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[North Star]

I have a brand new in the box BDL 139T on the shelf you can have for 125.00 + shipping.

Call Alice if interested. 928-505-2912

Appreciate the offer Steve, but I already ordered one from BDL- wish I saw this post before I did. This is the Gates manufactured belt for anyone who is interested in it.

[Fullsac Performance]

Appreciate the offer Steve, but I already ordered one from BDL- wish I saw this post before I did. This is the Gates manufactured belt for anyone who is interested in it.

I can't confirm the actual manufacture, Falcon and BDL are the names printed on the belt. But I can confirm this.
It is the exact belt myself and more than several other have been left sitting on the side of the road with. Not trying to rain on your parade, just help you
understand the direction you are heading. Best of luck.

SG

[DavidB]

I can't confirm the actual manufacture, Falcon and BDL are the names printed on the belt. But I can confirm this.
It is the exact belt myself and more than several other have been left sitting on the side of the road with. Not trying to rain on your parade, just help you
understand the direction you are heading. Best of luck.

SG

Mine lasted 600 miles. It broke at 15mph.

[Fullsac Performance]

Mine lasted 600 miles. It broke at 15mph.

You are the new low mile record holder!

Rumor has it that Jim at Metal Dragon is going to be our new swingarm mod Guy. You didn't hear it from me.

SG

[Rio]

I ordered my belt last week, apparently there are none to be had period.  I was told some blog mentioned that the Falcon BDL was breaking with the 30t Andrews pulley and the word was that the Gates Belt was the way to go!  The Falcon belt is available, but they have no idea when the Gates belt listed below will be back in stock?  That was American Legends, but they said they checked with other vendors including Gates....none available anywhere?  Power of the BLOG!



-139 T Gates Poly belt-Mid USA #MU-77560

I'm likely going to go ahead with the 30T as well, and this is the belt I'm going with. It can be found at a discount from American Legends Motorcycles ($115.78)

[North Star]

I ordered my belt last week, apparently there are none to be had period.  I was told some blog mentioned that the Falcon BDL was breaking with the 30t Andrews pulley and the word was that the Gates Belt was the way to go!  The Falcon belt is available, but they have no idea when the Gates belt listed below will be back in stock?  That was American Legends, but they said they checked with other vendors including Gates....none available anywhere?  Power of the BLOG!



-139 T Gates Poly belt-Mid USA #MU-77560

I'm likely going to go ahead with the 30T as well, and this is the belt I'm going with. It can be found at a discount from American Legends Motorcycles ($115.78)

I cancelled my order with American Legends because BDL said they had the Gates belt in stock (the guy went to the back and actually physically checked). Having said that, I don't think it shipped yet because I didn't get notified, and it didn't come off my credit card yet.

I'm not in a huge rush anyhow- I got some other mods to do ahead of this one.

[FAST380]

An update for anybody thinking about doing this mod. I did it, it was a piece of cake, and I have a total of $60 into it. $10 for a 1/4" x 3" x 5' flat stock (5' is minimum they sold), $20 to buy the grinding tool Steve recommended, $30 to the welder. I have a torch, so I mocked up my gusset with paper, then cut it out of the steel, and ground it to perfection (or until I was happy). I decided to pay somebody that welds all the time, so it looks better. Grinding the axle slot was like butter! I am so happy to have the stock belt back on, the belt breaking was always in the back of my mind. I will be listing the aftermarket belt in the for sale section if any body want is. I purchased it from Drag, it is in PERFECT shape, no signs of trouble.

Thanks for pioneering this Steve!! Big kudo's to you on this!!

[95glide]

Mine lasted 600 miles. It broke at 15mph.

got 92 miles on mine and snapped it in half.      starting swing arm mod tomorrow.   

