To those who have lost a timing belt...

What was the condition of the belt after it failed? Was it shredded or just a clean break? And lastly did you have any idea "at all" that the belt was about to or may fail? I've been wondering for a while just keep forgetting to post the questions.

~O~

On the wings I avoid that as best I can. On an old Pinto I've had half the teeth pull off of the belt.

I just took melba in to get serviced. I suggested that i have never replaced the timing belts and that I wanted them changed. What shop is going to say no to work? He asked it it was making noise and took it for a spin. He came back and said they were fine. "They will let me know when they are tired."

take melba to a different shop or do it your self. my neighbor was selling his 1500 wing last summer and changed belts at just over 60,000 miles. the old belts looked no different than the new ones

The belts rarely break but it does happen.
I've never had one break but had the teeth strip out on a car once.
Better to change them before it's too late, there are NO warning signs.

Thanks Dan. Wish I was closer, I really need to change mine...I wonder if vegaswingnut can help, Oooooh Geoooorge. :blush:

~O~

You can do it by the procedure in the manual. But I suggest adding a few steps. Back off all your valve adjusters first. Now's a good time to be certain they are adjusted right anyway and you don't want to cause damage if you install one wrong a time or two. Remove the spark plugs so it can easily be turned over by hand. Now's a good time to check their condition and gaps. Once the belts are in right and you've verified at least twice. Set your valves and turn over the motor by hand a time or two to verify no valves are getting hit. Reinstall or replace the plugs and fire it up.

Never saw one fly south on a wing. Yet. On cars they always seem to strip off the teeth at the crankshaft gear. I have seen maybe 2(?) that were shredded, but that was caused by something else. The one I can remember shredded because the tensioner pulley had a bad bearing and the pulley was running a little cocked over to one side, and allowed the belt to walk. They just had this belt changed somewhere else about 2 weeks prior.

Years ago you could tell by looking, but not anymore. Belts are made out of better stuff these days. Even the serpentine drive belts are getting to be a hard sell because they don't "look" bad anymore.

Your timing belts may not look bad or have a lot of miles on it, but if it's thirty years old........? :whistling:

My buddy has a '76 GL1000 and he popped a belt two summers ago. It just split at two teeth. To look at it otherwise, there was no sign of wear other than you could no longer read the name on the back of the belt. (He bent his valves when it popped )

60k is really pushing it on mileage, but time and age will do more unseen damage! Changing them is cheap insurance. I have changed 3 sets now using Octane's tutorial on NGW without a hitch!

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Montecman":4i54elvt said:

I just took melba in to get serviced. I suggested that i have never replaced the timing belts and that I wanted them changed. What shop is going to say no to work? He asked it it was making noise and took it for a spin. He came back and said they were fine. "They will let me know when they are tired."

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BAD ADVICE!!!! :cheeky: :Awe: You cannot hear when they are going bad! :shock:

when adjusted properly, at recommended intervals you should have a better idea when to change your belts. age, stretch, and visual inspection should be enough information to indicate when a t-belt should be changed. BUT like many others I think I'd rather change and throw away a belt that has some life left. rather than wait till the belt fails and replace it and some valves, possibly more. Belts are rubber alot like tires, so with this in mind, would you ride on 2 year old tires? how about 3 year old tires?
personally I draw the line at 3, but others might go longer. belts are subject to slightly differnt conditions, as they run inside covers and dont get the hazards of sharp objects and dirt. but they are subject to heat and cold. and just the wear of running.
In my opinion this general maintenance should fall into the same category as tires, brakes, and oil.
after all, part of being safe is being prepared right?

be safe

mcgovern61":331lbxwu said:

Montecman":331lbxwu said:

I just took melba in to get serviced. I suggested that i have never replaced the timing belts and that I wanted them changed. What shop is going to say no to work? He asked it it was making noise and took it for a spin. He came back and said they were fine. "They will let me know when they are tired."

