Gates belts for XC?
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My oem belt has 96K miles and it still looks new. Many have a lot more miles on their oem belt than I do. There’s simply no valid reason to replace the belt at the 30K mile intervals as stated in the owners manual.
There haven’t been a lot of good posts about the Gates belt that I remember. My memory says you’re much better off sticking with the oem Victory belt.
I’ve had a new Victory belt hanging in my office closet for a few years. At some point I’ll go ahead and change out the original one. Maybe at 100K, 125K or 150K. IMHO, the best way to ensure long belt life is to run the belt ‘just past’ the loose end of the tension spec. I’ve also never, not once, cleaned my belt. It gets clean enough when I get caught in the rain.
There haven’t been a lot of good posts about the Gates belt that I remember. My memory says you’re much better off sticking with the oem Victory belt.
I’ve had a new Victory belt hanging in my office closet for a few years. At some point I’ll go ahead and change out the original one. Maybe at 100K, 125K or 150K. IMHO, the best way to ensure long belt life is to run the belt ‘just past’ the loose end of the tension spec. I’ve also never, not once, cleaned my belt. It gets clean enough when I get caught in the rain.
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94 Posts
You can easily get 100,000 miles out of the belt.
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142 Posts
Um ok, due to the good advice from these nice fellas I'm going to run it another 70000 miles.Mate, don't believe them, can't you hear it giggling at that decision? It's just waiting for the most inconvenient time to break, needs to be changed immediately!
I'll give you $50 for the old junk one.
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10,069 Posts
Have around 57K miles on mine and looks good. I inspect it from time to time, and so far, so good. Only adjust at tire changes, although once I readjusted it after had a tire installed by a shop I wasn't familiar with. Sure enough, they had it way too tight. If you want to break one that's the best way. Noe does my tires changes now. No worries. Like @Chattanooga_Mark , I have a new one in the wings. Guarantees I'll never have to change it.
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2,336 Posts
Belts are good for 100K plus miles, if you replace it please send me your old one, plenty life left in it
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2,336 Posts
No need to touch belt adjustment on tyre changes if theyre done right.
only way youll break a belt is if you get a hole on the side of it.
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759 Posts
Get in the queue mate, I've already offered him 50 bucks for it.
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759 Posts
And they are nice fellas too. Gotta watch that @Motorbikerx bloke though, he'll try and scab your belt for free AND want you to pay postage.
I've got 142000 kms on mine, one embedded pea sized pebble too far down to cause trouble.
Got a spare on the shelf that was a warranty take off from another bloke that reckoned it was too noisy.
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44 Posts
Okay, just want to share a little experience plus New Insights in regards to inspecting/replacing the Victory Drive Belt after mine suddenly just snapped and I got rear ended by another Biker (Yes $$) at just a little over 90k in 2017.
I had literally just carefully VISUALLY inspected my entire Original Drive Belt during another service and it showed no cracking, discoloration, chipped teeth or other unusual wear. So Yes, I was shocked and Pissed when it snapped far from home on a favorite Charity Poker run. Then I was even more pissed at myself later when I realized my ignorance in something I should have known being in the Automotive Parts field.
While belts are cleaner, lighter, cheaper, smoother, quieter and require less maintenance or adjustment than chains, they are made of Kevlar and carbon fiber and just like Automotive Timing Belts they suffer internal material fatigue over time and use. So while they look visually great, internally they become stiffer and more prone to sudden breakage. Not cracking in most cases as most mechanics that have repaired cars with snapped timing belts, they just suddenly snap clean.
I suddenly remembered this when I picked up the broken Victory Drive Belt and compared it to the much more flexible Replacement Victory Drive Belt. Night and Day in how flexible it was.
So Moral of the Story, besides visually inspecting your High Mileage Drive Belt, you need to remove it and check how flexible it still is compared to a New Drive Belt. Remember just because she’s pretty, doesn’t mean she’s safe. 😉
![Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire Bumper Wood]()
I had literally just carefully VISUALLY inspected my entire Original Drive Belt during another service and it showed no cracking, discoloration, chipped teeth or other unusual wear. So Yes, I was shocked and Pissed when it snapped far from home on a favorite Charity Poker run. Then I was even more pissed at myself later when I realized my ignorance in something I should have known being in the Automotive Parts field.
While belts are cleaner, lighter, cheaper, smoother, quieter and require less maintenance or adjustment than chains, they are made of Kevlar and carbon fiber and just like Automotive Timing Belts they suffer internal material fatigue over time and use. So while they look visually great, internally they become stiffer and more prone to sudden breakage. Not cracking in most cases as most mechanics that have repaired cars with snapped timing belts, they just suddenly snap clean.
I suddenly remembered this when I picked up the broken Victory Drive Belt and compared it to the much more flexible Replacement Victory Drive Belt. Night and Day in how flexible it was.
So Moral of the Story, besides visually inspecting your High Mileage Drive Belt, you need to remove it and check how flexible it still is compared to a New Drive Belt. Remember just because she’s pretty, doesn’t mean she’s safe. 😉
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94 Posts
How was the tension and tracking when you did that inspection?
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44 Posts
It was right on, I had just checked as part of my belt inspection. Early on years ago after having my rear tire replaced and getting belt squeal, I learned how to properly adjust and align my drive belt correctly myself. So the belt looked perfect and was set correctly.
Well until it just snapped as I pulled away from a stoplight at the head of a pack of bikes.
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10,069 Posts
So the "reported" avg life of one of these belts is around 80K miles. I suppose each has to decide just how far he's willing to gamble, but I'm sort of, change at 80 (if it holds that long) and be very happy to have gotten that far with it. They will break. Just when?
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I’m out, but may be a fun game to play if you stay close to home, feel lucky, do ya?
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As Dirty Harry Callahan would say' "feeling lucky?"
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759 Posts
I imagine that damage was done by the other bike, not the belt?
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