Having a great day until....

[kingfish108]

Got my '17 TriGlide out this morning to go for a ride. Went out to the western edge of the eastern half of Kansas. Stopped to get gas and as I was leaving the drive belt broke. Sherman has 30k on him. Just had him in for the 30k service. I had new shocks installed by the dealer at 27.7k.

I had him towed to the nearest dealer. They do not have the belt. It looks like it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before they will have the part. Is this about the right time for the drive belt to fail on a TriGlide? Maybe just a fluke, but I am ordering a spare belt for the future.

 

[Gray Biker]

Got my '17 TriGlide out this morning to go for a ride. Went out to the western edge of the eastern half of Kansas. Stopped to get gas and as I was leaving the drive belt broke. Sherman has 30k on him. Just had him in for the 30k service. I had new shocks installed by the dealer at 27.7k. I had him towed to the nearest dealer. They do not have the belt. It looks like it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before they will have the part. Is this about the right time for the drive belt to fail on a TriGlide? Maybe just a fluke, but I am ordering a spare belt for the future.

A belt breaking is pretty much the luck of the draw. I had a 2000 ultra classic I replaced the belt over the winter with 45000 miles, just because it had so many holes in it from rocks. I live on a gravel road. I had a 97 Softail that broke a belt at around 7500 miles. I picked up a bolt off the road, and over stretched and snapped the belt. You could see the thread marks in the rubber....

Two friends had belts snap, backing out of their garages at home. Both older guys on Ultra classics.

I had a 97 Road King with 70000 miles on the original belt....

So like I said, its the luck of the draw, you never know when its going to go...

You might break one next week, or never break one ever again...

The ST I was so mad, I changed it over to a chain.... It was a homemade ST chopper I had bought.

 

[rhino 2]

30 K Is too soon, Any ideas on how/why it broke.?....And the 64 thousand dollar question do you have any insurance or warranty to pay for the repair...It ain't cheep..

Are the Harley dealers working so close to the vest that they can't keep a belt in stock..

P S....There-is a thread about that....Belt drive and gravel roads...

 

[ISP-FL]

I agree that it is too soon, unless you are routinely on gravel roads. As far as picking up a spare, I'm not sure I would bother doing that. What if it is 3 or 4 years until you need another one? The rubber material on the spare will be aged and I probably wouldn't want to use it. Probably just a fluke you ended up at a dealer that didn't happen to have one in stock IMHO.

 

[ultrafxr]

30k is way, way too soon for it to break. My previous two wheelers had: 80+k on my '99; 96k on my '07; 70+k on my '12 and they all had original drive belts.

Perhaps there was some damage you were not aware of. If you can find any evidence of damage perhaps your 'other than collision' insurance coverage (used to be called comprehensive) would cover it. Just read of such happening on this forum a few days ago.

H-D factory warranty and / or ESP will not cover the belt as it is considered a wear item - like brake pads, clutch discs, etc. But you might contact them and they might give you some coverage (pay half, you pay a deductible, etc.) as a goodwill gesture since it failed prematurely.

Contacting Harley and you insurance may be worth a try.

 

[kingfish108]

The belt looks really good, just snapped. The break is very clean. I try hard to avoid gravel. Maybe rough brick streets are bad also.

I used my HOG roadside assistance to get towed. I was lucky to only be 30 miles from a dealer. Not so lucky to be almost a 100 miles from home. But it could have been a whole lot worse.

On the bright side, I met a number of nice folks, who stopped and asked if I needed help. Had lady bring bottled water. A guy stopped on his Harley and waited with me for the hauler to arrive. He helped get Sherman loaded. Had the town police officer and a county deputy just wave and drive right on by. Guess being broke down on a bridge is no big deal:Shrug:.

Probably the best part of all of this was the roadside assistance guy telling me to have a good evening and a great weekend:laugh:.

 

[ShapeShifter]

Sounds like you're taking things in stride. Hope the rest of the weekend is trouble free.

 

[kingfish108]

UPDATE on broke belt

My trike was taken to the Harley dealer last Saturday morning (4/27). The dealer is closed Sunday and Monday. No call on Tuesday. No Call on Wednesday. No call on Thursday. I called this morning (5/3) to find out that the belt just arrived at the dealer this morning. They told me that they would not be getting to it till Tuesday (5/7). WOW!!!

