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[tomk]

Well, it's me, again. I got the mystery oil sorted and moved on to belt tracking on the wheel pulley.
Following the procedures the back end is up in the air and I run the motor at a slow speed, maybe 5-10 mph and see the pulley is not square, there is a wobble. Oy. I check the wheel, and that is running true. I set up a solid stand next to the pulley and with a piece of chalk I can mark the pulley as the wheel is turning at a low speed, seeing what is the "high" side, so to speak. Okay, a visual on the pulley shows no obvious damage or marks from any kind of impacts or whatever. It is pretty stout and I am not going to consider manually horsing it over. I made up two shims from a tin can, and put them in place between the pulley and the wheel, and re-insert the two bolts and tighten them up again. Another examination of the wheel/pulley at about 5-10 mph indicated, and the pulley seems to be running pretty true. Not absolutely perfect but pretty darn good and immensely better than before. Okay, now to train the belt away from the rimmed edge of the pulley. I get it to run about 1 mm away from the edge, and decide to call it good. After tightening up the axle bolt/nut, I got a noise in the wheel. The faster the wheel turns, the more rapid the noise, a series of clicks or a ratcheting kind of noise (as opposed to a squeal or whine). I did not have this noise when the pulley was crooked.
Am needing some clues for the likely cause of the noise, and a course of action.
2015SR - has ABS

[Crissa]

Is the motor mounted true?  Is it to the correct torque?  Has it slid?  Is the belt taking damage (for the clacking sound?)  Is there a stick in something that spins?  Did you leave a bit of shim where it's rubbing?

I have no idea.  That's what mechanics are for.

-Crissa

[Fran K]

Take the tin can shims out and re tighten the bolts in a sensible pattern.  The proper way would be to machine things flat and correct and install a shim all the way around if necessary.

I suppose one has to determine if the part of the wheel that the sprocket attaches to is true, then the sprocket itself.

Maybe spin some wheels on other bikes of the same type and see if yours is much different?

[Demoni]

I would suggest finding out what component is out of specification and replacing it vs the shim bandaid option. It will probably work but...

As for the noise, I propose this explanation:
Your belt and pulleys wear as an assembly. Because you changed the orientation of the pulley the teeth of the sprocket are snapping into the groves of the pulley at a new angle causing a click
----------

Are you sure your wheel adjusters are even, how are you measuring this? If they are not the wheel will be tilted to one side.
I would remove the pulley from the wheel and check both mating surfaces for imperfections or possibly a metal chip.
A dial indicator would be the best tool to measure runout however a piece of coat hanger taped to your swingarm can give you a good indication if the problem is the wheel.
If the flats of the wheel where the pulley bolt up are running true remount the pulley and measure it.

[tomk]

While it is the case that belt and pulley and drive sprocket wear together as an assembly, the bike has just over 3200 miles on it and the kind of wear we are talking about may be very small. This is still something to consider, and thank you.

In the matter of the wheel adjusters, they will not necessarily be even, on a Zero. The belt tracking procedure in the manual describes a deliberate difference between the left and right side adjusters, in order for the belt tracking to be shifted to the right or left as needed, much the same as the deliberate tilting of the upper bandsaw wheel to control the tracking of a bandsaw blade. Therefore, the rear wheel IS deliberately angled ever so slightly off of a right angle to its axis of rotation to achieve correct belt tracking on the pulley. (This is different from the wheel adjusters on the Milwaukee ICE bike I had. Accurate landmarks on both sides of that bike were provided to insure accurately matched adjusters. That belt was maybe 4 times as wide as the Zero belt, and the wheel pulley was flanged on both edges to keep the belt in place.)

In the matter of rear wheel runout, I made my observations at the wheel rim, where it meets the tire, and I believe the wheel runs true. As I said, I set up a heavy stand near the wheel pulley, to monitor the wobble of the pulley, and marked the pulley with chalk. There are 4 bolts holding the pulley to the wheel. The chalk mark was symmetrically opposite two adjacent bolts. Loosening the bolts opposite to these bolts and springing the pulley slightly, the pulley seemed to run true, visually. Radically improved over the previous condition. I made a pair of thin shim washers and put them in place and re-fastened the two bolts and ran the wheel again. I was satisfied with the run of the pulley, and proceeded to re-track the belt, per the manual instructions.

