Premature GEBE belt wear? Read this.

R

Roy Carpenter

Guest
After going through a belt every 500 miles or so, suddenly the problem even got worse. Strangely, I was not able to adjust my tracking any more. With the front of the engine visibly pointing off to the left, the belt continued to track against the inside of the drive pully, (nearest the motor). Then it hit me....Had the lower mounting strap lost it's original geometry? I removed my engine from the mount strap, (still mounted firmly to the axles), and gave the entire mountstrap a good eyeballing. Then I saw that the horizontal part of the strap, (where the engine mounts), wasn't exactly level. I must have bent the strap when my rear wheel bearings were giving me a hard time, without realizing it. The whole rear mount strap had "shifted" to the right about 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch. This caused the engine to "sag" downward, and thus threw off my tracking, and trashed my belt in a rapid fashion. After removing the lower mount strap and bending it back to it's original geometry, (just eyeballed it), my belt tracking was a cinch to adjust, that was over 300 miles ago, and hasn't needed adjusting since. I haven't seen any more belt dust, and the belt isn't showing any ravelings on the edges either! YES! I definitely fixed my problem, and if you are having premature belt wear, give the lower mount strap a good eyeballing. Remove it from the bike, stand it on it's legs on a flat table top, and look at all the angles of the bends to ensure that they are all uniform and that the horizantal top of the strap is level. Also check the vertical section of the strap to ensure that it is perfectly straight. If not, use a bench vice and get 'er straightened out. That should do it for ya...worked well for me:D
 
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yep, agreed and amen,

this very thing and the addition of a few others related to it was the cause of my 2 day and 5ml. original belt life.

it can not be over stated or underestimated that the precise and totally stress free level standing of the "U" mount be achieved.

having gone thru this and found the balance in my mounting system i now have 350 high speed miles on my belt and that it is tracking deadon with out any need of other or further tweeking, nor does it shed dust or ravel on the edges in the least. i have every reasonable expectation that this belt will last a good long time indeed.

my GP460 is getting stronger and fast it seems daily and is TOTALLY under control and in synch with the GEBE drive system in every way.

steve
 
Same thing happened to my bike when that truck hit me.
I know I don't have the same kit but this thread has a good message.
Alignment is ALL and Look at EVERYTHING!!
 
yup...love yer baby and she'll love you back...rack-mount theory is rack-mount theory...

a properly aligned rig is a joy to ride :cool:
 
Yep...looks like we might be on to something here. Augi, you may want to mention this to Dennis because if this little morsel would have been included on the GEBE site in the "belt tracking" section, it would have saved me a world of hurt, and many others as well. It's just something that's awfully easy to overlook...lol.:)
 
i understand that new & more comprehensive info is in the GEBE site's future, but as you know it may be a while before the webmaster can put down the allen-wrenches and hit the keyboard ;)

meantime, we've got each other...our gebe collection at MBc is growing with every new topic like yours :cool:
 
I guess that's what it's all about...he he...we're here to help. I know when I stumbled onto this forum, I didn't have a clue about these rackmounts...lol. It saved me a lot of heartache/money!:)
 
I am in the process of putting togerther my gebe kit and have already taken it on several test drives. Some how I have missed the part on adjusting the belt traking. After reading this post I ran out to check mine. I pulled the saftey cover off and there was a lot of black dust on the inside and the belt is rubbing against the left side of the gear. Thanks for the heads up.
 
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