I put a new tire on my UC today. While adjusting the tension on the drive belt I noticed that the edge of one of the teeth is chipped. There were some fibers sticking out and waving around so I cut them off with a pair of scissors. There's an area about 1/16" of the tooth that is missing ...kinda like a bevel on the edge of the tooth. Is this something to be concerned about? If so, is this kind of issue covered under the factory/extended warranty.

 

replace the pulley before it eats your belt.

replacing the belt is $$$ on labor.

Mike

 

Nothing wrong with the pulleys...it's the belt that has a chipped tooth.

 

Before yu go replacing yur Pulley... I'd pull the back wheel and Inspect the Pulley completely, for any burrs or rough spots, I doubt yu'll find any!
Yu cudda had a rock fly up & take a bite outta yur belt or something like that...
I'd put a couple dobs of 3M 5200 Black on the sore spot and check it everyday fer awhile. No Change, fergetaboutit!
Unless I was going from FLA. to CAL... then I'd just carry a spare belt!

 

I'd be willing to bet it was a rock or some other type of debris that jumped up and bit cha!

GSF

 

sorry I mis-understood.

a hole in the middle of the belt is ok- watch it.

a hole at the edge will start a tear.- so keep an eye on that- esp before planning a trip

replacement is comprehensive, inner/outer primary,clutch comp sprocket all come off. rear wheel and shocks, swingarm too.

IF you ever thought about gearing changes ( whether pulleys or tranny gears) this is the time to do it.

high mileage bikes can benefit from new bushings for the swing arm (sometimes called a rear fork in Harley-ese)

Mike

 

Doubt it will be covered but ya can ask. Theyre gonna say its from a road hazard I bet

 

I caught a sharp stone near the edge of my belt a few years ago. It left a small injury about 1/4" in from the edge. I rode it for about a year before it started to show signs of breaking up.

Check your wheel alignment, to make sure the belt is not rubbing against the edge of the rear pulley. Unless you have a major journey planned, you could do as I did and just keep an eye on it. No point changing it for the sake of it, unless you prefer peace of mind.

 

Fortunately, the damage to mine is confined to the upper and outer edge of one tooth. There's a chunk missing about the size of a grain of rice. It doesn't look like there is any damage to the flat area of the belt. Maybe, I'll be lucky and it won't get any bigger.

I looked in the service manual and they show, I think it was, condition #4 which looks to be minor damage to the outer edge of a tooth. They recommend keeping an eye on it.

 

Check your pulley where the tooth meets. Don't worry about it, the strength of the belt is in the flat part.