Timing Belts for Interstate

[Bad On 3]

Hi I'm going to replace my Timing belts because of Age only have 45000 miles but its 17 Yeats old !! Peace of Mind !! Gates belts T 275 but it has 2 belts are they both the same ?? Not Sure ?? Thanks

[98valk]

age doesn't wear them out due to the materials used. do u not think honda would have said to change if age was an issue?
search on here to see how many changed theirs to say the ones they took off looked just like the new ones.

anyway, send those good almost new belts to me. I can use them if mine fail inspection per the service manual in 60k miles.
Thanks. pm me.

[gordonv]

Yes. They are both the same. Do not squeeze them together in a smaller radius than the cam sprocket would do, or the box they should come in from Gates.

[allanbegg]

I replaced mine, shortly after buying the bike with 118K miles on it.
I didn't know if they had been replaced or not, previously.

After dis-assembly, I found two things.
1) The belts had been changed at least once already, as they were not marked as Honda belts but some other brand.
2) One of the belts had been installed incorrectly and was one tooth out of alignment.

I had already bought two new belts, so installed them for peace of mind and re-aligned the shafts, in the process.
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and change them.
It's your bike and you might learn something about it, in the process.

[Grandpot]

I change my belts every 50,000 miles and change other parts per OEM recommendations or sooner.  Call me silly, but I don't want to find out exactly how long a part will last by having it fail while I am going down the interstate at 70 MPH.

Do what feels right for you.

[Hook#3287]

2) One of the belts had been installed incorrectly and was one tooth out of alignment.

Really?  Didn't think it would run right if off "alignment"

Did you notice any performance difference?

[98valk]

I change my belts every 50,000 miles and change other parts per OEM recommendations or sooner.  Call me silly, but I don't want to find out exactly how long a part will last by having it fail while I am going down the interstate at 70 MPH.

Do what feels right for you.

are u changing out your tires at 5k miles? never know when could blow out. wasn't made right and the engineers don't know how to design things. change your light bulbs every 5k miles never know when one will burn out, same goes for all bulbs in ones' house, its just cheap insurance.
same goes for the belts. service manual has an inspection procedure for the belts at 100k. Do u think the engineers know what they are doing? do u think Honda wanted problems with their Flagship engine in their Flagship bike?
I've posted before in detail due to various emission laws the belts are required to last a minimum 100k miles. the materials used are top of the line, they are NOT the 1980's 4 cylinder belts by American car makers that lasted 50-60k miles.
remember change that synthetic oil every 3k miles cause these engines don't last.

This should be called the Emotional Board, very little actual Tech going on here, its all about emotions and feelings.

[flash2002]

I don't care what others say, if I have doubts on a part, I will change it. I bought a 98 last year with 42000 km, no miles but lots of years. I know some say, you have low miles, why change the belts ( peace of mind ). The tires are almost like new but, the date on the tires in the front is 2004 and back 2005. So, like the belts, I will have to change the tires because of age, not wear. I don't trust old tires, especially on a bike.

[98valk]

I don't care what others say, if I have doubts on a part, I will change it. I bought a 98 last year with 42000 km, no miles but lots of years. I know some say, you have low miles, why change the belts ( peace of mind ). The tires are almost like new but, the date on the tires in the front is 2004 and back 2005. So, like the belts, I will have to change the tires because of age, not wear. I don't trust old tires, especially on a bike.

all I can say is due to various laws of today the materials are require to last a long time that includes tire materials and valve stems.
just because the outside casing might have surface cracks it has nothing to do with the modern design inner casing.
your thoughts are based on tire design and materials from the 1960s and some marketing ploys to sell more products.
my contigo rear tire on the front developed cracks in the rain grooves within 2k miles. now at 15+k miles and the cracks have stayed the same, never changed in size. now if I listen to the lawyer/marketing tire people, the tire should have been changed.

Admin- can we please have a "peace of mind" and "cheap insurance" only Tech board.

