Belt Rubbing On Swing Arm!!-08 Rocker C : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

sgod1100 · 09-25-2009, 02:31 PM

I have a problem...it seems my drive belt is rubbing on the swing arm of my bike. Any other rocker owners have this problem?? There seems to be an increased amount of wear on the left side of the belt. I already aligned the rear wheel, but it still rubs. I tried moving the belt over to the right a little on the front sprocket, but then the belt just walks back to the left hand side. It seems aligned, but the swing arm is TOO DAMN CLOSE TO THE BELT. There are no clearence issues with the tire, just with that damn swing arm (sorry about the venting. The only way to move the belt over would be for it to be mis-aligned with the wheel.

Please any suggestions would be much appreciated. Every other bike I have seen doesnt have the swing arm that close to the belt

thanks

steve

chopper blue de · 09-25-2009, 04:46 PM

Hey Steve,
where is the belt running on the rear sproket? if it is tracking to the outside i would say that the wheel is crooked in the swingarm. Or if the wheel has been off the bike have the spacers been swapped? i have not looked at a rocker rear recently to remember how close they are

good luck

jim

sgod1100 · 09-26-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chopper blue de

Hey Steve,
where is the belt running on the rear sproket? if it is tracking to the outside i would say that the wheel is crooked in the swingarm. Or if the wheel has been off the bike have the spacers been swapped? i have not looked at a rocker rear recently to remember how close they are

good luck

jim

Jim,

I forgot to say this before in the 1st post, The belt doesnt actually touch the swing arm when sitting still or when cruising. What i noticed when i accelerate is that the bottom of the belt gets some slack in it and kind of "flops" around for a sec or two. I think that is what is causing the problem. The wheel hasn't been off recently nor have any spacers been taken out. yeah, the belt does track to the outside of the rear sprocket. From what i heard "it supposed to do that" lol. Belt seems in line though, that is whats kind of baffling me. If i try and move the belt over to the right it will no longer be lined up.

thanks for the comments Jim

steve

nightrob · 09-26-2009, 11:34 AM

Sounds to me like the tension is off. A general rule of thumb is if you can twist the belt more than 45 degrees then it is too loose. Try removing your belt guards and trying that. I havent looked at a rocker rear, but I assume it has the same tensioners as a normal softail. Its pretty easy to tighten it up. Put it on a jack, loosen the axle and loosen the jam nuts on the tensioners and tighten an equal amount of turns.

sgod1100 · 09-26-2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightrob

Sounds to me like the tension is off. A general rule of thumb is if you can twist the belt more than 45 degrees then it is too loose. Try removing your belt guards and trying that. I havent looked at a rocker rear, but I assume it has the same tensioners as a normal softail. Its pretty easy to tighten it up. Put it on a jack, loosen the axle and loosen the jam nuts on the tensioners and tighten an equal amount of turns.

My bike doesn't have the jam nuts on the adjusters. They arejust threaded through the swing arm. I tried having the belt tighter, but it seems the tighter the belt is the more vibration i have running through the bike under acceleration.

I have messed with the alignment and the tightness of the belt. Still rubs though. I have to figure something out...I just don't understand why the MOCO would make such a design flaw

road_king · 09-26-2009, 02:54 PM

Check the belt tension. It is true that the belt is suppose to run on the outside of the final drive pulley when the bike is moving forward, and the reverse is true whan the bike is moved backwards.

sgod1100 · 09-28-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by road_king

Check the belt tension. It is true that the belt is suppose to run on the outside of the final drive pulley when the bike is moving forward, and the reverse is true whan the bike is moved backwards.

yeah...I have checked and adjusted the belt tension. Still hits that damn swing are though. Well, i guess the worst case scenerio is i have to get a new belt sooner or later

If anyone else has any other thoughts or recommendations- I'M ALL EARS!!

nightrob · 09-28-2009, 08:57 AM

Steve,

I dont know what to tell you. If you have had it checked with a lazer alignment tool and its good then Im not sure. Perhaps you have something warped or maybe they screwed up and put the wrong spacers in. What does your Indy or Dealer say?

sgod1100 · 09-29-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nightrob

Steve,

I dont know what to tell you. If you have had it checked with a lazer alignment tool and its good then Im not sure. Perhaps you have something warped or maybe they screwed up and put the wrong spacers in. What does your Indy or Dealer say?

I'm not the biggest fan of going to the dealer..I feel that most of those guys don't know really what they are doing. I prefer to fix things myself.

I did stop by and he tried to tell me that rocks did it....YEAH OK....the left side of the belt is consistantly worn on each tooth....a rock or multiple rocks would not do that. I'm tempted to mill down the rear sprocket 80-100 thou