GL1100 loose timing belt

[peterdenmark]

Hi!

I decided to change my timing belts on a recently purchased GL1100. Following the guides here were quite easy.

But....

The original timing belt on the left foot side was quite loose, even though the tensioner is tensioned to the max.

After replacing the belts, the situation is the same? New and old belt have same tooth number and length. Both tensioners are set to max.

One can be moved up and down a total of 1 inch, the other a bit less.

What can be wrong? Tensioners worn away? They dont seem worn down, but I cant see what else it can be?

Hope someone has an idea.

Bike has some 125.000 mile on it.

[DenverWinger]

No, the tensioner rollers don't wear down... The only thing that happens to them is the bearings wear out and that is quite rare. As long as the rollers spin freely and smoothly they are OK.

These belts don't stretch, they only break. And are manufactured to very close tolerances. Funny the bike should come from the factory with loose belt....

One can be moved up and down a total of 1 inch, the other a bit less. Are you talking about total travel of the tensioner or how much the belt can be deflected when tightened? If you are talking about belt deflection, that's on the loose side to be sure, but isn't horrible. Properly tightened, ideal belt deflection is about a half inch total with "moderate" force (thumb and finger).

Is the tensioner roller axle securely attached to the bracket? Tighten both bolts and see if the roller can be wiggled back-forth....

Loosen the tensioner pivot bolt and remove the bolt from the side of the tensioner mount bracket that has the long slotted hole and then see if you can make the belt snug. There's either some obstruction preventing full movement of the tensioner bracket or the slot for the lockdown bolt needs lengthened.

If you can make the belt tight with the bolt for the slot removed you should be able to look thru the slot at the bolt hole to see how much longer the slot needs to be made to get the belt properly tightened. Use a sharpie to mark on the bracket how much longer the slot needs to be and then remove the tensioner bracket. A Dremel tool with a small grinder tip will make quick work of lengthening the bolt slot in the bracket.

The other idea is to tighten the belt as much as you can and call it good. Bike made it 125K miles with a loose belt.....

[peterdenmark]

Hi!

Thanks for your reply.

I have ordered some new tension rollers (the ones for Kia) as per guide on this side. I think I will replace the rollers and then make necessary modifications to the brackets in order to achieve correct tension.

The slack on the belt that I describe is the slack on the "longest free stretch" of the belt.

The tensioners seem ok. Does not seem to have any mechanical wiggle and they do not seem too worn. But I will change them anyways since I am there and they arent too expensive.

Thanks

[OldguyGlen]

Hard to believe the tensioners won't adjust enough for the correct belt length. What are the chances that the old belts, and the replacement belts, are NOT factory spec OEM. Maybe they are some European substitute that is "close" to OEM. Here we generally use Gates T274's. Just a thought....

[peterdenmark]

Hi!

Good point, but still... The bike has run for soo many miles that it just makes no sence if the belts are wrong... But never say never ...