Timing belt questions/opinions please

[jimmytee]

Ok, been doing some work and maintenance,adding bling too . Gone through the rear end polishing wheels, checked valve clearances, plugs yada,yada yada right. Got 69 k miles on the girl. So I decided to pull the timing belt cover and take a look/ see. Belt doesn't look too bad. No obvious cracks as far as I can see. I have not removed the belts. Tension seems ok. I grasped the tensioner pulleys with my index and middle fingers on one side and my thumb on the other. Gave each a turn. O.K. When I give them a side to side twist of sorts, the clutch side tensioner  has a very ,very slight,but I can feel it and I believe see it, movement. Not talking about the normal turning movement, but the kind of movement that to me indicates there is play from possibly worn bearings. I am looking for opinons, I suppose the safest route is to just order new stuff, but would like to hear from some who have looked at this stuff before. This is my second Valkyrie, but first time checking the belts and such. Thanks in advance. Jim 

[Chrisj CMA]

Them tensioner bearings feel kinda cheap really when you check them out.  But, Ive never really heard of any gone bad.  Just keep riding

[matt]

I would imagine not much differant than working on a cars timinbelt. with cover removed get stethascope or rubber  hose or srcew driver start bike only touch non moving part and listen to them if one is making noise then yup I would replace

[Westsider]

+ 1 What Chrisj said. If you must tinker....search and  reasearch and you will find a guys posting for  directions and parts list ,,for fixing the tensioners for a fraction of the $ and double the quality...I think goldwingers have done this also...

[Gryphon Rider]

If it were mine I'd replace it. I just replaced a tensioner pully on my car. Old noisy one had play; new one had no play.

[Brian]

Here is the one I rebuilt. About 2,000 miles with no problems. Under $25 verses $80 from the dealer. Google search: Gates Idler pulley T42015. It should pull up an article from a Goldwing site giving about 8 methods. I used a flat head bolt with a little JB Weld to fill in the voids and blue Loctite on the nut and lock washer. There are a lot of options. A drill press using a 1/2 bit and a dremel was used to remove the OEM shaft and pulley from the mounting base. It was easy. This gates pulley is the same diameter as the OEM one.

[jimmytee]

I assume you've replace your timing belts? I've seen that some use belts other than the ones from mother Honda. Did you?
Thanks

[Brian]

I did but not when I installed this rebuilt unit. When the tensioner went bad I replaced it with a Honda part. While investigating the original noise I had both belts off the bike, one of the belts had a small slice at the outside edge about a 1/4 inch long. These were the factory supplied belts on a bike that sat for three years before I bought it. I was able to buy two new belts for the same price as one belt from my Honda dealer. I purchased the NAPA belts and only waited one day for them to come in. After I installed the new tensioner and belts I found the Gates belts on Amazon.com cheaper than NAPA. The belt numbers are listed in the shoptalk section of this site. I submitted the rebuild question here on this forum with one of our members directing me to the Goldwing article. So I had to try it. Now I have an almost brand new Honda tensioner in a box as a spare.

[jimmytee]

Brian, can you expand about how you used JB weld?

[jimmytee]

I went to that Goldwing site and read the little write up. The pdf file wouldn't download for some reason.

[Westsider]

Thanks Brian..you are the one I remember reading up on.

[frosty]

Just replaced the belts on mine at 100K. Got them through Amazon. Gates belts. The belts looked good but had belt dust inside cover. So I figured that was a sign of wear. Which at 100k was going to change them anyway. I did mea. tension as Honda req. in manual.

[Bigun]

Just replaced mine with napa brand belts Probably just gates re packaged. I also let the spring set the tension then tightened them down. Has worked great on my 1100 wing in the past. Much easier job on the Valk than the 1100 the pulleys dont jump on you on the valk like they did.

