K5 400 drive belt replacement problem

[Stibbs]

Done a good service today. Also replaced rear tyre.

However, replaced drive belt (16k service) with Kevlar one. My problem is I cannot get the new one to fit!!
It's exactly the same size as the original so that's not the problem. The front housing will not go back on enough to allow me to tighten the centre nut!!
I'm totally baffled. The rear drive is fine but the front of the belt is so close to the centre spine that the housing will not fit!
Any ideas?? What am I missing?????

[pikey]

Get nut on loose on front pulley get hammer (handle not sharp edges ) or tyre lever and use as a lever to pull down on belt so it forces it down into rear pulley or just squeeze belt together if you can .This will give you slack on front pulley .Just make sure belt not trapped as you tighten variator nut .If it is free it get more slack on belt and retighten .

[pikey]

Look for video on YouTube show you how to do it.

[Stibbs]

Thanks pikey, very helpful.
Problem I've got is I can't even get enough slack to allow front pulley nut to even engage!!
Weird. I'll keep trying.....

[Normsthename]

As mentioned above you need to create the slack by putting the belt into the rear Pulley centre.
Another Tip is to do the above while torquing the centre nut, then you wont get a false torque reading by squashing the belt,
Dont ask me how I know.......

Andy

[pikey]

If you can just hook it around the variator sleeve you can squeeze belt give you a start .On smaller scoots you can lay clutch pulley flat push and twist and shove belt in while its open .400 and over springs are a bit stronger so harder to do.

[Steve_D]

When I refit my SH belt, I pull/lever the outer side of the rear pulley so that the belt drops right into the 'V'. That gives me enough slack to get the front pulley on.

[pikey]

400 has a beefier spring depends how strong your fingers are

[Stibbs]

Thanks all, most helpful. I've managed to get enough belt to engage and tighten the front pulley.
My problem is now torquing it up!
I'm guessing it has to be torqued correctly otherwise it'll just spin off?
What type of DIY devices do you use to lock the pulley so it doesn't spin while tightening?

[Normsthename]

I'm guessing it has to be torqued correctly otherwise it'll just spin off?

Correct!
That's what I was talking about above.
You need to have the belt slack on the front pulley so when tightening the Centre nut you get the correct torque.
If you don't do this you can torque the nut up against the belt and the nut will not be tight!!!
I did this on a Silverwing and the Pulley nut came undone after a mile.
Luckily I didn't do any damage but a valuable lesson was learnt!
Reference the tool to hold the variator.
You can make a Tool easily enough I did that with my Silverwing.
Warning!!! Do not put anything in the variator fins if it has them, you will snap them off........

Andy