I'm done , I'm outta here.
Enjoy. 

[The emperor has no clothes]

I don't care what others say, if I have doubts on a part, I will change it. I bought a 98 last year with 42000 km, no miles but lots of years. I know some say, you have low miles, why change the belts ( peace of mind ). The tires are almost like new but, the date on the tires in the front is 2004 and back 2005. So, like the belts, I will have to change the tires because of age, not wear. I don't trust old tires, especially on a bike.

all I can say is due to various laws of today the materials are require to last a long time that includes tire materials and valve stems.
just because the outside casing might have surface cracks it has nothing to do with the modern design inner casing.
your thoughts are based on tire design and materials from the 1960s and some marketing ploys to sell more products.
my contigo rear tire on the front developed cracks in the rain grooves within 2k miles. now at 15+k miles and the cracks have stayed the same, never changed in size. now if I listen to the lawyer/marketing tire people, the tire should have been changed.

Admin- can we please have a "peace of mind" and "cheap insurance" only Tech board.

I'm done , I'm outta here.
Enjoy. 

CA, how come I get the feeling you are not done and out of here ? (We need a condescending, butt hurt tech board) 

[Grandpot]

I change my belts every 50,000 miles and change other parts per OEM recommendations or sooner.  Call me silly, but I don't want to find out exactly how long a part will last by having it fail while I am going down the interstate at 70 MPH.

Do what feels right for you.

are u changing out your tires at 5k miles? never know when could blow out. wasn't made right and the engineers don't know how to design things. change your light bulbs every 5k miles never know when one will burn out, same goes for all bulbs in ones' house, its just cheap insurance.
same goes for the belts. service manual has an inspection procedure for the belts at 100k. Do u think the engineers know what they are doing? do u think Honda wanted problems with their Flagship engine in their Flagship bike?
I've posted before in detail due to various emission laws the belts are required to last a minimum 100k miles. the materials used are top of the line, they are NOT the 1980's 4 cylinder belts by American car makers that lasted 50-60k miles.
remember change that synthetic oil every 3k miles cause these engines don't last.

This should be called the Emotional Board, very little actual Tech going on here, its all about emotions and feelings.

98valk:
Obviously we disagree on the level of preventive maintenance to be performed on machinery.  However, I don't appreciate your sarcasm and I doubt if anyone else does either.  If you are going to give a rebuttal to a post, you should stay within the facts and be respectful.  My suggestion to you is to grow up or stop posting.

[Bad On 3]

OK I didn't post this to cause a problem !! A Riding Buddy Broke a Timing belt last year and it cost him 1200.00 to fix what broke ! For a 100.00 I can have piece of mind and I do change my oil every 3000 miles and run Sny.oil ! I'm also rebuilding my Petcock not because its leaking but it 17 years old I'm Replacing my Air Filter so when the Tank is off I'm checking all the hoses !! Why do people get so defensive when they don't agree with what your doing ! I hope your belts last 100000 miles but 17 years is long enough for me !! Thanks for all your Help !!

[flash2002]

I don't care what others say, if I have doubts on a part, I will change it. I bought a 98 last year with 42000 km, no miles but lots of years. I know some say, you have low miles, why change the belts ( peace of mind ). The tires are almost like new but, the date on the tires in the front is 2004 and back 2005. So, like the belts, I will have to change the tires because of age, not wear. I don't trust old tires, especially on a bike.

i understand what you saying , if it was on a car I would keep them on but, on a bike a tire that old is dry and I think less traction and more of a chance to have a blowout.

all I can say is due to various laws of today the materials are require to last a long time that includes tire materials and valve stems.
just because the outside casing might have surface cracks it has nothing to do with the modern design inner casing.
your thoughts are based on tire design and materials from the 1960s and some marketing ploys to sell more products.
my contigo rear tire on the front developed cracks in the rain grooves within 2k miles. now at 15+k miles and the cracks have stayed the same, never changed in size. now if I listen to the lawyer/marketing tire people, the tire should have been changed.

