[Gary-Mike]

I have noticed my beatiful swept pipes seem to be under attack. I started noticing (more so since I had the swepts installed) that there is black stuff melted onto my pipes. Looking at it it apears to be coming from the belt as it is mostly on the top pipe and thicker towards the pulleys. Is this from normal break in on a new belt? My bike is new (only 3000 miles so far). I have not noticed any other signs of abnormal wear, and nobad squeal from the belt. It does make an odd kinda whirring sound at certain speeds/throttle settings, it isn't too loud and seems to come from the rear pully.
Another note is I did find a way to get the pipes cleaned up. I used amaguires clay bar which gently removed the small stuff. Some of the larger spots I lost patience with and gently scraped them off with a razor blade then went over it again with the clay bar.

 

[bikendad]

The belt shouldn't be hitting the pipes, check your riding boots.

 

[dsjr70]

I havent had any problems with that. Have you checked the adjustment of your belt? Also, check the belt and see if there is any unusual wear problems. I remember someone having a problem with a groove being cut into his belt by a loose fastner.
Also, are you riding two-up when this happens? If so check your passengers boots also...

 

[Gary-Mike]

The belt is not hitting the pipes, and it is not from my boots. What I have is little spots like tiny peices of rubber have melet on it. I thought of maybe road tar but from my CSI attempt it looke more like belt rubber. (from the "spray" patern)
I have never riden 2 up on this bike so I don't think that is an issue.
Also I have looked at the belt ant It looks good, no grooves or anything.
One thing I did do was take the belt guard off and polish it up. I will have to make sure I didn't end up bending it slightly in the process. (I just thought about that)
I am suposed to go on an all day ride throught the canyons this weekend, so we will see if it comes back.

 

[Gary-Mike]

Oh I forgot to mention, the belt tension seems good checking it how my dealer showed me. (I didn't use a push/pully guage just my calibrated fingers)

 

[Jackpot52]

I had the same condition from new, (got my JP with 2 miles on it) talked to my dealer about it. He said it is a normal break in condition of a new belt. I kept an eye on it and it disapeared between 500-1000 miles. I have about 3500 miles now have had no sign of it for a long time. I have two friends with Vic's they told me the same thing happened to them. With that said if it is still shedding tiny rubber bits at 3000+ you may have a defective belt.

 

[OneThumb]

I had the same on my drag pipes when bike was new, no sign of it this past summer. Belt rubbed on right edge of pulley, a rubber residue builds up there on the inside edge then flies off on lands on the hot exhaust, that's my guess. I just used a chrome polish ti remove it.
OT

 

[Gary-Mike]

Thanks guys, that is what I figured. Just wanted to be sure incase it wasn't normal. I would hate to have to buy a new belt already, or worse (get stranded). As far as weather it is still doing it at 3000 miles I can not be sure yet. I chose to ride instead ofclean, and therfore just recently took the time to clean them up. We will see if it comes back this weekend.

 

[UkNeil]

I was told to look out for the black specks and just remove them when the pipes are hot.
I also seem to get the dust all over the rear after a long ride.

 

[Gary-Mike]

Well after cleaning the pipes and putting a couple hundred more miles on, I had no new specs. However I ended up leaving some of my new chaps on them. With that big engine and my short legs (i'm 5'8") My legs end up pretty close at the stop lights. Never been much of a concern for me though since I still have enough brain cells to never ride in shorts.