Sprocket chipping : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

Electric Head · 10-24-2009, 05:33 AM

Today I took the wheels of my 06 Fatboy to get some Avons put on and wonder how to interpret the pattern of chips in my sprocket. They're all tiny, but there is a lot of chips on the left side of the teeth, tapering off to almost none on the right side (closest to the wheel).

Does this mean anything?

Also I measure the belt, it measures 19.05mm wide at the teeth and 18.55mm wide at the outer edge of the belt, some slight bevelling, but with the shape of the sides of the sprocket I would expect it to taper the opposite way if it was undue wearing.

And lastly, if the rear is not aligned and the belt runs to one side, which way do you adjust it? In my experience belts like to run up the tight side of a taper, so if the rear wheel is pointed left then the belt should run on the outside of the sprocket. Is this the way you think about it?

Everyone's input is appreciated!

Electric Head · 10-24-2009, 05:48 AM

I thought I'd also give a run-down on what I did today, put my speed-bleeders in finally, cleaned the calipers, Lydall gold pads, new brake fluid, new fork oil (redline synthetic mix 65% Medium 35% Heavy, should be about 10% stiffer than stock) and of course I pulled the wheels.

It's funny what you learn about things when you do them for the first time. Like how hard it is to put brake pads in the wrong way around, even though (you think) you're doing as the manual tells you.

I've inluded a pic for everyone to have a giggle at my mistrust of bike jacks. Not clearly visible in the pic is the trolley jack I have helping out the bike jack from the other side. Just in case...

Electric Head · 10-28-2009, 03:09 AM

If anyone wants more info on it - I got the new tyres on, found the belt seems to run to the inside more than the outside, and when you tighten the inside (adjust right hand side of axle back) then the belt runs to the outside, concluding the belt likes to run to the loose side, meaning the chipping could have been from the belt being tighter on the outside. There could be other factors also, as the wheel seemed pretty true previously.

I adjusted the wheel so the belt ran in the middle of the sprocket when free-wheeling on the jack. It is only slightly tweaked from how it was when I took the wheels off. This seems like a pretty sensible way to align the belt and sprocket.

CHIPMAKER · 10-28-2009, 06:49 AM

Actually, the front and rear wheels have to be aligned correctly, and then the motor/trans is moved to adjust the tracking. Think about it.

xtractor · 10-28-2009, 11:10 AM

Chronic unknown vibration, strange chirping noises, broken/worn belts, pitted sproket anyone??? I was surprized by much of this can be the result of secondary belt/wheel misalinement and improper instillation. Belt/wheel/ and alinement all needs to be spot on, including running wheels that are trued and balanced.

road_king · 10-28-2009, 07:21 PM

Don't believe you should be overly concerned about small loss of plating on the final drive pulley. Seems to occur often on most stock pulleys. As far as the final drive belt tracking, it is normal for the belt to run towards the outside of the pulley when the bike is moving forward and towards the inside of the pulley when the bike is moving in reverse.

Electric Head · 10-29-2009, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHIPMAKER

Actually, the front and rear wheels have to be aligned correctly, and then the motor/trans is moved to adjust the tracking. Think about it.

I just read the same thing from a search on another forum. I knew there'd be a pretty sensible reason as to why it's not done that way. However, how do you move the engine and trans in a softail?

I counted the flats the adjusters were at when I took the wheels off and put them back in the same spot, it tracked perfectly before I took the wheels off, should be the same now. The belt tension still measured good. If it seems to go left now I'll know why. EDIT: In fact I'll add that in the rain it used to go straight from a stop with the rear spinning. The stockers are fairly scary tyres in the rain though.

The wheels are Fatboy solids so being true shouldn't be a problem.

The original tyres had 6 x 7g (1/4Oz each, I think) weights on each one to balance the stock Dunlops. The new Avons have 15g total on each. I hope that is testament to the quality of their construction.

I had no strange vibrations, etc previously so hopefully it should be the same now. I just have to wait until Saturday to test it out and make sure there are no brake fluid leaks, I don't want to be testing new tyres, brakes, etc at night and trying to see if there are any leaks or anything is loose.

I'm fairly happy with the sprocket, just wanted to double-check. The teeth aren't worn down, only chips in the troughs in between.

