tightening drive belt ?

[pfink42]

I tried adjusting the drive belt today.
I figured the bolt would pull the wheel to tighten the belt. But it doesn't.
I try getting the wheel to slide back but I had little luck.


So how do you tighten the drive belt?

[AmishElectrician]

Did you loosen the axle nut?

sent unfortunately not from my bolt

[Shane45_1911]

Yeah, that  ^^^^

[AmishElectrician]

And make sure you tighten it to 108 ft lbs!

sent unfortunately not from my bolt

[pfink42]

Yea, guys I loosen the rear end shaft & I have a shop manual

Anyone done a drive belt adjustment?

[AmishElectrician]

Nope! Did you tighten the bolt, or loosen it? If you want the wheel to slide backwards to tighten the belt, you would have to run the bolt farther in, yes? Beyond that, I'm not sure why the axle wouldn't slide.

sent unfortunately not from my bolt

[Shane45_1911]

Well, there's not really too much to it.

Loosen the axle nut on the right side.  Loosen the lock nuts on the threaded adjuster bolts on both sides.  Turn the adjuster bolts to allow the wheel to move inward to loosen the belt, or turn them the other way to move the wheel rearward to tighten the belt.  Make sure adjusters are equal on both sides by referencing the indicator marks.  Check belt tension.  Tighten axle nut (108 ft.-lbs.).  Done.

Note - if you are trying to loosen the belt by moving the wheel forward, you may need to kick the wheel or hit it with a few whacks of a heavy rubber mallet.  However, the adjusters move the wheel rearward to tighten the belt very easily with no kicking or whacking required.

The adjustment is MUCH easier if you have a lift to get the rear wheel off the ground.  I would suspect this is your issue.  The weight of the bike on the rear wheel makes it a lot harder to get the wheel to move.

[pfink42]

Bike is on a lift.
 

Note - if you are trying to loosen the belt by moving the wheel forward, you may need to kick the wheel or hit it with a few whacks of a heavy rubber mallet.  However, the adjusters move the wheel rearward to tighten the belt very easily with no kicking or whacking required.

Thanks, That's what I assumed but the adjusters do not move the wheel rearward. Maybe the stealer messed something up

I'll check the parts finch next.

[pfink42]

I just checked the parts finch & I think I understand now.
The manual is rather badly worded. Here is a clip from the manual and the parts finch. You tighten the bolt and the wheel is pulled back. Like you said. The manual seems to say the opposite.

Thanks for your patience. 

[ShakerNorm]

Yamaha has used the EXACT same system on almost all their bikes since the '60's.... My old XS650 uses the exact same thing for the chain adjuster.

First - loosen the axle nut... You don't have to remove it, but it DOES have to be loose. Then loosen the locknut (24) on each side. Do NOT turn the adjuster bolts (23), yet!

When you turn it clockwise (direction a), the end of the adjuster bolt (23) pushes against the end of the swingarm (in shadow), and pulls back on the fork (22). Since the axle is held in place by the fork, it gets pulled rearward, tightening the belt (or chain on many other bikes).  You should ALWAYS adjust the left and right sides equally, so your wheel and belt stay in alignment - It can be helpful to mark one "flat" of each bolt with a sharpie to have a reference.

When the belt is at spec, you tighten the locknuts (24), then tighten the axle nut, and you're done - easy peasy.....  (Except maybe the part about loosening and tightening the axle nut - which needs to be torqued to 108 ft-lbs. Roughly a 12yo standing on the end of a foot-long wrench !).

Loosening is exactly the same, except you turn the adjuster bolt in the other direction..... and you may have to bump the wheel to actually make it move forward in the slot on the swingarm.

The most confusing part is the specification on Belt Tension - The Owners Manual says you should have 6-8 mm slack with 10 lbs of force - when it's ON THE SIDESTAND......
The Service Manual says 7-9 mm (same 10 lbs of force) with the REAR WHEEL ELEVATED.  Since the suspension is in a different position when it's in the air, they should work out about the same when it's on the ground.