A LITTLE TRICK

[SQ4MN]

Most of us that have Boss Hoss bikes are familiar with the rear belt squeak or squeal. It sometimes takes lots of patience and some luck to get it where it doesn't make any noise. The last time I put a new tire on the back I spent many hours trying different belt tensions and laser aligning the wheel each time. Its a time consuming job but I've always ended up winning eventually. About 4 years ago I was coming back from Oklahoma on the Boss and when I got to Arizona the rear brake pads were shot and grinding on my rotor. Since then I carry NEW brake pads in the trunk but at the time I didn't have any so I tried to baby the rear brake as much as possible. When I got home the rotor was grooved deeply on the exposed side and not to bad on the side closest to the wheel. I figured it was toast so I decided to mickey mouse it for the fun of it. I jacked up the bike and started it up, put it in gear and let the wheel spin. Then I took a body grinder and held it to the rotor and ground it till the grooves were gone. I put new pads on it and rode it, the new pads eventually smoothed the whole thing out and I figured I'd buy a rotor when I had to take the wheel off the next time I replaced the tire. THAT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO AND A NUMBER OF TIRES. finally the rotor that was way to thin just wore out. Last week I bought a new one but as you know you have to remove the rear wheel to replace it. On my 2003 you also have to pack the wheel bearings with grease as they're tapered Timken bearings. Its a dirty job but the worst part besides the price of the rotor and wheel seals (about 400 dollars) is that I normally have to spend many hours to get the belt where it doesn't squeak. This time I put DYKEM on the top of the swing arm and scribed a line on the swing arm where the blocks that hold the axle locate, after that was done I loosened everything up and removed the wheel. When I finally put it all back together I just tightened the adjuster bolts till they pulled the axle blocks back to the scribed lines. I measured the belt tension it was still about 300 to325 lbs, just where it was before I started the job. I took the bike for a ride and for the first time in six years there was no belt squeak. By the way I'm still using the belt that a rock punctured a small hole in on my first trip to East Meets West about five or six years ago, but thats another story.

[petitemoose]

Great Advice! Will try that once I get my belt to SHUT UP!

[Iron Maiden]

[SQ4MN]

Great Advice! Will try that once I get my belt to SHUT UP!

You will get it if you try long enough. It can be frustrating and you cant go by where the belt rides in the pulley. Mine touches the outside edge yet makes no noise. I've had it not touch either side and make noise. The last time I only had to change the tension one way or the other to have it either make noise or not. I am a firm believer that you should run as little tension as possible as long as it doesn't jump teeth or make noise. If I run 250 lbs it squeaks, if I run 300 it doesn't. Somewhere on all these bikes there is a sweet spot but it seems to be different on each one. Start with LASER aligning the wheel to run straight and then fool with the tension always rechecking the LASER alignment. Its definitely a pain in the ass but if you finally get it you'll feel like you pulled off a miracle. Most guys give up and just spray the belt with something or use soap.