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Cruiser
Posts: 173
Prescott Valley, AZ | Anybody have problems with their Vision sounding like a chirpping bird???? I normally wear earbuds (MP3) player but noticed that without them I hear the belt chirpping away whenever the bike is under a slight load or at an even throttle position. Took the bike in for a service a while back and they adjusted the belt tension which helped for a while but the noise came back after a couple weeks. Went back and they checked the tension which was right on so they applied a bit of belt dressing. That also helped for a few weeks but once again I hear what sounds like a bird chirpping away back there! After buying a can of belt dressing (which only helps for a short time) I have now resorted to cleaning the belt and pulley as best I can with the bike on a M/C floor jack. Not something I'm willing to do on a recurring basis I'll tell ya!! Of course we are getting rain here for the next few days so I won't know if the cleaning helped until this weekend. 
It seems like the longer I ride the bike (200+ miles) the more obnoxious the noise becomes. Last Sunday I did a Toy Run and when I started out it was fine but by the time I got home and the following day going to and from work it was VERY noticable!
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Iron Butt
Posts: 725
Reno County, KS | Bearcat, your not the only one. I for one also have the recurring belt squeal/chirp. I had mine looked at twice. I was told not to worry about the reliability the second time it was looked at. The first time the service manager noted it was loose. He said they had to replace one customers rear pulley to get his to stop. There are various threads mentioning this and no specific fix other than adjusting the belt again. One thing to note is that there are 2 different sets of rear pulleys out there according to an aftermarket pulley company that posted on this site. They will machine out the old teeth and replace them with some kind of composite and it is supposed to cure the squeeking problem. He focuses mainly on Harley's but said he was able to work Visions as long as they have the later type of gear pulleys. You'll have to search the threads because I gotta go. I emailed the company via their website and didn't get a response. I don't know if they got it. Anyway, if you let it go long enough it will get bad enough to overcome all the traffic noise when the bike load picks up. That much I can tell you from experience. Hope this helps a little.
-Will |
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Tourer
Posts: 495
Carrollton, TX | I have had the belt chirping also. It is caused from the belt not being aligned so the belt tracks in the center of the pulley instead of running up against one of the sides of the pulley. Once my dealer got the belt aligned properly it is fine. I talked to an engineer from Victory on this at the IMC show and he said they know this is an issue on some of their bikes and they are working on a fix so you don't have to have the belt so perfectly aligned. They are looking at redesigning the teeth on the pulley to help eliminate this issue. I have had this issue with other brands of bikes with belt drives also. |
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | I no longer have any belt squeal, maybe it is because I have 30k on the bike, but it quit way back when. I was told by the dealer there is yet another update to the belt tension. I don't want to say what it is here as it may not be the exact as he didn't know the exact, but it is looser than the other update. I did my own belt tension the other day by the old standard and thought it to be loose. I checked and rechecked using the 10lb gage and it seemed right. I made sure the belt was off the edge of the pulley and so far so good. I had the growl when I first got the bike and the belt seemed to me to be unusually tight, which is where they put it. Apparently the tighter is not the better as I was being told, but I had never adjusted the belt then. The other day was the first time I ever adjusted a belt and I felt like a real biker.  But it was considerably looser than I was originally told and according to the gage it was within specs. When I stopped by the dealer and I asked him to check it for me he told it seemed right for a Vision as they were looser than the other and then he told me about the newer change. I'm going to order and change my own belt here soon so I know how to do it. I see that it might be hard on the vision or on Victory period. I would have assumed it was the easiest task to do on a belt drive bike in case there was breakage on the open road. The dealer told me that we should replace them long in advance prior to being worn out. As I stood there looking at a belt on a bike I asked "how do you prevent the unavoidable rock jumping up and catching in there and busting the belt?" He just looked at me as he has known things like to happen. Anyway, it doesn't seem to be an easy task, nor one I want to do on the side of the road. I really had a misconception about the belt deal and thought it was the easy thing to do on a bike...like the headlight. My bike is in the care center for Thanksgiving, turkeys, for my second rear tire and warranty work.
Edited by varyder 2008-11-27 6:04 AM
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Visionary
Posts: 1290
Ruskin, Fl | I started getting the chirp at about 8K when the bike was cold than it went away. Shortly after it started I got a flat in the rear tire. After the new tire was installed the chirp went away. I'm at a little over 10K now and still quite. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | According to the service manual, belt squeal is caused by out of alignment of the belt. The changing of the belt is extensive. You would not be able to do along side the road. It IS important to inspect the drive belt often. On my Kingpin I had a stone bruise on the belt. Looked like a small stone got (3/8" dia.) caught between the belt and pulley. I believe the Vision belt is a stronger belt than my 04 KP.
