Timing belt frequency of change

[Jre257]

Hello again. I may have missed this thread,but quick question.How do you know when you have to change timing bets,and associated parts? Reason I ask,is because bike has been fine,but when I started up today,after a few moments, I heard belt squeak,but did appeared after a couple miles.I think it might be  just humidity related,because my super duty does that on occasion,even after I changed truck pulleys and water pump.

Thanks!

[old2soon]

           Honda states inspect at 100000 miles. I can't recall a belt failure being posted on our board BUT i could be wrong. I still have the ones that came off my 99 I/S when I changed them. Those belts showed no signs of wear or tearing or fraying. I just changed them for piece of mind and the idlers looked good and sounded good. RIDE SAFE.

[nogrey]

The specification is every 10 years or 100K miles, which ever comes first.

[Forge]

Belt failures are rare but have happened. There was someone recently on Facebook that had a belt failure and catastrophic engine damage. The pics weren’t pretty. I think the bike only had mileage something like mid 30,000’s or 40,000’s. They were the original oem belts. Belts are cheap if you get the Gates brand on Amazon. Our bikes are 16 to 23 years old. The rubber belts do age too. They may still feel good, but they are drier than when new and they do stretch some with age which will throw your timing off. I paid about $17 each delivered from Amazon. It’s cheap insurance and a quick job to do.

[Jre257]

Thank you very much for all info.What type of gates belts are recommended?

Thanks

[Valker]

I.ve been riding Valkyries for 20 years, and I've never (NEVER) heard of a belt failure that wasn't caused by a crash. I changed mine "just to be sure" a few years ago with WAY over 100,000 miles on them. I could see ZERO difference between the old and new. The rubber part of the belt is simply a covering. The Aramid fibers are really the belt. The belts are toothed so there is zero slippage like on serpentine car belts or V-belts.

[gordonv]

The timing belts don't squeak, they're geared with the pulleys.

But belt tensioner failures have happened more often.

When you get around to inspect, it only takes a little longer to swap out for new belts, and for their cost (don't buy from the 1st place you check) it will give you peace of mind for another 10 yrs or 100K miles.

[nogrey]

I.ve been riding Valkyries for 20 years, and I've never (NEVER) heard of a belt failure that wasn't caused by a crash. I changed mine "just to be sure" a few years ago with WAY over 100,000 miles on them. I could see ZERO difference between the old and new. The rubber part of the belt is simply a covering. The Aramid fibers are really the belt. The belts are toothed so there is zero slippage like on serpentine car belts or V-belts.

Are you saying that your recommendation is to not change a 20-year-old timing belt on an interference engine? Just want to understand.

[-mike-]

My European service manual stated "Replace at 160000km"
I bought my Lady a year ago with full service done. But after the discovery of a few "service short cuts" taken by the official Honda dealer   , I decided to play it safe now at 80000km.
Gates belts for about 10 bucks a piece are a small price for riding without have to worry.
(A 4° Trigger wheel found its way into it, too )
All in all - building the locking tool included - the job was done in an hour. Even for a noob like me.
The "old" OEM belts looked good as them have been changed recently, but a tensioner ran a bit coarse. So a new one jumped aboard, too.
I'll rebuild the old tensioner as found in the shop talk in winter.



First run after changing (I've turned the motor by hand a full cycle first to check if it doesn't block):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNvx_2GA9uA

-mike-
still happy as a child - grinning from ear to ear each time I can hop on this bike

[Valker]

I.ve been riding Valkyries for 20 years, and I've never (NEVER) heard of a belt failure that wasn't caused by a crash. I changed mine "just to be sure" a few years ago with WAY over 100,000 miles on them. I could see ZERO difference between the old and new. The rubber part of the belt is simply a covering. The Aramid fibers are really the belt. The belts are toothed so there is zero slippage like on serpentine car belts or V-belts.

Are you saying that your recommendation is to not change a 20-year-old timing belt on an interference engine? Just want to understand.

I don’t recommend nothing. It’s your bike, do as you wish. It’s my contention that my belts were still like new at wat over 100,000 miles.

