ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Zero Motorcycles Forum | 2013+ => Topic started by: staples on July 12, 2019, 03:23:01 AM
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So I was out for a ride last night on my 2018 FXS and hit a small bump / manhole cover as I was accelerating and my belt snapped. It's only 3300 miles old, and I've never had to adjust it because it has always been within the limits by gauge and app.
Has anybody experienced a failure like this?
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I've seen a lot of people talking about debris, but the road was pretty clean... for Chicago.
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One guy I know broke two (!!!) belts on FXS by riding off a sidewalk.
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I doubt debris was the problem. I suspect the wheel was able to spin up when it was off the ground, and the jerk when it came back down caused too much stress on the belt.
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I doubt debris was the problem. I suspect the wheel was able to spin up when it was off the ground, and the jerk when it came back down caused too much stress on the belt.
It makes total sense.
Based on the circumstances the OP described this hypothesis is very likely to be right-on!
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This is my first belt drive bike. I'm super disappointed that a little bit of wheel slip / vertical suspension travel will cause a belt snap. I was on it hard, but not WOT.
This has me thinking of doing a chain conversion. I've never dropped a chain on the ground.
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This is my first belt drive bike. I'm super disappointed that a little bit of wheel slip / vertical suspension travel will cause a belt snap. I was on it hard, but not WOT.
This has me thinking of doing a chain conversion. I've never dropped a chain on the ground.
If the rear wheel spins freely up while off the ground while the throttle is open, the belt is likely to snap when the wheel is grounded again. Our bikes have a lot of torque and something has to give.
Whenever I see a bump in the road, or anything else that doesn't look quite right ahead, I decelerate over it.
I have around 7,500 miles on each of my Zeros and the DS is often on unpaved roads (includes today). No belt problems so far.
And I do not clean my belt or do anything other than every few thousand miles check the alignment and tension.
Also, I am mostly in the eco mode as I do mostly in town riding.
-Don- Reno, NV
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Narrow 14mm belt on a 2018? I thought they went to the heavier belt in 2017. I've got spare belts, both sizes, on NW side.
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Narrow 14mm belt on a 2018? I thought they went to the heavier belt in 2017. I've got spare belts, both sizes, on NW side.
I think it depends on the model. The DS has a larger belt in 2017, but not the plain "S" bikes, for one example. I don't think that changed in 2018.
-Don- Reno, NV
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Narrow 14mm belt on a 2018? I thought they went to the heavier belt in 2017. I've got spare belts, both sizes, on NW side.
I think it depends on the model. The DS has a larger belt in 2017, but not the plain "S" bikes, for one example. I don't think that changed in 2018.
-Don- Reno, NV
My 2018 S has the wider (17mm ?) belt. Replacement cost increased from around $85 in 2014 to $120 last year. Likely more now. ;)
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My 2018 S has the wider (17mm ?) belt. Replacement cost increased from around $85 in 2014 to $120 last year. Likely more now. ;)
Do you know if they still use the smaller belt in any 2019 models?
-Don- Reno, NV
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My FX is just reaching 2.75 yr / 8000 mi and I'm amazed the belt hasn't snapped yet. I'm thinking of replacing it pre-emptively.
There are 3 speed bumps to attack every time I leave or return home, sometimes spinning up the wheel ("zzzzzzzoop"). But always slow on curbs and stairs.
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My 2018 S has the wider (17mm ?) belt. Replacement cost increased from around $85 in 2014 to $120 last year. Likely more now. ;)
Do you know if they still use the smaller belt in any 2019 models?
-Don- Reno, NV
I don't have a clue. Maybe the belt width is mentioned on the Zero site in their specifications for the FX models? I know they use the wider belt in the DS and S versions.
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My brand new SR/F just snapped its belt two days ago, with 205 miles on the bike.
I was riding on smooth pavement, accelerating at maybe 1/4 to 1/3 throttle (was making a left turn and needed to hit a gap in traffic), and was running about 25 MPH when it snapped. Thankfully, I was able to push the bike home.
