Belt drive for sports bikes?

[Res7]

I may be way out of the loop here,
but why don't we have belt drives on sporstbikes?
They are cleaner, Require less adjustment,
are less likely to stretch, nevwr wear out the sprockets,
are well strong enough to handle the power of a modern
sportsbike (as buell and BMW have proven) and are much less
likely to rip your bloody bike apart in the event of a breakage.
Not to mention how easy a spare would be to carry.
I"ve looked around but can't find any bits for sportsbikes.
HELP ME!!!!!!!!

[Tony OW31]

One of the reasons is that the pulleys have to be very large compared to chains to enable the tooth load to be reduced, this results in greater gyroscopic forces on the rear wheel, and the space around the gearbox output needs to be increased.
Carrying a spare is all very well, but how about the trailer for all the tools needed to remove the swinging arm to change it?

[EXBEN]

& how do you get a belt through a swingarm brace ?

[Res7]

OK but what about the Buells and Bmws?
The rear carriers on those don't look so big.
I thought the diameter of the front and rear sprockets dictated the
drive ratio. Belts don't have to be that wide and are pretty strong.,
http://www.motorcycledaily.com/08may08_chainsvbelt_p1.htm

[WATEVR]

quote:Originally posted by EXBEN

& how do you get a belt through a swingarm brace ?


i dunno, but if i need it done i would going to you!!!

the Buell and HD peoples are actually guarantee those belts for 100000kms[?]

[chopaweeza]

There was a place in the 90's that were doing a Gates belt conversion for GSXR's & FZR's . From what I read they stuffed up and the belts split or de-laminated under some of the extreme stresses some of the riders put them through . But , apparently , when used for normal sports riding they would last the life of the bike without ant adjustment or issues. Was an American company but can;t remember any other details. Might be the mob that are doing the Belt conversion kits for Jap Cruisers like the VN800 .

[Res7]

thanks wayne, i'll be looking into it more
cheers
and keep it comming

[Deano]

the belt that your would have to use is a gates polychain timing belt. they are fitted to all the harleys.

the belts are dear as poison $500 gets you a belt that is 60mm wide and 2120mm long (have a customer that uses alot of that size belt)

the pullies are only made by gates and a protected by that many patents and are worth nearly as much as the belts. you are not allowed to copy their pulley. there are some other manufactures that claim they can match the strength of the belt but yet to see any hard evidence.

they will also be alot heavier than the chain drive aswell due to the fact your belt will have to be aleast 35mm wide.

if it was a good thing i am sure it would be fitted as standard to bikes today.

[geesexar]

belts and pullies WTF i've got a woman dont need a pully..thats why ive got a chain

[DiscoDan]

If I recall from Uni (those few years are a bit hazy) a chain drive is a lot more efficient than a belt drive, 3-4% power loss compared to 8-10% for a belt. That would be up 10hp being thrown away there by going from chain to belt which would be a bit hard to stomach

[StuNVA]

Had an XB9R, belt was easy to change as the swing arm had a removable window. Belt cost $350+ took 30 minutes to fit. Stones get stuck between the pulley and the belt and punch a hole through them, the spray pave man may cost you $350 pretty quickly or an arsehole with a knife as Billy Wiz once pointed out to me. They weigh about as much as a chain ie fuck all, they are not easy to carry with you as a spare as you are not supposed to roll them tightly. The big plus is no adjusting and clean wheels, the gixxer is driving me made now. Oh yeah, its taken the local dealer twice as long to get me a chain and sprocket set for the gixxer than it took to get a new belt for the Buell from the states.....arrrr.