself the belt was about 200 and I found a used pully from a indy for 50 and about 3-4hrs labor

 

I just got a flat and during repair the technician told me the pully rear is going bad on my 2002 Heritage Softail, 43,300 miles. Anyone have thoughts on replacing the stock pully with a aftermarket chrome one?