[RWhitehouse]

For what it's worth, I swapped the original belts on my '98 when the bike had about 40k. The belts "looked okay", although one I did see a few frayed cords between a couple cogs.

What wasn't ok was one of the tensioners was quite loose and evidently spitting grease out. The other tensioner wan't leaking, but still felt looser than I'd consider acceptable.

I did the tensioner "rebuild" with the Gates pulleys for a Kia something-or-other (write up on this forum). Got the belts and the pulleys from Rockauto, think the total was like $50.

All said and done it was less than an hour.

[Fazer]

I had Bob, Attic Rat, Smith change mine when he had the heads off for his performance upgrade.  New belts from Napa not very expensive.

[98valk]

Just inspected my belts while replacing the heads. she is a new '98 left-over I bought in '00 and now with 62k miles. Belts looked new and past all tests in the tech manual. Pulleys sounded and felt fine. Wish I could put more grease in them.

My Plan is after 100k, I will replace pulleys as others have done with greasable ones and replace the belts.

[TPGause]

I have just changed the timing belts on my 1999 IS with 83,000 miles. Old belts looked fine but twenty years in use is enough. The squeak you mentioned made me think of the loose idler wheel on one of the belts. I could turn the idler with my fingers. There was not enough tension on the belt. Might cause a squeak. Check for smooth, easy turning of the idler wheels.

[Valkorado]

I remember Daniel Meyer walking around with a shredded belt at the Spearfish Inzane. I inquired about it, it was not from his bike.   I don't recollect the entire story but apparently it went kaput long before the 100,000 mile change-up interval.  It does happen on occasion.

[Valker]

I remember Daniel Meyer walking around with a shredded belt at the Spearfish Inzane. I inquired about it, it was not from his bike.   I don't recollect the entire story but apparently it went kaput long before the 100,000 mile change-up interval.  It does happen on occasion.

He had that belt in Taos this year. It broke because the bike was crashed and the front of the engine was smashed and stopped the pulleys from turning. NOT mechanical.

[Forge]

I remember Daniel Meyer walking around with a shredded belt at the Spearfish Inzane. I inquired about it, it was not from his bike.   I don't recollect the entire story but apparently it went kaput long before the 100,000 mile change-up interval.  It does happen on occasion.

He had that belt in Taos this year. It broke because the bike was crashed and the front of the engine was smashed and stopped the pulleys from turning. NOT mechanical.

There was a guy on a facebook Valkyrie page that had one mechanically fail while he was riding. He showed pics and it was messy. A valve head had snapped off and was wedged sideways in the valve seat. The same cylinder’s piston top was beat to heck. It does happen, but very rarely. Most people don’t belong to this forum, so it isn’t published here. Now one thing I have noticed is that every tensioner pulley I’ve pulled is slinging grease from the back where you don’t see it.

[nogrey]

Gate’s  T275 belts on Amazon run for a little over $16 each. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to change them. Unless the tensioners need replaced (there’s a mod that costs about the same as belts) you’re probably set for the rest of the time you own and ride your bike.

[Jre257]

Thank all of you,I have 2 new belts coming here tomorrow, which I have a service manual explaining  procedure.Does not look bad.I did check the intake and exhaust valve clearance s,they were all spot on
.I figured while I was there,to check them.Bike,by the by has 41K miles on it.

[gordonv]

I don't recall if the manual suggests it or not, but remove the spark plugs, so compression won't try to turn the engine while the belts are off.

[DGS65]

Even though the manual says check at 100k I figure my 98 was old enough for the belts to dry out so I replaced them when I got the bike last year.   I only had about 3500 miles on the bike at the time I changed the purely based on age.  I went with gates I don't remember what I paid but they were cheap like under $30. 
BTW they are very easy to change. 

