Wrench help

 Shirley?  Set em up please.  Anything they want.  What's that?  OK,
well not ANYTHING they want, anything that comes in a bottle with a
state tax stamp on it.  How's that?  Cool.  Name you poison.

I bought my '05 RK a little over a year ago.  It has 6k miles on it
now.  Other than the first service, I've been doing my own servicing
and adjustments myself with the help of the service manual.  So far
everything has gone just fine.  Recently, I adjusted the final drive
belt using the little HD spring tension tool. On the test drive, I
noticed sounds I had never heard before and decided that the belt
might be too tight even though I was within the SM specs.  Yesterday,
I loosened the belt up so it was about half way back between the too
loose it had been, and the probably too snug.

Today I took a nice 150 mile afternoon ride and the bike ran good.
I'm still hearing a little belt noise that is tied to rolling speed.
Normally the engine noise completely covers it.  When I coast to a
stop from speed with the engine idling, I can hear what I assume is
still some kind of belt noise.  I can loosen it even more but I don't
know that it's a tension thing now.

Is it possible that the rear wheel is out of alignment?  Based on how
the cam tensioner on the real axel works, I don't know how this could
be possible.  It seems to me when the belt is adjusted correctly, it
should be silent right?  Could it be something else?  I don't
particularly want to take it to the dealer but I not only want it
right, was want to be confident it's right.  Since I don't have a
neighbor that is a Harley service guru, outside of you folk, dumb luck
and chance have been my mentors.

If you were me, what would you do?

Short Ribs
BS#246

 On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 19:39:26 -0700, "Short Ribs"

<schnipp>


Earplugs are yer friends.  Really.

Snarl

 

Seriously?  It's nothing?  Would a little light lubricant like one of
the LPS silicone sprays be a good idea?  Did I happen to mention I'm a
borderline perfectionist?

Short Ribs

 

Short Ribs wrote:


<snip>


Ride it and quit yer worrying.

I disagree with Snarl about earplugs. If you ride
with earplugs all day, when you ride without them,
you'll hear 22 more things wrong with your bike.

Louder pipes is the answer.

roach

 On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 19:39:26 -0700, "Short Ribs"


Not positive if the belt debris guard on an '05 is the same as on my
'98 but, if it is, the debris guard has a flexible flap in it.  It's
supposed to hang unsupported and level, covering the bottom of the
belt.  But it's possible to install it in such a way that the flap
rides on top of the belt, which can cause the noise you're hearing.

If you did remove the belt guard for some reason while checking your
belt, that would be worth checking out - especially since the flap
will wear on one side of the belt.

Don't ask me how I discovered that one...  ;)

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