Since you have been there, done that, I have some front drive pulley questions you might be able to help with.
I caught a stone between the belt and one of the nylon rollers (sliders) by the front drive pulley. Maybe taking my belt guard off was not such a great idea after all, but it sure looks better without it.
Since there was a lot of red rust powder coating everything, I pulled the drive pulley. The bolt was tight and it seemed pretty solid, but after removing the bolt, the pulley was loose and wobbly. The splines on the shaft were clearly worn. Now my questions are:
1 - I would guess that there has to be movement to cause the wear, so does that mean that the pulley is not as tight as it appears?
2 - Can the bolt be tightened to eliminate ALL movement under load, thus eliminating all wear.
3 - If there is movement of the pulley as the worn splines would suggest, would greasing the two parts before assembly have been beneficial?
4 - Are new pulleys and driven shafts a loose fit? If so, why? Every spline and gear setup I have seen has had a snug, machined fit.
The tab for repairs are about $650 for replacement of the drive components and another $525 to replace the belt. My girlfriends Vespa did not cost much more.
My friends with Harleys are suggesting I should not have been so smug about Japanese engineering and reliability (25,000 miles without a problem) as they rode off this weekend. Hmmm, maybe I should have kept the pink Vespa.
Anyway, constructive comments would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Nelson
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