Admin- can we please have a "peace of mind" and "cheap insurance" only Tech board.

I'm done , I'm outta here.
Enjoy. 

[John Schmidt]

OK I didn't post this to cause a problem !! A Riding Buddy Broke a Timing belt last year and it cost him 1200.00 to fix what broke ! For a 100.00 I can have piece of mind and I do change my oil every 3000 miles and run Sny.oil ! I'm also rebuilding my Petcock not because its leaking but it 17 years old I'm Replacing my Air Filter so when the Tank is off I'm checking all the hoses !! Why do people get so defensive when they don't agree with what your doing ! I hope your belts last 100000 miles but 17 years is long enough for me !! Thanks for all your Help !!

Keep in mind, you don't need to spend $100 on new belts. You can get Gates belts(which are OEM) from NAPA for less than half that. As for changing oil every 3k, especially synthetic, that really is overkill. Even dino oil doesn't need changing that often with today's formulation. I use synthetic all around in my bike and change the oil and filter every 7k miles, and it's 8k or more in the car. Granted, when I was growing up a 3500 mile interval for an oil change was the norm, but no longer. I understand the need for piece of mind re. a belt change, in that case I say go for it. Some years back I was chatting with a long time GoldWing technician/mechanic re. belt life. His comment has stuck with me; "the belts are guaranteed for the life of the engine, you break a belt....that's the life of your engine."  I would be more concerned if the bike had extremely low mileage, indicating it sat for long periods thereby causing belts to "take a set" which is more detrimental to the belt in the long run. As for frequent oil/filter changes, you might want to reconsider, a 3k mile interval is really an unnecessary expenditure.

Those are just a couple suggestions based on personal experience. Again, keep in mind even the manual doesn't recommend a 3k mile oil change interval with regular dino oil. Good luck. 

[98valk]

MY HUGE APOLOGIES

I need to remember not to post while taking a break from filing a 3rd EEO complaint against my boss.

MY HUGE SINCERE APOLOGIES.

[The emperor has no clothes]

MY HUGE APOLOGIES

I need to remember not to post while taking a break from filing a 3rd EEO complaint against my boss.

MY HUGE SINCERE APOLOGIES.

I'm sorry for your troubles. Hope things work out. 

[Grandpot]

MY HUGE APOLOGIES

I need to remember not to post while taking a break from filing a 3rd EEO complaint against my boss.

MY HUGE SINCERE APOLOGIES.

Thank you for the apology.  It is well accepted and appreciated.  All is well in our world.

[Patrick]

I thought we still live in a semi-free country and have the right to disagree with each other no matter how right or wrong someone happens to be.

I too believe in changing those belts when I feel like it. I was born and brought in the auto repair business and believe in peace of mind. I've not heard of a Valk belt breaking, but, I've repaired quite a few other engines from broken timing belts. Timing belts look perfect right up to time they decide to come apart.

That said, these Gates replacements are cheap [ I think I paid $12 each] and are even easier to replace. Just don't let a pulley move and roll the engine over several times checking the timing marks before starting. These engines stretch like crazy as they warm up so I install the belts looser than Honda recommends and they do run quieter. Honda wants 1/4" slack and I think I read the Goldwing should have up to 1/2" so I set them at 3/8".

[allanbegg]

2) One of the belts had been installed incorrectly and was one tooth out of alignment.

Really?  Didn't think it would run right if off "alignment"

Did you notice any performance difference?

No, I didn't. But, I replaced the belts very shortly after buying the bike.
But, per the info that I had read, two clicks out would have caused piston to valve interference.
And, if my math and memory are right, one tooth out of alignment only equated about 3-4 degrees of the 360.
There were other things that were wrong too. Vacuum lines that crumbled, leaking intake o-rings, etc...

Allan