Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TNCreator]

Hi,

my SR with the original wide belt now has 10 000+km, and the annoying sound it made from the first day is only getting worst.

alignment is perfect with 1mm of clearance from the rear sprocket side, tension is perfect at the lower third of the recommended range, belt is clean and in a good shape.

the noise is so loud at certain speeds that I ride faster or slower only to avoid hearing it, as loud as the infamous rear brake squeal. it seems like the noise level is cylic with a 10km/h period, like at 30km/h it is loud af, at 35 almost silent, at 40 loud again...

is there any way to mitigate it ? at this point I'm thinking that a chain would be a good option, maybe as loud but at least with a nice regular rolling sound and not a broken violin noise.

or maybe build a carter around the belt with some sound absorbing surface inside...

thanks for any insight.

[TheRan]

Mine is similar (2019 DS), fairly quiet at walking speeds, starts getting really loud between say 15-25mph but quieter around 30mph and above or if I accelerate a bit quicker. It used to only happen when it got wet but now it always does it, I've aligned and checked the belt tension and that may have helped a little for the first ride after but now it's as bad as it was before. I do really need to clean my bike so perhaps the belt is dirty too, last time I cleaned my bike it didn't make a difference to the noise but perhaps I forgot to do the belt (it was a long time ago).

[DerKrawallkeks]

My 2013 S with 14mm belt also makes a really loud whining noise at 30-35km/h. Disappears below and above that speeds.
Alignment and tension is perfect. I never wondered about this, I just think this is normal, it has always been this way and seems healthy (no belt damage, no visible wear or anything, no heat)

[ultratoad]

I wear ear plugs on all of my bikes, to include electric, to save my hearing.  Even with the best of helmets you will receive way too much wind noise, etc. at higher speeds.  AND you can still hear horns and screeching tires just fine.  Your belt noise will also become quite reasonable....

[Eicas]

I second the use of a good set of ear plugs, it will drown out a lot of the noise.  Shop around and mail order several different types to see which one works best for you.

[ZeroChrissy]

I also have that, and I hate it...

Zero tells us we have a "silent drive" and at the end we have to fight with the noise of the belt, with earplugs!? Something goes totally wrong here...

That horrible belt sound is much more annoying to me, then any other combustion engine sound...

I think, a better construction/selection of the motor bearings and decoupling the motor from the frame would bring in more silence here. Just my 10 cents.

I also found out, if the belt as aligned exactly on the middle of the front sprocket, it gets the loudest sound. I guess that cames from non axial preassure of the motor bearing. Disalign the belt helps a liitle to reduce the sound.

[dittoalex]

I too have noticed a groan from my 2017's belt. 12,000 miles, second belt, aligned well.

[DonTom]

I too have noticed a groan from my 2017's belt. 12,000 miles, second belt, aligned well.

Why did you change the belt? I have just over 12K miles on my 2017 SR, I plan on changing it at the 2nd rear tire change.


I think somebody here, years ago,  posted at how many miles the different belts should last on different Zeros.



FWIW, I don't notice and noise from my belt.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[dittoalex]

The belt broke the first time I took it out of Eco mode.  Spent the first year in Eco mode because I did not want to break the belt.  Put it in Custom mode, the default "70% initial torque on acceleration" broke the belt on my first pass and stranded me up a mountain. 

[DonTom]

The belt broke the first time I took it out of Eco mode.  Spent the first year in Eco mode because I did not want to break the belt.  Put it in Custom mode, the default "70% initial torque on acceleration" broke the belt on my first pass and stranded me up a mountain.

Any idea why it broke?  I think most of us have accelerated  up hills in sport several times with no such issues.


However, I do have a fear that the belt can break at any time with no warning.


But one thing I do is to release the throttle when I go over bumps, such as if I have to cross over a railroad track or something like that.


I know if the rear wheel leaves the ground while accelerating, the high torque when the wheel returns to the road  is very likely to break  the belt.


-Don-  Reno, NV

[DonTom]

The belt broke the first time I took it out of Eco mode.  Spent the first year in Eco mode because I did not want to break the belt.  Put it in Custom mode, the default "70% initial torque on acceleration" broke the belt on my first pass and stranded me up a mountain.

You probably wanna read the messages from this poll I started a couple of years ago.


Looks like the 2nd rear tire change is a good time to change the belts on our 2017 Zeros.



-Don-  Reno, NV

[mdjak1]

I thought my belt was getting a bit loud but since I haven't owned my bike for that long, I couldn't be sure.   I bought a belt tension gauge and checked it today.   It was within the wide spec for a 2017 but on the higher side of the range (25-75kg).  So I reduced the tension to the lower side of the range and I think the belt is quieter now.    Bike is a 2017 FXS with 12k on the original belt.

[electrictwowheeler]

My SR/S belt makes some noise at speeds under 25 mph. I think it is actually just vibrating at certain speeds due to resonant frequencies. I adjusted it to the lower end of the tension specs. Above 25 it seems pretty quiet and smooth. I wear silicone earplugs for wind and traffic noise so that helps allot. If it annoys me I just take my Vectrix for a ride with it's screaming Banshee planetary gear reduction or remember my old Brammo Empulse with it's whiny transmission and chain drive and clunky gear lash and the Zero seems as quiet as can be. As far as motorcycles go I think the Zero has to be one of the most silent there is. Maybe a shaft drive would be the ultimate.

[Eicas]

When I first got my SR/S I thought that the belt noise was objectionable at times.  Somewhere around the 1,000 mile mark the noise started to disappear.  On some runs I do not notice it at all now.  Have also noticed that at cooler temperatures, say around 60 degrees  the bike is quieter than at warmer temperatures, say at 85 degrees or so.

I do wear ear plugs all of the time so I am sure there is some noise, but I do not hear it.  My neighbors say that my bike is so quiet that they never hear it when I drive by.

[Richard230]

When I first got my SR/S I thought that the belt noise was objectionable at times.  Somewhere around the 1,000 mile mark the noise started to disappear.  On some runs I do not notice it at all now.  Have also noticed that at cooler temperatures, say around 60 degrees  the bike is quieter than at warmer temperatures, say at 85 degrees or so.

I do wear ear plugs all of the time so I am sure there is some noise, but I do not hear it.  My neighbors say that my bike is so quiet that they never hear it when I drive by.

The belt on my 2018 S was noisy also until about 1K miles, when it became much more quiet. Now you can't hear it over the sound of the motor, which is not all that loud to begin with. I doubt you could design a more quiet motorcycle (enclosed cars and scooters excepted) than what Zero has done with their bikes.