I was reading some old threads about rear belt lifespan and several posters mentioned "getting a stone in their belt".
How exactly does that work?
Is the stone is just pushed into the rubber?
And if so I'd imagine you just pop it out with something right?
And I dont imagine that diminishes the belts integrity since people posted about having holes in their belts and still going strong.

 

Because it does this and pretty much makes you, or at least me, say "Hell no, not riding cross country on that!!"

Fresh chip seal in the neighborhood.........

 

Little stones CAN get up in the path of the belt, when they do they put TREMENDOUS strain on that belt as it really has NO give.
Thats why you see what the previous poster posted.
They CAN destroy the belt in short order.
Some continue, I have had the bad experience of the belt being destroyed while riding twice.
Once on the highway in the left lane, try getting over 3 lanes with NO power and idiot drivers coming up on you quickly, Pucker factor to the moon.
The other time was riding a country road 200 miles from home.
YMMV.

 

Happened to my brothers ‘86, back then it was a much wider belt but still enough damage the belt broke before he got home. Skinny belts these days make this worse.

 

Yep, living the same, since they did the gravel latex bonding crap last time they resurfaced the neighbor a few years back (isntead of using tar base that is proven to work correctly), and sounds like pop corn off the inside of the fenders with all the top loose gravel is pulled by the tires that is not longer bonded to the road and just thrown.
Even worse to prove that the latex bonding sucks, they have to run sweepers through the neighborhood about twice a year, to try to clean up all loose top base gravel, since they already go hit a few times of windshield replacements for truck throwing the loose top top gravel already.

So although there are a guards around the belt to help keep rocks from being thrown between the belt and pulleys, with the amount of loose top gravel we have around the neighbor, try to keep is slow, but just a matter of time until a few of them do damage the belt like yours in the end.

And the only saving grace, although a new belt is not cheap, I can change the belt out on my bike, without having to remove the primary.

 

Son of a Bi....

 

Too much to risk with holes in the belt. At the worst possible moment it could go out on ya.

 

How do you loop the belt over the transmission sprocket without removing the primary?

 

Well, you keep going until the belt snaps.
Usually the next day after an epic ride and just before a continuation of said epic ride.(this happened to me and took about a week for my wrench to get me sorted out and back on the road)
Leaving one stranded and about $800 poorer unless one can do the job themself .
Not sure of Mother HD makes that belt repair kit to get one home or the closest repair depot.

 

I once had a steel washer embedded in the drive belt of a Yammie. Yanked it out with pliers, no issues.

My thinking is to not worry too much about a little crater in the belt. Anything more I'd swap it out.