Belt failed

Was on another Swing forum where I saw pics of drive belt was totally disintegrated ,what a mess ,It split the casing , oil everywhere.

I had a failed belt on my Reflex a few years ago. I was past the recommended replacement interval and I kept saying "maybe next weekend". I got very lucky that when the belt disintegrated I just lost power on the highway with no traffic around and that the belt didn't lodge in the drive or driven pulleys and cause engine or rear wheel lockup. I now change at every interval for both bikes.

Jesse in Atlanta

With now near 300,000 miles on rubber band drive scooters...and one belt failure, probably within a few hundred miles of end of service life (Helix), just as I exited Freeway, Pulaski VA-----I continue to change at manufacturers recommend interval with only OEM parts. FEAR: worn out belt breaking/coming apart just as I need power to keep from getting run over.

Recently, my new Burgman 400 ran belt to 20,000...to see what would happen. When I took drive case off.....spun rear outer clutch bearing, worn out front pulley and rollers... All but new belt were warranty.

Based on rubber band drive scooter experience since 1990......this is a very expensive system if you ride a lot!!!! This, I am considering in my next bike/scooter purchase------plain old OEM chain on my GS500E Suzuki went 44,000 miles, just lots of oil and mess. Replacement chain and sprockets were at $100 or so.

The very thing that concerned me the most about changing from a motorcycle to a scooter, was the Belt drive. However, i changed the belt at 16000mls as advised, and now am confident in the belts reliability . I think following John Grinsel's advice is a good idea as he probably has more experiance, on scooters, than most on this site. I only depart from his advice on OEM parts, I paid half the OEM price for a belt that turned out to be the same maker as the OEM belt.

Old Limey wrote:

I only depart from his advice on OEM parts, I paid half the OEM price for a belt that turned out to be the same maker as the OEM belt.

Very nice! Now if you would care to share the supplier and contact info with the rest of us? Please?

www.Wemoto. com Is where i bought mine, £68 is what i paid, remember i'm in UK.

Old Limey wrote:

The very thing that concerned me the most about changing from a motorcycle to a scooter, was the Belt drive. However, i changed the belt at 16000mls as advised, and now am confident in the belts reliability . I think following John Grinsel's advice is a good idea as he probably has more experiance, on scooters, than most on this site. I only depart from his advice on OEM parts, I paid half the OEM price for a belt that turned out to be the same maker as the OEM belt.

Just out of curiousity, are you stating that the belts from Wemoto and Honda OEM belts come from the same manufacturer?

Just for peace of mind I prefer OEM ones since price is reasonable compared to the 68£ and I change them plus 8 k miles from honda suggestion with no significant ware.It could bare twice as much even with city use only I believe

The Wemoto belt is made by Gates who make many of these things I gather (auto cam belts etc.). Does the OEM have a manufacturer's name on it other than Honda?

maybe that's a price in England, but factor in shipping to US and it's higher than BBandit.
link to Wemoto belt: (there's ph no if u want to quiz them)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-FJS-600-2001-2007-Silverwing-Scooter-Drive-Belt-/360670964543?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item53f9aa2b3f

I'm sure that Honda or any of the large manufacturers don't own all the factories that make all the components that make up their cars or bikes. They choose other manufacturers that specialise in specific components so it would not be surprising that one could find the same parts with the same specs under a different brand. Although you will not be able to see anything on the label to say that it is the same part as OEM but cheaper, the label usually says that they also make OEM parts for large companies. Have a look at the Gates web site intro:

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2256&location_id=3487

BTW Gates are an asian company so I would be the least surprised if their belts are the same as OEM.

There is a photo of a after market belt that was posted ,and it blew up gaming fibbers everywhere inside the casing .OEM belts are known to last twist as recommended replacement. I replaced mine at 32k kl and it was still in the specs.I plan to use it as a spare. My rollers were still good but I purchase Dr Pulley 24 grams sliders and will keep the rollers as pairs also.

Gaming fibbers in tinman speak = jamming fibers!

The OEM belt I have is a Mitsuboshi. Edit: also, Gates is headquartered in Colorado about 20 miles from my home, although, yes, they have factories in Asia (I have family members that did work for Gates).

tinman wrote:

OEM belts are known to last twist as recommended replacement.

Could someone translate.

He means twice I suppose

rollsroyce250 wrote:

tinman wrote:

OEM belts are known to last twist as recommended replacement.

Could someone translate.

"The OEM belt could last twice as long as the manufacturer suggests"

My 2010 Swing just passed 5000 miles so I've a wee while to go yet but interesting information. Before Swings I rode Beemers, loved the old air heads and maintained them with quality used parts and non OEM parts from a reliable supplier. I once needed a rectifier. A BMW ones was over £100. A non OEM one, by the SAME manufacturer as the BMW branded one, was less than half price. I work with marketeers, I know the nonsense they get up to to extract more money from ya!