Glad I was only 2 hours away from home. Can't even imagine having this happen on a trip and being stranded for 10 days or longer. I sold my Can-Am Spyder because my wife was worried about it breaking down and leaving me stranded. Guess Harley is only worried about selling motorcycles.

The bright side is that it has been raining on and off most of the week. I will invest in a spare belt when all is done.

 

[tbird71]

I dont know if you can do this, but maybe let us know who the dealer is that took that long on getting a belt, so if we're out that way and need service maybe avoid or at least call ahead and see if they have parts in stock.

Also please let us know if you feel you got overcharged when the bill comes in too? Thanks

 

[rhino 2]

My trike was taken to the Harley dealer last Saturday morning (4/27). The dealer is closed Sunday and Monday. No call on Tuesday. No Call on Wednesday. No call on Thursday. I called this morning (5/3) to find out that the belt just arrived at the dealer this morning. They told me that they would not be getting to it till Tuesday (5/7). WOW!!! Glad I was only 2 hours away from home. Can't even imagine having this happen on a trip and being stranded for 10 days or longer. I sold my Can-Am Spyder because my wife was worried it breaking down and leaving me stranded. Guess Harley is only worried about selling motorcycles.

The bright side is that it has been raining on and off most of the week. I will invest in a spare belt when all is done.

Most Harley dealers will give top priority to travelers .....This guy is an odd ball.....

I won't bash him, But it wouldn't hurt to mention his name.....''But'' not till after you have the trike back and running........Keep us in touch.....

 

[tbird71]

Most Harley dealers will give top priority to travelers .....This guy is an odd ball.....

I remember back in 1982 I got some bad premium gas and it turned my timing around 180 degrees

I was out in the Denver area, called the HD dealer they had me in there, bike up on a lift, fixed, and back on the road in under 3 hours. THATS old school HD service.

 

[Tucci]

Old school

Two dealerships in Pa that I'm familiar with that will put something on hold in order to fix an "out of area" bike:

Susquehanna H.D. - Harrisburg,Pa

#1 Cycle : State College, Pa

 

[ShapeShifter]

A Good News Story

Most Harley dealers will give top priority to travelers .....This guy is an odd ball.....

I won't bash him, But it wouldn't hurt to mention his name.....''But'' not till after you have the trike back and running........Keep us in touch.....

Last summer was 40+ miles west of LR Arkansas and got a sidewall puncture left rear. Called dealer during tow back and was told yes we have one tire in stock and we await your arrival. Just a little over an hour after arrival I was on I-30 headed back west with a new Dunlop Tire and a freshly washed trike.

Kudos to Rock City HD!!!:clapping:

 

[kingfish108]

Most Harley dealers will give top priority to travelers .....This guy is an odd ball.....

I won't bash him, But it wouldn't hurt to mention his name.....''But'' not till after you have the trike back and running........Keep us in touch.....

The dealer may not have looked at this as a priority since I was only about 100 miles from home and have been in the dealership several times. My frustrations are with the amount of time it took to get the belt and the lack of communication. If I have a breakdown again when I am this close to home, it will go to my regular dealer.

 

[GARYD]

My water pump quit in Ottawa, Ont. Both dealers didn't have on. They told me there wouldn't be a problem if I stayed away from congestion. On the way home I called all the Harley dealers. This was a Sunday and most dealers are closed. When I reached Buffalo, NY I called the dealer in N. Tonawanda. They answered(I was shocked) and yes they did have one pump in stock. If I hurried I could be there before they closed at 3pm. The dealer - American H-D - is usually closed but they were trying something new by being open on Sunday and that Sunday was the first one. Made it in time. took them 3 hours - 2 hours past closing. Everything went fine and then they told me I needed some kind of sensor, but they didn't have one in stock - SO THEY TOOK ONE OFF ANOTHER BIKE- just so I could get home(Chicago). If that isn't a GREAT dealer I don't know what is. Cost me $50 (I have the EXP) When I got home I sent them some Harley cigarette packs for their collectable collection.

 

[kingfish108]

Going to have a great week

I figure the best remedy for a broken trike in the shop is a great road trip. Since it doesn't look like I am getting my trike back till Thursday or Friday, I am going to put some miles on my new car. Leaving early in the morning and am going to enjoy every minute. My wife asked if I am going to wear my helmet and gloves. She will just be happy that I am not moping around the house. Maybe taking a good long trip in the car will get me excited to get back on the trike whenever I get it back.