What I find wierd is the belt, it measures slightly smaller on the outside of the belt. I'm pretty sure there is no way it can wear that way, bevelling from riding the sprocket side would go the other way.

Thanks all the the replies, I'll post up how it seems on Saturday.

Electric Head · 10-30-2009, 11:09 PM

Well, nothing leaks or rattles, the bike tracks straight, seems straighter than previous, but maybe that's the tyres not being worn more on one side.

At first the new pads and tyres seemed wooden, but I gave them a bit of a hard time and they seem better now, they should be great once broken in. The pads even in the first couple of goes seemed almost as good as the stockers used to, but not having the front brake hiss threw me off a bit.

On the way to the servo to get fuel and check the pressures (went straight there) they were at 32 rear and 34 front, still felt ok, but I pumped them up to 48 rear and 38 front, 2 psi below their stated maximums, and the seemed pretty much the same, just not as much wallowing in the rear.

Oh and the front forks did seem sliiiiightly more positive in their action, less bouncing. That may just be the fact that the oil in there is fresh now. I think next time I'll go 40% heavy and 60% medium redline oil VS 35 & 65.

Anyway, most of that's probably obvious, and I'm glad the job's done, it's certainly not something I want to do often.

xtractor · 11-01-2009, 08:08 PM

Glad to read you got it all done! Bet it feels great to be able to trouble shoot your bike without having to take her in to a shop, and know it's done correctly by yourself.

Electric Head · 11-03-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtractor

Glad to read you got it all done! Bet it feels great to be able to trouble shoot your bike without having to take her in to a shop, and know it's done correctly by yourself.

Oh yeh, but the amount it all costs over here, and buying synthetic oils and such, it doesn't seem like I save anything lol. But I bet if I took it in I'd say ouch and realise where the savings are.

I bought a new battery a couple of weeks ago for $170 (AUD) and thought it was bad, but a couple of days after that I read that they are 120 or 130 USD over there without shipping it round the world and the currency conversion so I felt a bit better about that.

I think half the reason I bought the bike was so I could tinker with it myself.

Also after riding the bike and checking out the belt position - it runs just outside of centre, but doesn't ride the edge of the sprocket. Those Avons certainly do soak up the grooves in the road too, and grip well. The brake pads are quite good too, not that I use brakes much, but when I do they feel pretty good.

I would like to get some V&H Short Shot Staggered pipes, I love the look, and would really enjoy not having to touch them to access the rear brake and wheel. The sound I like too but the volume is too much. I've been looking at Khrome Werks baffles (like the ones in my mufflers) and thinking up / researching modifications to see if they could be subdued enough for me.

Anyway, enough of my waffling.

sgod1100 · 11-03-2009, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electric Head

Today I took the wheels of my 06 Fatboy to get some Avons put on and wonder how to interpret the pattern of chips in my sprocket. They're all tiny, but there is a lot of chips on the left side of the teeth, tapering off to almost none on the right side (closest to the wheel).

Does this mean anything?

Also I measure the belt, it measures 19.05mm wide at the teeth and 18.55mm wide at the outer edge of the belt, some slight bevelling, but with the shape of the sides of the sprocket I would expect it to taper the opposite way if it was undue wearing.

And lastly, if the rear is not aligned and the belt runs to one side, which way do you adjust it? In my experience belts like to run up the tight side of a taper, so if the rear wheel is pointed left then the belt should run on the outside of the sprocket. Is this the way you think about it?

Everyone's input is appreciated!

The chips in your sprocket is one of those "it's supposed to do that" or "it's normal"......this said from the MOCO

xtractor · 11-06-2009, 11:48 PM

According to my 07 manual, some crome chiping and wear is exceptable, but excessive loss of crome plating will wear on your belt. To check use a knife to see if it leaves a mark, the presents of crome will not leave a mark.

Electric Head · 11-07-2009, 05:47 PM

Yeh the chipping is pretty superficial, the pattern being on one side tapering off to the other side concerned me more. Was it from the belt being tighter on the sprocket on one side, or did small bits of crap somehow only get in on the outside of the belt? Surely if it was tighter on one side it would have been pretty badly mis-aligned, and at the same time with all the guards on the outside of the belt, and the tyre on the inside, I would expect more rubbish to get in on the inside. Maybe the plating is better toward the inside. It's a bit of a mystery.