Anyone go from friction drive to belt?

kenster

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I was first sold on the GEBE belt drive but it seems that they don't recomend the R/S on 32x14 guage spokes so it seems a friction drive is my best option. I was thinking I can always buy the belt kit later if I choose and was wondering if any have done that and how they now feel about their old friction drive system. Any regrets? Anyone wishing they would have gone belt in the first place?
Is it true the friction drive does the least amount of damage to the bike and is the simplest to remove if you want to go human powered only for a day.

Thanks
 
...Is it true the friction drive does the least amount of damage to the bike and is the simplest to remove if you want to go human powered only for a day.
Absolutely. I haven't done it, but I would estimate that I could take mine off in 15 minutes or less. Disconnect the throttle cable at the carb, disconnect the kill switch by pulling the crimp-on connector apart. Take a single bolt off at the rear fork clamp, & lift the whole unit off. Then, coil up the cable/wire & tie-wrap it to secure it. Done.

Putting it back on would take be a bit more time, as you want to make sure that it is aligned correctly. But, that shouldn' take more than a half hour.
 
my guess is that a friction system will work fine in the desert. i ride in wet and wolly washington and on wet days that i ride my gebe i do notice there are no friction drives on the road. and around here guys like to single track in the mountains and the gebe kit is easily disengaged for the rides down hill. ride on
 
my guess is that a friction system will work fine in the desert. i ride in wet and wolly washington and on wet days that i ride my gebe i do notice there are no friction drives on the road. and around here guys like to single track in the mountains and the gebe kit is easily disengaged for the rides down hill. ride on

I'm in Southern Califonia so it's usually dry. Any spoke problems?
 
no spoke problems. i tie rap the spokes. problems will occur if you put a motor bigger than 35cc on a gebe kit. i weigh 260lbs, travel at 30 mph and get over 200 mpg, the system is almost failsafe if the belt is inline and basic maintenence is followed
 
I run a DE scrubber. I live in a arid environment and ride pretty much when the weather suits me. On a scrubber, I think breaking spokes is more of a maintenence issue. You are riding more, longer and faster. You need to check your spokes more oftener.
If you have the GEBE kit, heck put it on and see what happens.
 
I run a DE scrubber. I live in a arid environment and ride pretty much when the weather suits me. On a scrubber, I think breaking spokes is more of a maintenence issue. You are riding more, longer and faster. You need to check your spokes more oftener.
If you have the GEBE kit, heck put it on and see what happens.

Hi, thanks for responding. Are you saying you break spokes more with friction drive, or that increased maintenance is needed in general on all motored bikes due to speed and increased use?
 
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