On tightening the axle bolt and running the wheel at about 10 mph (indicated) I hear the clicking sound, rising and falling in frequency as the wheel increases or decreases in speed. If it is the belt finding its new shape, I can live with that. I just need to know that I am not murdering a bearing in the wheel.

I intend to re-do the belt tracking adjustment again, to see what happens. I come from a heavy industry background, in which shimming a pulley is an acceptable fix to improve alignment, so I am comfortable with 2 shim washers on a 4 bolt pulley. My concern is the new noise. Thanks.

[Curt]

It sounds like the same event that bent the pulley and/or hub flanges also mashed the wheel bearing.

[tomk]

To Curt, this seems perfectly reasonable, except the noise did not manifest until after I shimmed the pulley to eliminate the wobble and re-tracked the belt. I am grateful for your response.

[tomk]

To all: Once again this forum has been helpful to me, in ways you may not have considered. Your inputs have all helped my train of thought and helped me to a solution.
I put the bike back on the stand and loosened the wheel and loosened the adjusters so that I could completely re-do the tracking, and found the sweet spot which allowed me to shift the belt back and forth, with no more than a turn-and-a-half one way or the other, on the adjusters. I set the adjusters to give me the tracking I wanted, and the adjusters have the axle located within about a third of an increment on the scale marked on the swingarm. The belt is tracking and it is silent. The procedures work. Just gotta practice a bit, until it turns out.
My messes are cleared up, and now it is time to hang my bell. I'm good to go. Thank you all.

[ESokoloff]

Sounds like you got sorted.

Here are my notes on belt tensioning that might be helpfull.


2016 DSR (thin belt) 20/30kg tension  (using Krikit belt tension gauge).

Jacking left screw(bolt) out (adding tension) moves the belt to the right on the rear sheave/sprocket.

NOTE: Position belt with a right side bias as it will shift to the left when the axle bolt is tightened.
This movement to the left is approx 1/16”-1/8” on my bike (yours might vary).

After making an adjustment to a jack screw, must pry right side of wheel forward (or smack it to the right from the back side) to “set” the adjustment.
NOTE: 1/6 turn of Left jack screw causes a 10KG difference to belt tension.
If you don’t have the correct Metric socket (like me), use a 1-1/16” to tension the axle nut to 102NM (75#’).
Recommend first removing the jack bolts & grinding or filing off the markings so it’s smooth & wont gouge the soft aluminum swing arm.
Put a dab of Anti-seize or heavy grease on the jack bolt threads while your at it.

[tomk]

to Sokoloff, these are excellent notes, and should be part of the instructions in the manual, especially the part about the tracking shifting to the left when the axle bolt is tightened! I noticed this on my bike this afternoon and decided at the time, "oh, well..." Now I am going to lift the bike again and deal with this effect. Thanks!

[ESokoloff]

I forgot to include a few points so re-posting with the up-dates.........



2016 DSR (thin belt) 20/30kg tension  (using Krikit belt tension gauge).

Jacking left screw(bolt) out (adding tension) moves the belt to the right on the rear sheave/sprocket.

NOTE: Position belt with a right side bias as it will shift to the left when the axle bolt is tightened.
This movement to the left is approx 1/16”-1/8” on my bike (yours might vary).

After making an adjustment to a jack screw, must pry right side of wheel forward (or smack it to the right from the back side) to “set” the adjustment as the belt tension on the sheave will pivot the axle ClockWise...........
(In my opinion, the right jack screw SHOULD be located 180° &  push the axle CCW thus countering the Left jack screw CW effect on the Sheave/Belt/Axle. )



NOTE: 1/6 turn of Left jack screw causes a 10KG difference to belt tension.

Best to get the belt/sheave alignment sorted first, then go for proper tension.
I shoot for the greatest tension (30kg).

If you don’t have the correct Metric socket (like me), use a 1-1/16” to tension the axle nut to 102NM (75#’).
Recommend first removing the jack bolts & grinding or filing off the markings so it’s smooth & will not gouge the soft aluminum swing arm.
Put a dab of Anti-seize or heavy grease on the jack bolt threads while your at it.