You can adjust the squeal out of the drive belt. I'm not sure some dealers can do it, they just tighten it up, which will stop the squeal.......for a while. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 725
Reno County, KS | The last batch of guys working on my bike weren't amatures. They're has to be a fix that works. That probably includes replacement of the hardware in the drive train. You can bet that they won't recall this due to $$$. I'm going to have a make a hobby out of taking this bike to the service center (over 300mi) until they get this straight. I have yet to hear of a bike that has a belt squeal every 1000mi it's driven. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 193
Buford, GA United States | My dealer fixed my "bird" yesterday and I have put 200 miles on it with no problems since. They said that they are hearing that if it stays fixed your are good to go but if the problem comes back then Victory is going to make it into a recall.
2008 Black Tour Premium |
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Tourer
Posts: 388
Salisbury, NC | i had the belt squeal when I would go from NC to Fl, when I first got the bike. After I adjusted it(1500 miles or so) I have not had a problem since. ET |
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Cruiser
Posts: 228
| Bearcat - 2008-11-26 10:37 PM
Anybody have problems with their Vision sounding like a chirpping bird???? I normally wear earbuds (MP3) player but noticed that without them I hear the belt chirpping away whenever the bike is under a slight load or at an even throttle position. Took the bike in for a service a while back and they adjusted the belt tension which helped for a while but the noise came back after a couple weeks. Went back and they checked the tension which was right on so they applied a bit of belt dressing. That also helped for a few weeks but once again I hear what sounds like a bird chirpping away back there! After buying a can of belt dressing (which only helps for a short time) I have now resorted to cleaning the belt and pulley as best I can with the bike on a M/C floor jack. Not something I'm willing to do on a recurring basis I'll tell ya!! Of course we are getting rain here for the next few days so I won't know if the cleaning helped until this weekend.
It seems like the longer I ride the bike (200+ miles) the more obnoxious the noise becomes. Last Sunday I did a Toy Run and when I started out it was fine but by the time I got home and the following day going to and from work it was VERY noticable!
I don't know why anyone would apply belt dressing to a toothed belt. The drive belt depends on the teeth on the belt meshing correctly with the teeth on the pulleys to function correctly. It also depends on correct alighnment to eliminate the chirping noise. Belt dressing is used to increase the friction co-efficient of "V" belts in their pulleys to eliminate slippage. All it does to a cog belt is lubricate the edges eliminating the chirp when the belt rubs on the side of the pulley. You can accomplish the same thing buy rubbing the edge of the belt with a bar of bath soap.
Until the belt alignment is done the way Victory says to do it the chirp will never be eliminated. I don't remember if the alignment procedure is in the owners manual or the service manual, but it worked for me. It involves setting the belt tension then rolling the back tire forward and then backward while observing the belt alignment with the pulleys. I don't remember the exact procedure, you will need to read the manual.
My Vision had the chirp from the day I bought it. At 8K milesI finally got tired of it and did the alignment procedure myself.....no more chirp!
I hope this helps. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| The belt noise is an ongoing issue. My dealer has one mechanic that gets it right every time and the other mechanic whose belt adjustment always results in the belt needing adjusted again within a couple hundred miles. When done right it doesn't even chirp in the rain.
Now I'll add that this IS an issue that NEEDS resolved as it shouldn't be this touchy (my opinion). A company that retreads pulleys claims their process eliminates noise completely and wear. I might need to go this route if Victory doesn't resolve the issue.
As for belt replacement? I've run at least 500k miles on belted bikes. Never had a belt failure and never replaced a belt prior to 100k. Just make sure you give your belt a good look over occasionally. I'll just add I have HEARD of belt failures, but have never met anyone who has had one fail. The story is always the same a friend of a riding buddy had a belt fail/break when a stone got in between the belt an pulley. That would be some stone to take out a kevlar reinforced belt and NOT damage the pulley. JMT |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 25
Aurora Colorado | I had the same problem with the belt noise. I had to take it to two different dealers to get it fixed. The first dealer (G-Force) made it worse. I then took it to (Grand Prix) and they fixed it properly. Come to find out that the belt tension setting sound be 20mm with a 5mm swing either way. G-Force had it set at 34mm. Grand Prix fixed it and now I have not had the cherp come back. Be sure that the dealer that works on your ride, knows how to work on a Victory. Trust me not every dealer has good mechanics. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 208
Edmonton Alberta, Canada | I too had the birdy sounds, shortly after purchase, don't remember the milage, but had it in for the first service and all. I rolled the bike in the shop and noticed the belt alignment was out. After checking the alignment marks on the adjusters, the right hand side was forward of the left side. I adjusted equally and since then and probally 3000 miles, no more birdies and I often check the alignment. It has been dead center on the rear pulley since. I just wonder how much they checked out on my first service as one can only spend so much time doing a 300 daller service!!! I just had my 3rd service done before putting my bike into hibernation, but come Feb and the dry Arizona weather we will see if they adjusted the belt wrong again. |
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Tourer
Posts: 404
San Antonio, TX United States | If the belt chirp can not be corrected with alignment and the chirping oscilates in time with rear wheel RPM Victory has replaced the rear wheel pulley and belt. There is a minor flaw in some of the rear wheel pulleys when they are machined. No amount of tensioning or aligning will correct it. You can get it to go away for short periods of time but it will come back if it is the rear wheel drive pulley. |
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Belt squeal