Has anyone else noticed this on the newer bikes. A friend of mine took his 2010 RK and had some work done and his belt was tighter than dicks hat ban. Well I had a compensator installed and mine came back the same way, you guessed it (Tighter than dicks hat ban). My friends 2012 CVO, yep, the same way (TTDHB). So I called the dealership and talked to the service manager and he said thats the way they are suppose to run with the IDS set up. Looks like that would be harder on the tranny bearings but I guess the rubber in the sproket set up takes that away.

 

How much pressure do you suppose you put on the tranny bearings when you're accelerating? "Too tight" belts rarely hurt bearings, in spite of what you'll read.

Loose belts are the reason for most belt failures however, and that's why the belt is tighter than you think is appropriate. About 10 lbs vertical pressure do gain 5/8" to 3/4" deflection is all you need, it should never be "loose."

I just turned 106,000 miles on my bike, still running the original belt, tranny bearings and seals. ( Not a leak anywhere btw.)

Are you sure dick's hat band isn't about the same as recommended?

 

I don't know if things have changed since 09 but my service manual says there should be 3/8" to 7/16" slack with a 10 lb push on the belt. I can twist the belt about 45°.

 

1/4 to 5/16 on the 2010 models, which is alot tighter than the older ones. And seems that dicks hat ban is the proper tension.

 

The resulting force applied is the torque of the engine expressed in a lever lenght being the radius of the bearing. If the bearing has a radius of 1" the force expressed in pounds per foot becomes 12 times greater. Transmission loss of efficiency is not considered because rapid downshifting and fast starts should practically double the effort.
I have a spare belt #40024-09 and it's amazingly stiff compared to industrial belts of equivalent cross section.

 

Yes-- things have changed. Service bulletin M1284 issued August 9th 2010 states for all 09 and later Touring models:

FLXH and FLTRX now 1/4 to 7/16" slack;

All other touring models 3/8 to 9/16" slack;

all at 10 lbs pressure on the belt.

 

Who is this Dick? That is the question.

 

What is a hat ban ?

 

I know a Harley Dealer that has a bunch of Dick's

 

What if you gave DHB a quarter twist