SuzukiSavage.com - Still belt noise or drive bearing?

Tocsik

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Still belt noise or drive bearing?
06/30/22 at 12:49:41

I changed the rear pulley bearing to the double a little while back but I'm getting a lot of noise from what sounds like the front pulley. It's recently gotten worse. Only under power, though. No noise on decel or during coasting.

I rubbed gulf wax on the edges of the belt to test if it could be alignment and it seemed to quiet down for a couple hundred miles and the belt looked to be riding to one side a bit. So I realigned the rear wheel and it seems good; after riding the belt looks to be centered nicely on the rear pulley with a mm or so on each side. Noise is still there under power. Belt tension seems OK. I'd like it maybe just a touch looser but it's all I can get with the bigger Kawa pulley up front.

Now what? How do I determine if the main drive bearing has gone bad?
Thx.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing? Reply #1 - 06/30/22 at 13:40:05 It needs to be loose enough to twist 90 degrees without much force.
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ohiomoto Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 2825	Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing? Reply #2 - 06/30/22 at 17:01:44 Apply liberally to the belt (not just the edges) and the truth will present itself.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #3 - 06/30/22 at 17:37:07

I used Gulf canning wax before someone discovered that the Official Suzuki belt tensioning tool was not to be used. It worked, but I didn't just do the edges. I rubbed it across the full face of the teeth. Aaand that crap got hot and slung out on the wheel. Ugghhh!
When you can use thumb and two fingers and twist it halfway between the pulleys and it doesn't need to be a test of your manliness, at ALL.. It's still gonna make a little noise, occasionally, but it won't make you grit your teeth.

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Tocsik

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #4 - 07/01/22 at 11:32:36

Thanks guys. I know about the 90 degree twist. Also forgot to mention that I took the opportunity while the rear wheel was off (for the bearing) to remove the front pulley, clean up the threads, check the splines and re-torque the nut (with red thread locker) to ensure the front pulley wasn't at least part of the noise.

ohiomoto - are you saying if the paste finishing wax stops the noise, then it's obviously not the drive bearing? Makes sense. Just wanna be sure. That was my thinking with the gulf wax. Will the finishing wax sling off onto the bike, rear wheel etc.?

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing? Reply #5 - 07/01/22 at 14:13:51 with red thread locker Dayyumm!
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DragBikeMike

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #6 - 07/03/22 at 16:41:38

If you installed a duplex bearing....and.....you aligned the rear wheel correctly.....and.....it still makes noise, something isn't right.

You mentioned that you checked out the front drive pulley and retorqued when you installed the duplex bearing. So, let's assume the front pulley is tight. But is the front pulley correctly positioned laterally (left/right). Remove the chain guard, ~~right~~ 7/5/22 my bad, left rear shock, and front pully cover. Then us a long straight edge to verify that the front pulley is correctly aligned right/left.

Like this.

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Straight_Edge_Alignment_2_002.JPG

« Last Edit: 07/05/22 at 10:34:01 by DragBikeMike »

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DragBikeMike

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #7 - 07/03/22 at 16:50:38

You need to be aware that you can "falsely" align things by skewing the rear wheel. For instance, you can bring the front end of the straight edge closer to the front pulley by say setting the left-side wheel adjuster to notch #2 and the right-side adjuster to notch #3. Don't fall into that trap. Both adjuster marks must be on the same notch in the swingarm.

If the front pulley is correctly aligned right/left, then leave off the belt gaurds and the pulley cover. Reinstall the shock absorber. Then carefully ride the motorcycle to see if it still makes noise. Key words and phrases, "carefully". It's dangerous to ride around without the belt guards and pulley cover. Pay attention, don't get tangled up in the belt. It's a diagnostic test. Get the safety gear reinstalled as soon as you finish the test. Tape up your pants leg and shoe laces to make sure they don't get tangled in the belt. Take appropriate measures to make sure you don't get tangled up in the belt.

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DragBikeMike

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #8 - 07/03/22 at 16:57:10

If the noise goes away, then reinstall the pulley cover. Ride it again. If the noise comes back with the pulley cover reinstalled, something is rubbing in there. Find the rub and correct it.

If the noise does not return once you reinstall the pulley cover, then reinstall the belt guard. If the noise comes back when you reinstall the belt guard, something is rubbing. Find the rub and correct it.

If the front pulley is too far right or left, you need to have some machine work accomplished on the pulley, the pulley spacer, or both.

You shouldn't need to wax your belt. It's a bad idea. It just collects dirt & grit and wears out the belt and pulleys prematurely. These belts run dead silent when correctly aligned.

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Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 18314 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing? Reply #9 - 07/04/22 at 03:34:24 Also check the screw on the bottom side of the shift mechanism cover. The inside edge at the bottom of the belt can rub on that screw - especially if you haven't installed a screw with a short head.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #10 - 07/04/22 at 06:23:12

The wax is just to prove where the problem is. As a solution to the problem it leaves much to be desired.
The way I checked pulley alignment is to lay a piece of small diameter cord on the front pulley and roll forward to get it to the front of the pulley,run the cord all the way back and a few inches past the rear.
Now, eyeball the tight cord pull it away from the rear pulley and slowly bring it back, looking for it to lay across that rear pulley ,touching front and rear of both pulleys at the same time.

Also, grab the rear pulley, top and bottom, try to pull out the top as you push in on the bottom. Play with that.

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Ruttly Serious Thumper Offline Thumpers Rule Posts: 5401 Manteca , CA Gender:	Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing? Reply #11 - 07/04/22 at 10:22:12 Maybe your Chinese double row bearing is wearing out. I haven’t heard of any failures of that bearing upgrade but bearings do fail. Take it all apart and look and everything closely , check your wheel bearings too. Front pulley loose ?
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ohiomoto

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #12 - 07/04/22 at 12:59:17

Tocsik wrote on 07/01/22 at 11:32:36:

ohiomoto - are you saying if the paste finishing wax stops the noise, then it's obviously not the drive bearing? Makes sense. Just wanna be sure. That was my thinking with the gulf wax. Will the finishing wax sling off onto the bike, rear wheel etc.?

Exactly and no it won't fling off.

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Tocsik

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #13 - 07/05/22 at 09:10:29

Thanks everyone. I have to leave this be for a while due to a family emergency.

When I put on the larger Kawasaki front pulley, I did replace one of the screws with a low-profile Allen head, and trimmed the belt guard a little. I've actually been running the bike without the main, upper pulley guard for a while now. One of the tabs to attach it to the frame vibrated/broke a while back. The front pulley cover is in place, though.
I'll definitely try a more thorough front/rear pulley alignment assessment as has been suggested more than once.
The noise is intermittent; does not happen when coasting or decelerating. Only under power.
I raised the rear of the bike and scrubbed the belt teeth with a stiff nylon brush, using water with a little bit of Dawn. Then lightly rinsed. The noise may have lessened a bit.
Just more data.
Thanks again, and I hope to play with this more at the end of the month or maybe next month.

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Tocsik

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Re: Still belt noise or drive bearing?
Reply #14 - 07/31/22 at 08:32:21

I'm back at this. Thanks again for any help, opinions or whether I should avoid riding it at this point.
I did find a couple of vey minor spots inside the pulley cover where the pulley may have been making contact. I filed off some material, marked the ridges, reinstalled, rode it, no evidence of any contact and no change in the noise under power.

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