K5 400 drive belt replacement problem

[Stibbs]

Cheers Andy...

[michaelphillips]

ITS ALWAYS BEST I FIND THAT WHEN YOU FIRST GET THE VARIATOR NUT (oops cap lock on ) on then spin the variator by hand a couple of turns then retighten then spin again, you can visibly see the belt has moved from the centre so then you can torque up

[bornagainbiker]

Not sure if you found this Youtube tutorial but this guy has several good videos all be it for an 07+ Burgman 400.
This one is the Installation.

PS He is deaf so hence no speech.

[BBvideo 560,340][/BBvideo]

[Stibbs]

That's an excellent video, thanks. I did look at another but it was really to do with fitting sliders so did not have such a detailed belt securing bit.

I'm keeping the scoot for a while so have just invested in a proper tool to hold the pulley while tightening.

Thanks to all for your assistance,

[Normsthename]

I wouldn't tighten the Nut like that, you could get the wrong reading.
You need to pull the belt into the rear pulley so that there's loads of slack on the front Pulley.
The problem is if you don't do this the faces of the front pulley can press against the belt giving the wrong torque.
Sorry to go on about this but having been there and bought the T-Shirt I don't want your Nut to come undone!

Andy

[michaelphillips]

I wouldn't tighten the Nut like that, you could get the wrong reading.
You need to pull the belt into the rear pulley so that there's loads of slack on the front Pulley.
The problem is if you don't do this the faces of the front pulley can press against the belt giving the wrong torque.
Sorry to go on about this but having been there and bought the T-Shirt I don't want your Nut to come undone!

Andy

if you cant force the rear pulley open with hands then use a piece of wood and wedge it in to sit the belt down, then pull it out, ensure you have grip on the outer belt or it will try pop back out

[Stibbs]

Weird.
I've followed all the advice here about having slack in the belt and torquing up to spec.
I took delivery of a tool today allowing me to torque up without front pulley spinning. I then did a test run by starting engine on centre stand, revving up to about 5k and watching the belt. All looked ok, no movement of nut on front and all sounded fine.

Reassembled all parts, kitted up and off out.

Accelerating away was problematic. It's almost like the belt is not biting and slipping under power.
Only travelled a few hundred metres the returned home.

I'll have a look next week (away this weekend) and see what happening, anyone got any ideas??

[pikey]

What belt is it ? I put a cheapie one on once on a burger took a while to settle down did a Scotland trip on it after .

[Stibbs]

What belt is it ? I put a cheapie one on once on a burger took a while to settle down did a Scotland trip on it after .

It's a decent one, Kevlar. Hoping it will last a bit....

[Data]

TBH the Suzuki oem is about the best you can get in my opinion. I've replace a couple now and both the originals had over 20k miles on them and were still in spec. I'd not go any further than that on one though and preferably change before 18k would be my advice. You cannot tell how good a belt is just by measuring the width. Internal problems can weaken the belt and you cannot see those problems. Bit like a cam belt on a car engine. Perfectly good looking belts can go south due to internal problems you can't see. Now your problem: are you sure it's the right belt? Measuring one against the other is not easy and even if it looks right it may be a few millimetres out. It sounds as if the variator nut has come loose from your description of your first attempt at riding. Take it down again and recheck everything. I'd double check the belt part number also.