 

[jjvw]

I guess I better check my belt. I have 50k on the Harley belt on my Road Star/Champion. The belt Champion supplied was in a Harley box. Is there a better belt than factory?

 

[ultrafxr]

I guess I better check my belt. I have 50k on the Harley belt on my Road Star/Champion. The belt Champion supplied was in a Harley box. Is there a better belt than factory?

Unless you can see obvious signs of damage there really is not much you can 'check' to determine the health of your drive belt. Many riders (myself included) have well nigh 100k on oem belts with no failure. There is no predetermined time to replace like there is on timing belts on cars. And as regards aftermarket belts I've read of several (Falcon brand) which had premature failure. I'd stick with the genuine H-D belt . . . which I think is made by Gates.

 

[trikermutha]

Drive belts dont snap for no reason. There had to be a hole or another issue to cause it to break .

Glad to hear you had plenty of help.

 

[headheaded]

How tight are you guys running your belts ? I run mine at between 3/8ths and 7/16ths and the tight spot. This is what the harley shop manual calls for. After riding for awhile it's really tight while hot but it's right where they say to run it.

 

[ultrafxr]

How tight are you guys running your belts ? I run mine at between 3/8ths and 7/16ths and the tight spot. This is what the harley shop manual calls for. After riding for awhile it's really tight while hot but it's right where they say to run it.

It is normal for them to tighten up when hot.

My '18 TG just crossed the 20k mark and I've done nothing to the belt. From new it seemed very tight to me and I checked it when it was stone cold. I had two different techs look at it and they said it was A-OK and that it would stretch a bit with some miles on it. With 20k it does not appear to have stretched a bit as it is still tight. But I've inspected TGs of several different friends and are all tight. 3/8" ain't much at all and it is darn difficult to get an accurate measurement. . . and it looks a bit intimidating to me to adjust so I'm just going to leave it alone.

It's a heck of a lot tighter than I ever ran on my two wheelers but perhaps I didn't know how to adjust them properly and ran them too loose. But I never had any problem and put well over 60k on them all and over 80k on two of them. Honestly don't know if it really is all that critical as long as it's not so loose that it can slip.

 

[kingfish108]

Drive belts dont snap for no reason. There had to be a hole or another issue to cause it to break .

Glad to hear you had plenty of help.

The break on mine was almost straight across. Only way it could have straighter is if it had been cut. I had new shocks installed at 27.7K and have been wondering if the belt tension was too tight with the new shocks since they raised the rear end up about a 1/2 inch.

 

[rhino 2]

The break on mine was almost straight across. Only way it could have straighter is if it had been cut. I had new shocks installed at 27.7K and have been wondering if the belt tension was too tight with the new shocks since they raised the rear end up about a 1/2 inch.

I doubt it... There are hundreds of trikes with raised rears [Inch and 1/4 lifts]...

I do know at least with the early Spyder's the factory spec's in the belt was too tight and that in turn took out front sprockets , And in some cases also the shaft [Main shaft] that held the sprocket.....

I had that happen to mine....The belt was fine with no damage to it..

 

[kingfish108]

Update

opcorn:

 

[trikermutha]

The break on mine was almost straight across. Only way it could have straighter is if it had been cut. I had new shocks installed at 27.7K and have been wondering if the belt tension was too tight with the new shocks since they raised the rear end up about a 1/2 inch.

Break like that seems to be related to over tightening. As long as there is was no visible damage to the belt.

 

[kingfish108]

UPDATE on broke belt

I got a call late Friday afternoon that my trike was repaired.:clap: I picked it up Saturday (in the rain) and rode it home. They are closed Sunday/Monday and I didn't want to wait till Tuesday. Really glad to have it home in the garage.

The new belt was installed in just under 7 hrs. Total bill with labor, parts, fluids, shop supplies was $1125. I had planned for the bill to be more, so I am happy.

I think if I had truly been on a trip, they would have worked me in sooner. My only real complaint (besides the belt breaking) is the amount of time it took to get the belt. I am going to order a spare belt. I have always found that the best way to prevent broken parts is to have spare parts. May never need it and that's OK with me.

Learning from this experience, unless very prohibitive, if I break again I will have it towed back to my home. Save a lot of time waiting for a ride, time going to pick up and miles on car.

Going to have a great weather week, so tomorrow looks like another road trip.:yahoo:

 

[ShapeShifter]

:Congrats:Glad to hear you're back in the saddle!