[RayG]

FAST380,

A question for you on your mods, what did you do concerning the paint?  I wish you the best of luck and this is not intended to flame anyone.  How can you tell by looking at a belt that it is OK.  Honestly I'm not being a wise guy but if there is something to be learned here I'm all for it.  No doubt the mod is worth it it's just the amount of belts supplied from Drag is usually a Falcon and we know about there past history.  Maybe Drag uses a variety of suppliers for belts, hope you got a good one. 

Wouldn't it be great if belts could be supplied with a splice kit that was just as strong as the OEM,  it would make installing belts a snap.  I know I would worry less when on a long trip.  Would let me drop the hammer once in a while as well.

Any photos? 

[FAST380]

RayG,

As for the paint, it only messed up the drop out section. On the '09 and later the very rear of the swingarm is a cast section that is welded to the swingarm (at least that is what it looks like to me). I just taped off the main portion of the swingarm and painted the cast section. This may not be the answer if you don't have bags, but with bags you can't tell AT ALL!! As a matter a fact, my wife came out when my swingarm was sitting on my bench after I painted it, and asked if the whole thing got painted.

As for the Drag belt I took off, hell I have no idea how long it will last somebody. Some people have been running them with no problem. It will make a good backup for somebody. I looked pretty close when I took it off, because I was curious if I would see anything. To the naked eye, I didn't see anything.

Is your bike an '08? I am not even sure if modifying the swingarm on your year will work, totally different swingarm. I just know that I feel much better now that I have the OEM belt back on my bike.

Now don't laugh, my gusset is much bulkier than Steve's, but I wanted to have a lot of support, all the way up to supporting the  shock mount.

[RayG]

Fast380,

I guess you are fast!  Thanks for not taking my input in a negative fashion.  If I had your year bike I would have done the swingarm mods for sure.  You did a good job and you are right with the bags on who is going to notice.  I do have an 08 which makes for a shorter belt than what you have.  The information was on the site as to the correct OEM part number for the 136T but I failed to use the OEM and went with an aftermarket belt and sprocket purchased through Jennie.  I had a choice I just chose poorly.  I'm just going out on a limb here but after looking at the air bubbles on the Falcon there is no doubt that they could not all be manufactured the same way or they would all fail.  Since this issue is so well discussed I do believe that anyone that compared them closely would notice.  Apparently they have made changes as I'm sure you would have noticed it when you made the change.  Allot of work on your part for piece of mind but then these bikes have a way of making us a little paranoid at times.  I hope others take your lead.

Nice Job

Ray G.   

[Fullsac Performance]

RayG,

As for the paint, it only messed up the drop out section. On the '09 and later the very rear of the swingarm is a cast section that is welded to the swingarm (at least that is what it looks like to me). I just taped off the main portion of the swingarm and painted the cast section. This may not be the answer if you don't have bags, but with bags you can't tell AT ALL!! As a matter a fact, my wife came out when my swingarm was sitting on my bench after I painted it, and asked if the whole thing got painted.

As for the Drag belt I took off, hell I have no idea how long it will last somebody. Some people have been running them with no problem. It will make a good backup for somebody. I looked pretty close when I took it off, because I was curious if I would see anything. To the naked eye, I didn't see anything.

Is your bike an '08? I am not even sure if modifying the swingarm on your year will work, totally different swingarm. I just know that I feel much better now that I have the OEM belt back on my bike.

Now don't laugh, my gusset is much bulkier than Steve's, but I wanted to have a lot of support, all the way up to supporting the  shock mount.

Good job!

SG

[BMAC III]

Does the "gusset mod" leave plenty of room for belt adjustment later?

BMac

[FAST380]

Well, you can grind as much of the axle slot as you want, making for more adjustment, but also making the back wall thinner. I do not know how much a belt stretches over a lifetime, anybody??

[mule]

I have done the modification [thanks for the idea Steve] and works great I milled mine instead of grinding, the biggest problem I have is adjusting the belt, my axle wrench no longer will fit [interferes with the shock mount] If on the road this will be difficult without removing muffler there is no room to get on the nut except with a open end wrench. jmho