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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| As 10" of snow was falling this weekend, I sat and read through my copy of the 2008 service manual, I downloaded from this site. (thanks to the donor)
Now that I own a bike with all that fancy stuff all over it, I am wondering what it takes to change the drive belt? On my '99 it could be done road side in 40 minutes, not so the Vision. I am not complaining just wanting to be prepared. Does anyone know if the HD quick fix belt will work on the Vision? Maybe Victory plans to come out with one? I think it would be a great idea. If some strange road debris (FoD) ended up damaging my drive belt I could look up the local dealer on my GPS and buy a quick fix belt. At least I could ride it to the dealer to have a new one installed.
"Many" years ago when we went to the Wings and Wheels one of the Vic riders father's had a belt go. His new HD only had something like 2700 miles on it the belt let go as he pulled away from the gas pumps. For any biker that's a real bummer. They rented a U-Haul and took her home. Another time there, a Vic owner whom rode up from OK alone had his belt go. I had a spare and he was able to ride home and sent me the money for the belt.
So it can happen to anyone at anytime and it would be nice if we had a "quick" fix.
Any thoughts would be appreciated but no whining please. (the internet was not invented for whining, ask Al Gore) |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 600
Linwood, MI | Can you give some more info on the HD quick fix belt? I've not heard of that before and I'm curious how it works. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| http://www.amazon.com/Harley-Davidson-Belt-Repair-Kit/dp/B000HZZU2G
There was a thread on The VMC about this couple years back.
If I remember correctly, when Victory went to the new belts we could use the HD repair belt. I don't know the tooth count on the Vision belt. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 600
Linwood, MI | Boy, that's a really good idea. I'd like to have one of those, just in case. Hell, just the fact that I was ready for a broken belt means that I'd probably get 100,000 miles out of mine.  |
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Jacksonville Florida | I think the VICTORY belt is 154 teeth and the HD repair belt is 134 teeth. I don't know if the pitch on the VIC belt is different than the HD belt. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| In "my opinion" its a waste of money and time thinking about it. Although I have heard of belts breaking I have never met anyone who has actually had one break on them. Asked my dealer/Indy shop owner/mechanic and agin like me he has heard of it but never seen or met anyone who has broken one. I personally have MANY thousands of miles on belts and never had one even crack. I ride my bike on any type of road that I happen to find myself on (gravel, dirt, etc...) so the odds of tossing a stone or other object into the drive belt area is pretty high, but never been a factor. I may play around to see if an alternative can be found for the stock Vision belt this winter. The factor belt is jut too picky about tension. I'll post if I find a good alternative that is noiseless. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | I've broken two belts on my 2000 SportCruiser in the past 8 years of riding it, so the possibility of a broken belt on my Vision has crossed my mind. It doesn't appear that a relatively easy roadside belt replacement is possible on the Vision. I, for one, would be interested in some type of "quick fix" temporary belt that would allow riding the bike on into a dealer to get the proper belt installed.
Ronnie |
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Visionary
Posts: 1436
| Ronnie, remind me to bring a tow rope if we ever ride together, lol. Two belts in 8 years? Thats some really rotten luck. To what did you attribute the breakage? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 600
Linwood, MI | I used to ride with some guys that had old Vics. Seems some of the bikes had some sort of defect with either the belt or the transmission and were breaking belts prematurely. Vic had a recall on the problem and replaced the belt as part of the fix. Unfortunately, the replacement belts were only lasting about 2000 miles and then breaking. It turns out the replacements were handled/packaged incorrectly, resulting in a "kink" that caused the belt to fail.
Talk about some pissed off bikers. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | Teach - 2008-12-28 12:33 AM
Ronnie, remind me to bring a tow rope if we ever ride together, lol. Two belts in 8 years? Thats some really rotten luck. To what did you attribute the breakage?
Yeah, my Goldwing riding buddy teases me all the time about needing to carry a rope.
The first belt was definitely damaged by a rock. It didn't actually fail completely and leave me stranded. I was in the process of putting a new rear tire on in preparation for a ride up to Spirit Lake when I discovered the damage. The belt was broken about halfway across its width. The new Victory replacement belt never ran/felt right. It had a severe tight spot that never went away with use. When rotating the wheel and belt, the tension would vary from loose to very tight. It eventually snapped while I was doing a full throttle powershift. I'm convinced the belt was faulty from the beginning. The current belt on my SportCruiser is an aftermarket Goodyear replacement for an HD. It's been on there for the past few years. I hope the new carbon fiber belts used on the Vision are less prone to rock damage than the older style belts, since I live off the beaten path and must traverse gravel roads to get from my house to the paved roads. Changing the belt on a Vision doesn't look like a very simple job, like it is on the SportCruiser.
Ronnie |
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Cruiser
Posts: 80
| I have an 04 Kingpin and this past summer while in Havre, Montana I happened to look at the small gap between the belt guard and front pulley cover and spotted what l thought was a bug sitting on top of my belt. It was a small rock poking up through the center of the belt. I have no idea how long it had been there. I went to the only m/c shop in town and the mechanic said there was not much I could do, just ride it and good luck. Well, I rode all the way to Alexandria, Minnesota where the Victory dealer said the belt -could- last a long time, but the rock was slowly chewing up the pulleys. He punched the rock out, then said "just don't do any burn-outs, or haul fat chicks!" Great guy, and no charge. I rode another 2,500 miles before replacing the belt. The hole never got bigger.
These belts are very strong, but they do need to be checked every so often. My seeing the hole was pure dumb luck. With no rocks, and keeping proper adjustment, and with not too many burn outs, these Victory belts should easily go 100,000 miles.
DP |
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Visionary
Posts: 1350
| The original belt on my '99 was good for about 28,000 miles. (old style) Lloyd looked at and said would make it to Sturgis and back. How right he was.  The following weekend it failed. When Lloyd did the updated tranny I had him put the pulleys on for the "new" style belt. Victory did not supply them with the tranny update back then. I have never replaced that belt yet.
Just because someone hasn't seen it or had it happen doesn't mean it won't happen.
I think a "quick" fix belt would be nice to get me to the nearest dealer instead of sitting roadside waiting for the car hauler to show up. Use a bent coat hanger to feed it through the top area and throw a couple of retainers in and go.
Kind of like, when was the last time you had a flat on your car? But you still haul around a spare tire? |
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Visionary
Posts: 1324
So Cal | Changing a belt on a HD is more involved than the Vision. Major disassembly of the HD down past the inner primary. Thats why I kept burnouts and hole shots to a minimum on my HDs. From what I see loosening the exhaust to get to the drive pulley cover is the hardest part. Pulley cover and drop the rear wheel. Ive always put Armour-all on the backside of my belts (not on the teeth) and never had a problem. Im sure a repair belt can be cut down to the right tooth count and re drilled. The screw in pins are the key. They would have to be very strong metal. These newer belts are built much better than the older ones. |
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Tourer
Posts: 576
, IA | ok a little off topic , if i put trailer hitch on my vision will the shop have trouble replaceing the belt i know on my t.c. there was no problem |
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drive belt for the Vision
