Golden Eagle belt snaps with fewer than 500 miles

belt

I have a weird computer situation, I'll try to get a pic up tomorrow. I use the normal gear (the one that the kit came with). I pedal a few times when I start but once I am going it is mostly the engine. I hope that it is the alignment (and an easy fix), I'd love to get 3000+ on a belt.

Hi Astring
there is an easy way of checking alignment and that is to walk the bike slowly watch the belt in the drive ring from above, and if it looks to be close against one edge of the ring loosen off the engine mount bolts slightly and move the motor assy in that direction it only requires a tiny movement and then cinch the motor mounts up tight .
As mentioned assist for the engine is key so i usually idle mine up around 12-15 mph then bring the throttle in slowly also try and anticipate any hills i usually change down to my lowest crank ring well ahead of time and as soon as my speed starts to drop off noticeably i start to assist .
try and hear how the engine sounds in the revs if its buzzy and free sounding then its usually good for the belt but slow revving and or laboring is gonna strees the belt hope this helps
good luck
Royz
bye the way whats the number on your belt it should be a Gates #
 
Im very surprised the belt broke so fast. I have done somewhere around 700 miles on mine - including a fair amount of that time with a pipe fitted.

In my area there are alot of hills and the bike seems to deal with them no problem. I have checked my belt regularly and even though its to the engine side of the gear it seems perfectly fine.

Regarding the tensioner - if you put the bike up on a U-Stand and run the motor the tensioner should not move very far - the more it moves the more stressed the belt will be since a mobile tensioner means that the alignment is off.

Incidentally top speed on my GEBE 32cc is now 35mph :) - I cant recommend tuned pipes more.

Jemma xx
 
Hi Astring
there is an easy way of checking alignment and that is to walk the bike slowly watch the belt in the drive ring from above, and if it looks to be close against one edge of the ring loosen off the engine mount bolts slightly and move the motor assy in that direction it only requires a tiny movement and then cinch the motor mounts up tight .
As mentioned assist for the engine is key so i usually idle mine up around 12-15 mph then bring the throttle in slowly also try and anticipate any hills i usually change down to my lowest crank ring well ahead of time and as soon as my speed starts to drop off noticeably i start to assist .
try and hear how the engine sounds in the revs if its buzzy and free sounding then its usually good for the belt but slow revving and or laboring is gonna strees the belt hope this helps
good luck
Royz
bye the way whats the number on your belt it should be a Gates #

gates 16355M09K SPCL (then small letters) 1368MC
 
Astring, that's the same nbr I have on both of my belts, and the first one is still going strong. I took off the safety cover this am to check, lifting up the back wheel and giving a little throttle, the belt is tracking perfectly in the center of the drive gear. Yours may need a little adjusting.
 
Astring, that's the same nbr I have on both of my belts, and the first one is still going strong. I took off the safety cover this am to check, lifting up the back wheel and giving a little throttle, the belt is tracking perfectly in the center of the drive gear. Yours may need a little adjusting.

I hope that it is just a little adjustment and my next belt gets more use.
 
So I talked to Julia today and she nailed it. I had started it without the tensioner in place (more than once). That will eat up the belt.

WARNING: ALWAYS have the tensioner in place when starting.
 
ah, i love the learning curve.

you will want to check the alignment closely anyway and be sure that the main mount is totally stress free.

steve
 
astring,

remove your engine from the main mount and set it aside.

now remove the front strap and remove the axle nuts. do the mount legs spread away from the dropouts on it's own ? if you remove the mount do the legs spring in toward each other, so that if you want to put it back on you have to spread them to get them over the dropouts ?

either of these conditions need to be corrected. what is needed is to adjust the legs so that they fit closely over the dropouts without pressure or spread.

additionally, you should check the top of the mount to be sure that when you think you have the legs adjusted the two engine mount bolts reveal that the mount is centered over the tire and not to one side or the other

further, when you are satisfied with the previous steps, take the mount off and using 2 parallel lines, put the bottom of the legs on one line and see that the top of the mount is flat and parallel relative to the top line.

you may need to repeat all the steps until you have it freed up, centered and flat.

i know this seems extrem but in my case not being aware of it gave my first belt a 2 day 5-7mile life span.

after this i learned the importance of trueing and locking in the drivering and managing my belt tension.

steve
 
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