Belt Drives Handling and Care of Rear Belts - Manual

HANDLING & CARE OF REAR BELTS
When installing a rear drive belt, alignment and proper tension is very critical, the installer must be sure that the
rear wheel is accurately centered so that the belt will track properly on both the rear pulley and transmission
pulley.
When installing a new belt on old or new pulleys particularly on an aftermarket motorcycle with a lowering kit or
lowered shocks, then particular care must be taken on setting the free play (tension) of the belt. It may be a good
idea to have someone sitting on the bike while the free play is being adjusted.
If the free play is too loose then the belt may have a tendency to jump a tooth on the pulley which may cause the
belt to break and or strip teeth off of the belt.
After the initial installation of the belt it is very important that the free play be checked at the 50 mile, 100 mile
and 200 mile point because a new belt under load may seat itself into the pulleys thus causing the belt to get
loose.
Belt failure is mostly attributed to improper alignment, improper tension and failure to monitor the tension of the
belt.
THERE IS NO WARRANTY ON BELTS.
Belt Handling For Poly Chain®
Gates Poly Chain® Belts are extremely durable and
give long life in a properly designed drive. However,
improper handling of the belt before or during
installation can result in dramatically shortened
service life. The belt's tensile cords are designed to
carry large loads in tension but not compression.
Compression causes damage to the tensile cords of
the belt and can also lead to adhesion problems.
Handling situations that can cause compression in
tensile cord include aggressive bending and twisting.
Examples of this are
Crimping the Belt
Crimping of the belt occurs when enough bending pressure is put on the belt in a small radius so that a
permanent "set" is formed in the belt. The belt will often take on the outline of a fish head. Crimping damages the
tensile cords and will result in premature failure. Do not crimp Poly Chain® Belts.
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