The day before, I geeked out on the belt tension app on my phone (this is my first moto with belt drive), so I happen to know with certainty that the belt's tension was within spec, according to the iOS app.
Anyway, just wanted to add my $0.02.
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Strange!
Was the belt tension according to the phone app on the high end of the range?
Out of curiosity, how was the belt tracking? On my SR/F no matter how hard I try, I can't get it to track about 1 MM away from the sprocket lip, as recommended in another thread.
It either goes to the opposite side and tracks like 5MM from the "lip" or it comes back to left side where it seems to touch said lip.
I have done some very fine tuning and increased or decreased the right tensioner by very, VERY small amounts and it only tracks all the way to the right (right belt edge flush with sprocket edge) or left belt side pretty much touching the lip. No happy medium.
This happens with the tension set at the lower end of the range or at the high end.
I wanted to try and center the belt on the sprocket or have it slightly away from the lip but it just doesn't want to cooperate
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That sure sounds like a warranty claim to me. And something that Zero needs to investigate quickly. If there is a design or manufacturing flaw in that new belt, or an issue with assembly at the factory, I am sure they would want to jump on that problem very quickly. If a belt breaks at the wrong time, in the wrong location, someone could get hurt and I am sure Zero would not want that.
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Out of curiosity, how was the belt tracking? On my SR/F no matter how hard I try, I can't get it to track about 1 MM away from the sprocket lip, as recommended in another thread.
While wheel bolts are loose, back wheel off the ground, line up the belt on the edge of the OPPOSITE side of the sprocket lip. IOW edge of belt to the edge of the sprocket away from the lip. Now as you tighten the bolts to spec., belt should start to line up and be about 1mm from the lip as you rotate the wheel.
I assume this still works on the SR/F, but it's how I do my Zero DS and SR (non-F).
-Don- Auburn, CA
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I tried both ways: the wheel off the ground and test riding it after each very, very small adjustment and in both cases the belt just runs either on the right side (flush with the right sprocket edge or "kissing" the sprocket lip.
I went making minuscule adjustments, tightening everything and test riding it. the belt did not move at all for many, many of those adjustments and then after one of them, jumped from the right edge to the left side.
And I tried going the opposite direction and got the same result.
Been thinking to try inserting a washer between each of the wheel and sprocket 5 (or 6) screws to see if that produces the gap I want on the left side.
I think the extra wide belt on the SR/F may account for this odd behavior or perhaps it is poor machining or alignment on front-to-back sprocket.
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I have a 2013 FX, a 2016 SR and recently acquired 2014 S That Hollywood Electrics just did a bunch of upgrades to.
I have never had any belt issues, the 2013 is over 10,000 miles, I believe the SR is similar, probably less. The 2014 has
a little over 9,000 and as near as I can tell, original belt. I have always used the tensioner originally sold and recommended
by Zero. I tried the app but it appeared ( to me ) to be less accurate.
As far as center tracking, when you apply power, torque is applied trying to move the wheel to the right. This will try to move
the belt to the outside of the sprocket. If you were to center it under power, then it would tend to move inward if ridden gently.
If centered for gentle riding, then it would tend to want to go outward under power. This would probably explain why it doesn't
appear to stay centered. In the 70s and 80s the chassis were so bad that I would have to start at one side of the drag strip
with the bike pointed just a bit to that side to compensate for the chassis flexing under power.
By the end of the run, I was at the opposite side of the lane.
What I do with mine is to center the belt, then go do a few launches to see how it ends up, then adjust again if necessary
Another issue can be that after you adjust it, when you tighten the axel, it may tend to move just a touch
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According to th app, tension was almost dead center in the range. I only plucked it a few times with my finger, mainly because I was geeking out on the app and not really concerned about the belt.