[nogrey]

In the “for what it’s worth” category, from someone who actually quantifies data rather than speculates. Here is a set of belts from a 2001 Valkyrie with only 30K miles. These belts show clear signs of age and wear. Compared to new belts that replaced these, they don’t even compare. There are those who would state that they have no reason to change the belts because they showed no signs of wear. Well, my position is, no pictures, no proof. If one looks closely at the photos, it is clear that there are fractures in the base material. In addition, much of the material had sluffed off onto the accompanying tensioner pulleys. To put it another way, if you were buying a used vehicle and your mechanic pointed these belts out. Would you say “no problem, I see no signs of wear”?

[98valk]

In the “for what it’s worth” category, from someone who actually quantifies data rather than speculates. Here is a set of belts from a 2001 Valkyrie with only 30K miles. These belts show clear signs of age and wear. Compared to new belts that replaced these, they don’t even compare. There are those who would state that they have no reason to change the belts because they showed no signs of wear. Well, my position is, no pictures, no proof. If one looks closely at the photos, it is clear that there are fractures in the base material. In addition, much of the material had sluffed off onto the accompanying tensioner pulleys. To put it another way, if you were buying a used vehicle and your mechanic pointed these belts out. Would you say “no problem, I see no signs of wear”?

with that coating of dirt/mud looks like a flood vehicle and/or damaged timing cover allowing all kinds of stuff onto the belt.
I just checked mine '98 bought it new in '00, now with 62k miles belts look new.

[gordonv]

No, no pictures so it didn't happen. I Changed my 88' GW at 60K miles and 25 years. The belts looked pristine. I did replace them, for $45 USD it was cheap, and I wouldn't need t worry about it for another 25 yrs/100K miles.

I bent the belts every way I could, a tight bend, and no signs of cracking. Clean and no missing pieces.

[Valker]

I have pictures of mine at 125,000 miles. I don’t have a hosting service so can’t post them. In places you can still read the writing on them.  They’re cheap enough that I’ll replace them every time I’m into that part of the engine, but not because they need it, just because I need it.

[Paladin528]

The timing belts don't squeak, they're geared with the pulleys.

But belt tensioner failures have happened more often.

When you get around to inspect, it only takes a little longer to swap out for new belts, and for their cost (don't buy from the 1st place you check) it will give you peace of mind for another 10 yrs or 100K miles.

they most certainly do when the smooth side becomes glazed after being on the bike for 20 years.  new belts got rid of my squeal.

[nogrey]

In the “for what it’s worth” category, from someone who actually quantifies data rather than speculates. Here is a set of belts from a 2001 Valkyrie with only 30K miles. These belts show clear signs of age and wear. Compared to new belts that replaced these, they don’t even compare. There are those who would state that they have no reason to change the belts because they showed no signs of wear. Well, my position is, no pictures, no proof. If one looks closely at the photos, it is clear that there are fractures in the base material. In addition, much of the material had sluffed off onto the accompanying tensioner pulleys. To put it another way, if you were buying a used vehicle and your mechanic pointed these belts out. Would you say “no problem, I see no signs of wear”?

with that coating of dirt/mud looks like a flood vehicle and/or damaged timing cover allowing all kinds of stuff onto the belt.
I just checked mine '98 bought it new in '00, now with 62k miles belts look new.

Nope. No such thing. Not even sure where you’re getting the mud thing from. Perhaps a new set of glasses is in order? Pristine bike. Just in need of routine maintenance. You know, like......timing belts!

[saddlesore]

  I had a belt shred on me last year.   That was the third set of belts I put on the bike. 
  That was around 168,000 miles.  I bent some valve stems.  I pulled the head off, changed the bent valves.   When I changed the belts before or inspected them they looked good. 
   Changing them is a lot cheaper and there's the peace of mind.

[John Schmidt]

As one old gent, long time Wing mechanic, once told me; "the belts are pretty much guaranteed for the life of your engine. You break a belt....that's the life of your engine." 

That was his answer to my question years ago re. when to change the belts.

[nogrey]

As one old gent, long time Wing mechanic, once told me; "the belts are pretty much guaranteed for the life of your engine. You break a belt....that's the life of your engine." 

That was his answer to my question years ago re. when to change the belts.

That’s an awesome answer!!  I’ll probably quote that!