Easy Drive Belt Adjust?? 09 FLHX

[Ralston]

Asking for the quick, easy way to adjust my rear drive belt. It looks like I can loosen the dome nut without taking the circlip off? I know i should follow the manual and re-torque. But...

[bcomes]

I've got an 03 but if they haven't changed things, I too don't like the idea of taking the mufflers off just to tighten the belt. My method is a bit trial and error but I've had pretty good luck with it.

Put the bike on a lift but not to the point of lifting the rear wheel off the ground. Mark the current setting on the large (out of round) washer that is connected to the axle with a piece of tape or sharpie marker. Now lift the bike up until the rear tire is just about ready to leave the ground. Remove the top bolt on each of the rear shocks. Now LOWER (I tried raising it up so the trailing arm would fall down but it didn't work) the bike until the trailing arm goes UP far enough (above the pipes) so that you can get a socket or wrench of your choice on the axle bolt to loosen it. I've never thought about leaving the circlip on - you might get away with that but I've always taken it off. Slightly rotate the axle to tighten the belt (this is the trial and error part). Put everything back together...using a torque wrench to tighten the axle bolt. Check the belt tightness with the bike on the ground as described in the manual. Hopefully you got it right. If not, do it all over again with another setting on the axle bolt.

It may seem like as much work as just taking the muffler off - and it may be depending on how "stuck" your mufflers are to the pipes but it is another way to get the job done.

Again, I have an 03 so I apologize if this doesn't apply to the newer bikes....but maybe it can help others have have one of the "older ones".

Brad

[Ralston]

Great ideas bcomes, Thanks , i have the darn flu 9 days so far. i will get after the belt soon.

[Ridewv]

Originally Posted by Ralston

Asking for the quick, easy way to adjust my rear drive belt. It looks like I can loosen the dome nut without taking the circlip off? I know i should follow the manual and re-torque. But...

The only issue I see is that you'll need to have the clip off in order to fit a socket on the nut. A torque wrench should be used to tighten it.

[elmosac]

I got a 36mm wratching box wrench from the Dennis Kirk catalog if I remember right. It was about $40 but it is thin enough that I can get it on the nut if I take the bolts out of the rear top muffler mount. This lets you flex the exhaust out of the way enough to get the wrench on. The wrench has a square cut into the handle for a 1/2 torque wrench to fit for setting the torque when you put it back together.