[notaharley]

I don't know why I even bothered to post this on here? I knew I would get the standard "it's normal" answer. Let me just say if it would have had that much drive lash the day I test rode it, I wouldn't have bought it?! I've been riding for 40 years. I'm not new to motorcycles. I've been riding this one for two years now. I'm certain the drive lash that I'm feeling is NOT normal?! Not for THIS bike. The lash I'm experiencing is excessive! It feels like something is going to break. When it lashes you can feel it throughout the whole bike. I'm not saying that I think they went into the transmission, as was suggested? All I'm saying is its doing something that this particular bike wasn't doing before? I know normal for this bike, and what happening now, ain't.

I know how frustrating it is when you have a real concern and some of the responses are...well...not well thought out, at times. There are so many guys that post things like, "I changed my oil, and now I have more power", that if we don't know someone, everyone begins with the dumb stuff someone might have missed. Assuming that you are a fellow well-experienced biker who knows his bike, trust your gut, and go back to the dealer and be very clear and confident that something IS wrong, and you need it diagnosed. What expands in the drive-line is the aluminum rear pulley. NOT the belt. The pulley cools right down--cold water could be sprayed on it to accelerate the cooling. You do not need to leave the bike overnight. Belt drives are good--even Yamaha has switched. It IS possible that your belt is too loose. Twisting is not a reliable method--although good in a pinch on the side of the road when changing a tire. You need a bet tension guage. Cheap tool available at any HD dealer (same as the Vic tool). Once you have eliminated the belt as a variable, then you can look elsewhere. Since the dealer touched it last, and there was one problem that was their negligence, logic dictates that the other problem has something to do with what they did while they had your bike. Be kind, friendly, but firm and assertive. If you show up feeling upset, it will come through and put the service guy on the defensive. They deal with at least a nut a day. Hang in there.

 

[notaharley]

Given the rear brake issue, this was my thinking as well. I got it back to the dealership yesterday right before closing and left it. Now I'm just repeating what the tech at the desk told me when I dropped it off. But he said, that when you pull the rear sprocket, there's a (I think he called it a) "cush bushing"? Cush something, anyway? He said that if this isn't put back in just right it would cause play, causing the lash? Again, just repeating what I was told. He could have been pacifying me, I don't know?

I know better than to go in ranting and raving demanding to get something done. I just explained that I was trying to get it straightened out before the rally in Helen, and I'm an hour and a half away. And as I said before, it takes three hours out of my day to take my bike to the dealer? Which is why I explained when I carried it in Monday, I wasn't in a hurry, just take your time. They were done in an hour, and I left with no rear brakes?!? He told me he was the only tech working that day. (Memorial Day) I guess my point is, had he taken his time I would have had rear brakes, and not had the other issue? Because taking it in Monday is a moot point when I had to carry it back? (another 3 hours of my time)

I would seriously consider finding someone else to work on your bike. There is no "cush" bearing on a Victory. On a chain driven motorcycle, there is a rubber shock-absorbing device mounted behind the rear sprocket in the rim. On a Victory, the rear "sprocket" for the belt is bolted directly to the rim--nothing in between. Obviously, he is not familiar with Victory motorcycles....every Harley on the road is also built the same way. This is not an weird or uncommon setup. I still think the belt should be examined and anything else they touched back there, even the belt tensioners. The belt does no expand or contract under any conditions. They are amazing things. Only the aluminum sprocket is large enough to expand and affect the tension. I didn't mean to say that you would not have been calm and kind.....I know myself, that my motorcycle can be a very emotional issue when things are wrong. I have had to talk myself down before going in for a problem! Lol