Drive belt tension
 

I see line markings on the lower drive belt guard on my 14 Custom and will look at my owners manual to see if it shows how much tension should be on the belt. I noticed this weekend while riding my 120 lb son a little that the vibration up through the handlebars was more that usual so was thinking it could be a little to tight.
Need to do something with this thing as it's so bad I'm needing to adjust the mirrors all the time while riding. Damn thing feels like you have hold of an electric fence anywhere above 60 mph. Pull in on the clutch and it smooths right out.

This may help you. Good luck.

cHarley knows what he's talking about and i use his method, as do many others. :)

Me too on the twist-to-check - as advised by HD dealer pal of mine. But it's also worth buying the tool - a little springie thing-ah-mah-jigger...

If you move the wheel be sure to set alignment dead on... There's a tool for that too - you make it. The book sez how...

not sure what you've had done up to this point but, you are at a service milestone AND the bike is still settling into itself... there will be some "changes". ...not saying this new behavior is normal ... this is why inspections and adjustments/torquing are to be made at scheduled mileage points (adjusted for individual use/environment, see "notes" below)

since you are at 5000, while the bike is getting it's 5k service by you or whoever you farm it out to... look for things that are out of spec like the clutch, belt, and primary chain. do you have a service manual?

not a good idea to go messing with your belt's tension if you don't know what you are doing or have a manual/guidance, you could end up with a rear wheel out of alignment.;) luckily, it's part of your 5k service.

i have no idea what you know or don't know... be careful


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hdf...38ccf73b3d.jpg

We have lady members who are not going to be as strong as some of the butch guys in here! So the 'hard twist' is absolute nonsense, forget it. The one tool we should all have for home maintenance, along with the relevant factory service manual, is the belt tension tool. Takes away all the guesswork and helps both the petite and the butch to get it just right! If you change shocks, which can alter ride height, tension should be checked then as well.

I thought the Sportrsters belt deflection was set with the bike on the jiffy stand and not with the rider on it?

Yup, just checked the manual, its to be set with the bike unladen and on the jiffy stand. So it sounds like the deflection is based on the arc of swinging arm travel. If you set it with a passenger on you're setting it incorrectly and risk component damage.

https://s31.postimg.org/bnlbzaq7v/Sc...t_13_12_27.png

Like others have said.
Use a gage! That belt and drive pulleys is way too expensive to guess.
https://www.amazon.com/OTC-4748-Belt...t+tension+gage

http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Harley-D...673691&vxp=mtr
Be sure to do what it says for you year and model in the service manual. They differ over the years.
Doubt it's the belt. But check it.

Since you need to loosen rear wheel and keep things aligned, unless you know what you are doing, pay someone to set it. But you should check it. Once set correctly after a few hundred miles, it will not change for a long long time.

I hand check it when I service the bike, peck is like 1/4" @ 10lbs....that is finger pressure. . In 18K miles I have only had it adjusted once when I got a new rear tire. I assume they put it back correctly. I know guys who never check these belts. How often do they really need to be adjusted? I mean, check every 5K or so but adjusting?