[Brian]

Brian, can you expand about how you used JB weld?

jimmytee,
Researching the local auto part store for the suggested wheel lug bolts didn't work out to well as they were expensive so off to the hardware store that has a good supply of metric bolts and screws. Not really knowing exactly how much room was behind the mounting plate I decided to go the flat head route. As you can see in my first picture the mounting plate is factory countersunk. The bolt, if I remember is 10mm which fits the hole in the bearing. When you put the countersunk bolt in the mounting plate hole there is a void as the bolt is only touching the countersunk edge on the plate. I used the JB Weld to fill in that void and the installed the idler pulley on the bolt and tightened up. I let sit for 24 hours to allow it cure and then took the pulley off to inspect the void. It was all filled with a little that was squeezed out. FYI, I left the oil film on the bearing plate so it could be disassembled.  Like I stated before, the Goldwing article gives a lot of options and ideas.
This was my experiment that has worked so far. Keep in mind that there is not much side pressure on the idler pulley on these bikes. I chose the gates pulley because it has a solid mounting bearing surface verses the others that relied on the bolt for the support.

Let us know what method you went with if you do it. Good luck.

[jimmytee]

  Brian
Ordered the gates belts forb15 each and the pulleys for 16  Will see when they get here.

[Brian]

Brian
Ordered the gates belts forb15 each and the pulleys for 16  Will see when they get here.

At the time when I ordered my bearing off Amazon I ordered two to get the free shipping. So not only do I have a spare OEM I also have a spare idler pulley on hand to rebuild the next one. A bit of an over kill maybe? Once you receive the Gates pulley and feel it compared to the OEM you will ask yourself, why wouldn't Honda use something better to start with? I suppose this was an area where they could reduce some weight? The only problem with the Gates pulley it is made in Korea. But then again Honda supplies OEM parts from all over southeast Asia.

Good luck.

[jimmytee]

I'm not positive, I'll be replacing the tensioners yet.,but due to age and not necessarily condition and miles, thought it would be wise to replace the belts. Got my tank off right now for some wiring I've been doing. When thae tank is back on , I'll do a close proximity listening check on the two idlers. The side to side movement I mentioned above is very subtle and a couple have said that is normal. In my world of Commercial HVAC and Refrigeration, that subtle movement would tell me that they are in need of replacement. When I get the belts and the gates pulleys, I'll take a closer look at the oem ones on my bike. Thanks Jim

[jimmytee]

Brian,
Just a question, I was re reading your post and you mentioned your selection of the bolt was based upon not knowing what if any room there was behind the base plate. Not having pulled it off myself,  I'd would assume there was no room as it would seem that the base plate would simply sit on a flat surface. What did you find to be the actual situation? Is there a relief in the surface to allow room for say a normal bolt head? I'm a little hesitant/nervous in relying on JB weld in such a critical place, where  catastrophic failure could cost me an engine.
Thanks
Jim

[Brian]

Brian,
Just a question, I was re reading your post and you mentioned your selection of the bolt was based upon not knowing what if any room there was behind the base plate. Not having pulled it off myself,  I'd would assume there was no room as it would seem that the base plate would simply sit on a flat surface. What did you find to be the actual situation? Is there a relief in the surface to allow room for say a normal bolt head? I'm a little hesitant/nervous in relying on JB weld in such a critical place, where  catastrophic failure could cost me an engine.
Thanks
Jim

Jimmy,
The one Goldwing method used a standard carriage bolt. My thoughts on that was holding the head of the bolt to tighten it. The flat head bolt I chose used an allen wrench. The chamfer of the bolt keeps it centered during assembly. I only thought about using the JB Weld as a precaution to help keep it from totally coming apart should it come loose. I have been carrying the OEM pulley and the tools in my saddle bag just in case. Look at the parts when you get them and you decide what route you feel comfortable with. I believe you said you had trouble opening the Goldwing link. Let me know your e-mail, I can scan my copy and send it to you. If I remember correctly, yes a bolt head will fit.