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[Richard230]

My newspaper happened to have an article penned by an old automotive expert by the name of Brad Bergholdt.  He was replying to someone complaining about the accessory rubber drive belt on his car and wondering what he could do about it.  The first thing the expert said was to never apply a lubricant or belt dressing to a drive belt. Then he had a number of comments that related directly to auto serpentine accessory drive belts, but I found the following paragraph the most interesting as I thought that they might also apply to Zero's drive belts:

"Here's how to check for the cause of serpentine belt noise: Using a spray bottle containing water, from a safe distance, lightly wet the belt as the engine idles.  If the noise diminishes, the cause is pulley misalignment or belt glazing. Should the noise increase, belt tension is insufficient.  Removing the belt and reinstalling it in the opposite direction is another test.  If the offending noise goes away, for a while, pulley misalignment is indicated.  In many cases replacement of the belt will cure noise, but it may come back if the root cause isn't repaired."

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Well, someone should try this and see how well it applies. The unofficial belt alignment check recommendations could be a little more detailed/subtle but I haven't worked out how to explain it better and it probably requires a video guide.

https://zeromanual.com/index.php/Unofficial_Service_Manual#Belt

My alignment and tension adjustments are very infrequent and I use a throttle lock and crampbuster to smooth out my throttle use, which I suspect might be why my original belt is still going at 28,000 miles. Or I might be lucky.

I wonder what this water test says about the "groan" the belt makes in the rain? Maybe this type of belt recommendation doesn't apply cleanly...

[Doug S]

I'd think a toothed belt behaves very differently. An accessory drive belt that's a bit loose might make more noise when you wet it because it slips more than when it's dry, but a toothed belt won't slip at all until it completely jumps teeth. And aren't our drive belts directional? Even if they aren't, I'd think installing them backwards after they've taken a set would be a bad idea.