Dyna HD manual belt adjustment

[R_W_B]

I have been running belts on loser then book states my main reason I ride alot on gravel roads and have rocks get in final drive worried about the belt breaking.

The belt on my bike has about 80000 miles on it now so far no real issues

How loose do you set it ? Do you feel the slack when you let off the throttle ?

I put mine 1/8 inch more than the manual said, using the belt tension tool.
You can move the belt 1/2 to 5/8 inches within the 10lbs pressure and the belt still feels kinda tight. Course belts are not as flexible as the chains.
I can still twist it 45 degrees sideways with my hand though.

 

[Jack Klarich]

How loose do you set it ? Do you feel the slack when you let off the throttle ?

I put mine 1/8 inch more than the manual said, using the belt tension tool.
You can move the belt 1/2 to 5/8 inches within the 10lbs pressure and the belt still feels kinda tight. Course belts are not as flexible as the chains.
I can still twist it 45 degrees sideways with my hand though.

Stop twisting that belt, really it is not good for them for that matter never do this to a timing belt either:s

 

[R_W_B]

Stop twisting that belt, really it is not good for them for that matter never do this to a timing belt either:s

What's up with the hand twist ? A local guy told me that's how he knows if his belt is the right tension. Said if he can twist it 45 degrees it's loose enough. If he can twist it much more than 45 degrees it's too loose.

 

[Jack Klarich]

What's up with the hand twist ? A local guy told me that's how he knows if his belt is the right tension. Said if he can twist it 45 degrees it's loose enough. If he can twist it much more than 45 degrees it's too loose.

According to a Gates rep we were told not to bend or twist timing belts and to mark the direction of travel if reusing them, this is suppose to apply to all bets Just something I gave been taught and apply @ work

 

[Mad Dog Jim]

Seems to me that the key to success in most anything you do is to listen to those who KNOW! Momma said "Don't touch! It's hot!" She was right. That means I must have not beleived her and touched anyway... Learned long ago to take advise from people who know more than I do! And a huge THANKS to HDT for all the great nuggets!

 

[Brutal FXDX]

Ive never twisted a belt, but i dont think twisting at 45 deg will hurt the belt...those things are pretty tough. When you adjust and feel enough belts, you kinda develop the "feel" of a correct adjustment. Its not rocket science..Really you should have the riders weight on the m/c to get a proper adjustment. Cause mostly belts will get tighter with weight added and even tighter when the pulleys start heating up and expanding.

Think bout it... Joe sets his belt at 1/4" cold with rear wheel off the ground, using a tension guage. Now Joe loads up for his weekend ride with 50lbs of cargo and oh yeah his 200lb ol lady want to come along too. Just the weight alone will tighten that belt up more than i even want to think about. Now take the heat and expanding pulleys. Way to tight for my liking.

 

[Hoople]

I have never agreed with HD tightening procedure on my Dyna belt. I run mine much more relaxed than spec and so far so good. Did a bunch of research and the claim by Gates is the teeth on the belt will climb under power and wear the leading edge of the tooth off on the belt. I really don't see that happening but who knows, time will tell. So far everything seems better with it a bit more loose. (noise, tracking etc)

 

[R_W_B]

I have never agreed with HD tightening procedure on my Dyna belt. I run mine much more relaxed than spec and so far so good. Did a bunch of research and the claim by Gates is the teeth on the belt will climb under power and wear the leading edge of the tooth off on the belt. I really don't see that happening but who knows, time will tell. So far everything seems better with it a bit more loose. (noise, tracking etc)

I set mine a bit more loose than the Manual specs. For some reason my 2007 manual has the FXDWG/FXDs a 1/16 inch more loose than the FXDB/FXDC/FXDLs. Must be a pulley size thing maybe.
But after what Hoople told me sometime back I set mine a full 1/8 inch more loose than manual specs, and I do it with the belt tension tool (yea I know Hoople don't use the tension tool). The belt still feels kinda tight just feeling it. But it runs good, no noise, no winding sound and backing it out of the garage (with engine off) I don't hear any teeth noise. So I'm satisfied with where I have it. Don't know where my friend got the twist method from but it does agree with where I have my belt now. Course I guess the problem with the twist method would be how strong the fingers in your hand are.
I also put Armor all on my belt. I've done that for years on my Truck belts and if done regular they seem to last longer with less cracks. I put it on all my rubber hoses and my seat too.

Oh and as to the rider sitting on the bike. It would depend on the rotated position of the swing arm. If it's still rotated down without the rider then when the rider sits on it and it comes up to a straight line with the front pulley level then it's gonna tighten the belt some.
On the other hand if without a rider the swing arm is already sitting at a straight line with the front pulley then when the rider sits on it, it would actually start to lessen the distance between the front and rear pulleys as the rotation upward.

 

[TQuentin1]

Hmmm. Seems like a lot of science going into this. I personally set the belt tension by feel. I really mean by feel! I snug it up, tighten the axle nut enough to hold it, lay on my back next to the bike (on the stand) and push up on the belt with my first two knuckles in about the middle of the belt. If it moves about 1/2-3/4" with a fairly good push on it, I torque the axle nut, rig up the bike, and back it out.

TQ

 

[R_W_B]

Hmmm. Seems like a lot of science going into this. I personally set the belt tension by feel. I really mean by feel! I snug it up, tighten the axle nut enough to hold it, lay on my back next to the bike (on the stand) and push up on the belt with my first two knuckles in about the middle of the belt. If it moves about 1/2-3/4" with a fairly good push on it, I torque the axle nut, rig up the bike, and back it out.
TQ

Yep, that's the way a lot of folks do it. If memory serves me Hoople sets his by feel also. I'm not that good at feel yet with belts. I used to set my Honda chain that way years ago. Maybe after I set mine enough times wtih the tension tool I will get the hang of it. Mine is just about where you set yours depending on how much pressure you're putting on the 2 knuckles.