on my 77 in about 1983 i had some problems with the clutch basket and some problems with the compensator [and folks think thats new.. ha] so i installed a belt drive...
soooooooooo nice, noisy when the clutch was released, but silent with the clutch engaged. quiet, smooth, better shifting.
what slays me is that going belt drive was about 50% cheaper than fixing the chain primary - now folks get a small fortune for a belt drive! its crazy expensive. most guys then just ran the inner primary bare - or cut it down so it was not as noticeable and made a wire mesh guard for it. the belt drive kit only had the basket and the belt and the pulley, nothing else & i think it cost me 180 or so with tax all in. now they are only available with all this chrome plated billet aluminum unneeded crap to make them look nice. the plain, open, home machined inner primary, hand polished deal was really cool...
can't do that today -
bummer
to
Don't mean to hijack this thread...
Timo,
Now that you brought up the Shovelhead, I have a '76 FLH with what I hope is a good compensator now. I only bought parts I needed. I replaced the chain and added a M-6 spring adjuster. I'm getting a bit of whine from primary and I know that the clutch basket, still original and should be replaced.
If I try to keep it original looking, in that I put a vented inspection center cover and a vented derby cover, what is the widest belt I can run? Can I get a 2" wide in there?
On my board track project I have an Ultima 113" with their Ultima 2" exposed belt drive and from what I hear, thier 2" will handle lots of power. I know that I can't just use their Ultima kit, but my comments were meant more to say that in my mind a system with today's belt technology should hold up as good as any chain without all the oil leak issues. Again this is only a stock 74".
So can anyone help me with some advise on belt drive for the ole Shovelhead?