Should you atomatically change the belt at 16k miles? I ride with a bunch of wingers and they say no you can go much longer. What's your opinion?

Thanks

You asked for an opinion so your answers will vary, here's mine:

The answer is yes you can go further, but why guess? Measure your belt to see if it is within the service limits then make your decision.

I agree with Paul. The belt is so important that it isn't worth it, IMO, to gamble on it breaking just to get a couple of thousand more miles. It seems when a bike or car breaks down it is always at a bad time or location. I'm sure they last 30,000 miles if you want to chance it but it's not worth it to me.

I got over 22,000 on my first belt. A friend of mine had his break at a little less than 2,000 miles over due and he was around 230 miles from home. I just had bigbird put in Dr. Pulley sliders at 33,000 and although it only had 11,000 on the belt, I felt better to go ahead and change it at the same time we had every thing apart. Like JeffR_ said you can take the chance to run longer with it but it's not worth it to me.

I agree with all of you but if you have the capability to measure the wear of the belt and examine it closely for any minute cracking or crazing, it can be used far in excess of the book. Otherwise, the "better be safe than sorry" premise is best.