ready for dynamite
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Stage I
Joined: Aug 2025
Posts: 1
Likes: 1
From: indiana
ready for dynamite
good evening fellow Harley riders.... i have a issue and need some other input as i have done everything i can. My belt broke on my 2003 ultra anniversary edition. I changed the belt like you would always do put the spacers back in they way they are suppose to go and did all the things you are suppose to do and did it twice cause i thought i messed up but still having the issue. The bike runs and shifts but when you try to push it you cant hardly push it like the tire is rubbing on something and its not. I rode it up my driveway a few times and no change and when you go to stop you don't need brakes cause it seems like its rubbing and stops like quick not like it normally would if your rolling to a stop sign. I put new brakes pads on it but they are not binding or anything.. You also can not turn it with your hand you have to use both hands and its still hard to turn like really hard and the bike is in neutral. I don't know where to go from here. The bearings are all good and it was not like this before the belt broke. any help or ideas would be appreciated cause i am ready to drop a stick of dynamite in the gas tank....lmao yes its that bad.
Road Warrior
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,545
Likes: 651
From: Saint Charles, Missouri
For starters, year, model and any modifications to the bike are needed. Something is definitely binding up somewhere. Did you try spinning it before final tightening of the axle bolt? Did you verify belt tension?
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 3,196
Likes: 2,240
From: College Station, TX
Does the transmission shift through all gears correctly, and back to neutral correctly? If the brakes won't fully release, the caliper and rotor will get hot really quickly.
Start with the rear wheel off the ground. If it won't spin freely in neutral, remover the caliper and check again, If it still won't spin freely, losen the belt and check it again. If the wheel spins freely after the caliper or belt is losened then they are the problem. If not, check to see if the trans pulley turns freely with the trans in neutral. You may need to remove the rear wheel to check the rear pulley.
When the belt breaks, it usually just spits it out the back. But I've seen cases where the belt will get caught in the front pully and cause other damage.
Paul
Start with the rear wheel off the ground. If it won't spin freely in neutral, remover the caliper and check again, If it still won't spin freely, losen the belt and check it again. If the wheel spins freely after the caliper or belt is losened then they are the problem. If not, check to see if the trans pulley turns freely with the trans in neutral. You may need to remove the rear wheel to check the rear pulley.
When the belt breaks, it usually just spits it out the back. But I've seen cases where the belt will get caught in the front pully and cause other damage.
Paul
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 3,349
Likes: 2,129
From: Masshole
Check your rotor and make sure it is between the pads and not between pad and caliper. Very easy for the pads to shift while reinstalling.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157,632
Likes: 57,167
From: Michigan 15 Minutes East Of Hell
Check the rear caliper ... Possible piston sticking ... Mounting correct ... Crack bleeder valve on caliper ... Check @chopper_man suggestion too
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HDF Community Team
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 8,621
Likes: 4,060
From: San Diego, CA
Pull your caliper or pads and see if you can rotate your wheel freely. If it's free, then your brake pads/caliper are the problem. Or, perhaps your spacers are incorrectly placed, but you should be able to see the belt is aligned.
That's one of the downsides of changing several variables at once.
John
That's one of the downsides of changing several variables at once.
John
Last edited by John Harper; Aug 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 5,315
Likes: 4,272
From: Granville New York
Im going to throw my hat in the ring and say its a spacer on the rear axle that's not in the right spot, that throws off the disc alignment to the caliper. Do you have the factory service manual to look at the diagrams to check the spacer layout? So easy to put it on in the wrong sequence, im a club member lol. Hopefully something simple and cheap for you.