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BAD ADVICE!!!! :cheeky: :Awe: You cannot hear when they are going bad! :shock:

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Yes, sir, it's best not to listen to that guy, you want Melba to get the best care possible, folk's on this site and other's will help you change your belts yourself..So I'd say he gave you terrible advise..I do thing's different so I have a totally different method to change your belts than most..

this is just a opinion but i think that most belts break because something else breaks ....that causes the belts to break ....ive work around belts a lot in farming from huge to small ...in almost all situlations undo load or imediate failure of a machanical parts .....i think springs and valve trane are the biggest cause of belt failure through head lock up ......

goldwings are perfect for belts with constant load that dosent stess the belts.....

nothing wrong with changing the belts though and all oldwing owners should do there own ....

i have my belt covers set up to check belts easy ...with just the outside timing belt cover bolt is all that has to come out to get the cover off to check belts instead of all the BS to go through in the stock setup.......

if you want to change belts yourself ....i can type up a complete how to and send it to you along with valve adjustment that needs to be don at the same time to get proper tensioning on the spring tensoiners .....most write ups about it are somewhat wrong in my view of how it sould be done.....maybe i sould just post one .... :mrgreen:

joedrum":38ifsze5 said:

.i can type up a complete how to and send it to you along with valve adjustment that needs to be don at the same time to get proper tensioning on the spring tensoiners .....most write ups about it are somewhat wrong in my view of how it sould be done.....maybe i sould just post one .... :mrgreen:

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Go for it Joe!

Montecman":4kxw5vfo said:

I just took melba in to get serviced. I suggested that i have never replaced the timing belts and that I wanted them changed. What shop is going to say no to work? He asked it it was making noise and took it for a spin. He came back and said they were fine. "They will let me know when they are tired."

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Should have told them SURE You guys put it in writing and i'll be on my way :mrgreen: :mrgreen: .I think the guy was the one who was tired and didn't want to do it :lazy: .Weird shop :doh: .

Hey Joe:
If you do get a chance to post about your procedure for timing belt replacement that would be appreciated. My Wing has 30,000 and 30 years on her. Just took it for a 25 mile ride after fixing a no start. Got the bike recently for $600 and I couldn't be happier. Want to ride more but afraid about the belts since I don't know the history. I don't want that good feeling to go bad.
Anybody have suggestions on the brand of belts or where to purchase.
Thanks

aslatk":2jl1ahwi said:

Hey Joe:
If you do get a chance to post about your procedure for timing belt replacement that would be appreciated. My Wing has 30,000 and 30 years on her. Just took it for a 25 mile ride after fixing a no start. Got the bike recently for $600 and I couldn't be happier. Want to ride more but afraid about the belts since I don't know the history. I don't want that good feeling to go bad.
Anybody have suggestions on the brand of belts or where to purchase.
Thanks

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Yes, I don't understand why Joe won't just post a how to for everyone, I think we can all learn a thing or two from him, I do it different than most but that's me, I'd love someone's else idea's..I think I'm posting stuff too quickly on here and don't want to ruffle any feathers..

littlebeaver":yguheb8r said:

I do it different than most but that's me, I'd love someone's else idea's..I think I'm posting stuff too quickly on here and don't want to ruffle any feathers..

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I think I do it alittle differently than others and I'm open to suggestions.
Go ahead and post what you do and don't worry about it.

dan filipi":1zsh9cm4 said:

littlebeaver":1zsh9cm4 said:

I do it different than most but that's me, I'd love someone's else idea's..I think I'm posting stuff too quickly on here and don't want to ruffle any feathers..

Click to expand...

I think I do it alittle differently than others and I'm open to suggestions.
Go ahead and post what you do and don't worry about it.

Click to expand...

I"ve already posted it on another site...I sat for a hour almost thinking of another way a fool proof way, but I'm not stepping on Joe's toes..I like him. This one's his..I might do something on it later..I'll tell ya what I'm changing my belt's again next year about this time I will post a how too for everyone, at that point in time or post a you tube video..

littlebeaver":3rkf7c3q said:

dan filipi":3rkf7c3q said:

littlebeaver":3rkf7c3q said:

I do it different than most but that's me, I'd love someone's else idea's..I think I'm posting stuff too quickly on here and don't want to ruffle any feathers..

Click to expand...

I think I do it alittle differently than others and I'm open to suggestions.
Go ahead and post what you do and don't worry about it.

Click to expand...

I"ve already posted it on another site...I sat for a hour almost thinking of another way a fool proof way, but I'm not stepping on Joe's toes..I like him. This one's his..I might do something on it later..I'll tell ya what I'm changing my belt's again next year about this time I will post a how too for everyone, at that point in time or post a you tube video..

Click to expand...

I enjoy going through all the posts even if it's a different post on the same subject area. The old saying 'there's more than one way to skin a cat" is true. Not that I want to skin a cat .
When you guys contribute/share what you've learned, we appreciate it. As a matter of fact, I'm going to start another topic for discussion. Yes, it's already been discussed here and elsewhere but still the discussion will be interesting I'm sure.

:thanks: