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YES! My Buell takes about 30 minutes to change belt but no service interval is given, changed mine preemtive at 20kKept old belt as spare.
I've ridden 72k miles on an '07 F800S, and found it to be an economical ride if you stay away from BMW dealerships. BMW demands valve checks/adjustments every 12k miles, at 72k mine's still well within specs, might need to do an adjustment at 150k or so. My replacement belt is still in the tank bag, and the only mechanical failure of any consequence was an alternator stator at 55k miles or so. I went with an aftermarket stator for $200 instead of BMW's $900 "fix" for a design that overheats at low speeds... The early F650/800 GSs have seen a lot of these failures. So in 72k miles I've spent maybe $300 on repairs, plus one battery and a dozen or so tires.Had I taken the bike to a BMW dealer the story would be quite different- those valve checks are about $500 apiece as it's a half day job, the stator plus labor is over $1000, and just to access the battery requires removing the turn signals and tupperware. So dealer maintenance and repairs would have cost around $5k for the last 72k and 6 years, half the purchase price of the bike.
Well geez , one wonders how BMW even stays in business considering that everyone of their products breaks under the slightest stress Dusty
.... If course it makes more sense on a road bike than say a Scrambler for obvious reasons. If you ride a lot of dirt or gravel then a chain or shaft might be a better choice.
Agreed. That is why the F800GS has a chain, even though the F800S, ST, and GT all had belts. The F800R also has a chain. It is more of the "sport bike" of the family, thus the chain for easier ratio changes (by changing sprockets).A chain is better than belt for ADV bikes, not just due to the higher likelihood of debris getting in them, but, also due to the suspension travel.Because the output shaft of the transmission is not concentric with the swing arm pivot, the distance between the two sprockets (or pulleys) varies as the suspension moves. Chains are much more tolerant of this than belts.
And why is the chain more tolerant?
Chains won't rise up out of engagement . Chains have taller engagement points , and don't actually roll around the sprocket , but bend around . Sorry , not worded very well . Dusty
EBRs have tensioners, don't the Buells? Cruisers don't have room, nor the suspension travel, to need them.
Belt tension can also be set by frequency, plucking the belt like a harp string and measuring the Hz.
One last little money-saving tip (I am a Guzzi guy after all).Belt tension can also be set by frequency, plucking the belt like a harp string and measuring the Hz.
What year is yours?? I have a 97 tube frame Buell and the correct belt tension is very loose because the arc of the swing arm travel. At least 2 inches up and down play....The Buell service manual suggestion is way too tight and shortens belt and high gear transmission bearing life. Belts adjusted this loose are reported to last 20,000 miles or more ..
Irv did find a cheaper replacement for BMW, but it's still pretty pricey compared to a chain.
Leafman:Irn has a post on the first page of this thread. He's the guy to contact. I bought two belts from him via the F800 forum where he arranged a group buy. Here's his post on this thread:Re: NGC-belt drive newbie« Reply #29 on: July 29, 2015, 09:00:38 AM »QuoteHey guys, quick chime on F800ST. Replaced my 04 Breva 750 with a 2007 F800ST, and love the bike. Will get back on a Goose soon, but all bikes have their quirks. Regarding belts, I have put together two group orders for belts, sold almost 20 total, on the F800 riders site. Ordered directly through Continental Germany, takes time and money out of pocket, but in the end I was able to deliver the belts for $200, not so bad. If anyone needs one here, let me know, will do another group order. Last time I fronted the money on my own, and still had more orders then belts when they finally came in.
I don't believe the tube framed Buells did, though maybe the latter XB's did. I know the Harley XR1200 and XR1200X both used idler pulleys.
Yup, no tensioner. On a Buell only forum I asked if anyone uses a spring loaded tensioner on the tube frame Buells because of the loose belt adjustment. The answers I got back said no don't do it and several said the Sportster belt on the older Buels is a high Kevlar content and will fail when bent "backward" from the tensioner... I don't know if there's any truth to it...
I do wonder about the Scout spec, as the 12mm is set with no load, and the bike rides with the belt much tighter.
I just checked this a week ago on the Sporty and at the tightest spot it was at least the far end of spec (16mm, it might have been as loose as 19mm at one point).