I didn’t even look to see how the belt was tracking - I had just been assuming that it was set correctly by San Jose BMW.
SJ BMW is treating it as a warranty claim, and are going to send me a replacement belt so I don’t have to haul the bike all the way there and back for something that I hope I can do myself.
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I didn’t even look to see how the belt was tracking - I had just been assuming that it was set correctly by San Jose BMW.
BIG mistake. I can tell you countless stories about motorcycle dealers with both new and used bikes. I even have a story for today that I will post in a few minutes in the LiveWire section.
FWIW, BMW shops are usually good with BMWs--only!
-Don- Auburn, CA
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I didn’t even look to see how the belt was tracking - I had just been assuming that it was set correctly by San Jose BMW.
But, do you think the dealer put their paws on a brand new bike, just before being delivered to adjust the belt?
I would assume the belt gets adjusted (accurately you hope) at the factory and when the dealer receives the bike, it is ready to be delivered to its anxious owner.
Since the bike only had 205 miles when the belt snapped, unless you specifically had the dealer adjust it, I doubt they messed with it before delivery. (Unless the bikes are shipped disassembled)
I think this belt had a manufacturing flaw that caused it to fail so early-on and is something we probably won't see again any time soon.
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To my knowledge, all Zero motorcycles are fully assembled at the factory and all the dealers do is dust them off when they arrive and hang a price tag on the bike.
I have bought around 35 new ICE chain-drive motorcycles in the past and every one came from the dealer with the rear drive chain over-tightened. The first thing I do when reaching home after buying a new motorcycle is to readjust the chain slack. I can only assume that dealer service departments, the factory, or whomever sets up the new motorcycle, adjusts the chain too tight because they believe that it will stretch during the break-in period, not be adjusted by the owner, and the belief is that will retain the correct chain slack longer. ::) Kind of like over inflating a tire in the hopes that proper tire pressure will last longer, until the bike is finally brought in for service. ???
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But, do you think the dealer put their paws on a brand new bike, just before being delivered to adjust the belt? I would assume the belt gets adjusted (accurately you hope) at the factory and when the dealer receives the bike, it is ready to be delivered to its anxious owner. Since the bike only had 205 miles when the belt snapped, unless you specifically had the dealer adjust it, I doubt they messed with it before delivery. (Unless the bikes are shipped disassembled)
I think this belt had a manufacturing flaw that caused it to fail so early-on and is something we probably won't see again any time soon.
Dealers usually receive new bikes in a crate and they have to put the wheels on.
-Don- Auburn, CA
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zeros come fully assembled except for mirrors and bar-end plugs, and rotating the bars up on the tall ones (DS/FX). The SR/F also needs the 12V battery hooked up.
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zeros come fully assembled except for mirrors and bar-end plugs, and rotating the bars up on the tall ones (DS/FX). The SR/F also needs the 12V battery hooked up.
OIC. Are they still delivered in a crate, and if so, is it a larger crate than for most other bikes?
-Don- Auburn, CA
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zeros come fully assembled except for mirrors and bar-end plugs, and rotating the bars up on the tall ones (DS/FX). The SR/F also needs the 12V battery hooked up.
OIC. Are they still delivered in a crate, and if so, is it a larger crate than for most other bikes?
-Don- Auburn, CA
I have never seen one delivered in a crate. The ones that I have seen delivered arrived fully assembled on a flat bed truck. But I will admit the last delivery that I saw was a few years ago. ???
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I have never seen one delivered in a crate. The ones that I have seen delivered arrived fully assembled on a flat bed truck. But I will admit the last delivery that I saw was a few years ago. ???
I just did a search on the web. It looks like most bikes have both wheels attached while in the crate, but a few have the front wheel removed. So it does look like we cannot blame the dealer for a belt that is misaligned, based on what I am seeing from a web search. (https://www.facebook.com/193401381026926/photos/a.193402481026816/193402491026815/?type=1&theater)
-Don- Auburn, CA