Belt Tension

[hotshotfxdl]

Today I was checking my belt and noticed it was a little loose. So I adjusted it to 3/8 @ 10lbs with my little belt tension gauge. Looking in the manual I noticed it says to do this with the riders weight on the bike. Well I am finding it a bit tough to sit on the bike and check the tension. I have always done it in the past without the weight.

My question is when you sit on the bike does the belt get looser or tighter ?? I am thinking and could be wrong that the arc of the swing arm with the pivot point bellow the trans pulley will cause the belt to loosen slightly as it swings up from weight ??

[murphdog]

I believe you're right, the belt gets looser with rider weight and the swingarm at a different angle. The Low Rider and Street Bob, with shorter shocks and different swingarm angle, actually have a different belt deflection spec.
They have now revised the spec so it's possible to adjust it by yourself...on the side stand with no weight on the bike (in the '07 manual).
I always adjusted the belt on my '03 Wide Glide to 3/8" on the side stand with no weight and it always worked fine. The belt does get tighter when it gets warm after riding and anything less than 3/8" cold seemed awfully tight when it got warm.

[hotshotfxdl]

I agree seems awefull tight when it's warm. Just went for a test ride seems much smoother my belt was a good 1/4 too loose. I also made a slight alignment adjustment too using the wire gauge I bought. One of my concerns too is when the belt is to tight the seal in the back of the primary tends to leak slightly