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I'm going to disagree on how difficult a job this is. I consider myself to have moderate mechanical skills. I just changed the belt on my bike in May. You don't have to remove the swingarm. The book says you do, but you don't. Get a service manual to guide you on primary remvoal. You just need to remove BOTH rear shocks (keep the swing arm blocked evenly on both sides) then just tap the pivot shaft over until you get a gap enough to get the belt through. It makes sense when you see the area on the bike I'm talking about. This lets you get the belt past the swing arm pivot without bending it at all. Worked slick for me.
Only special tool you should need is something to lock the primary assembly together as you loosen the clutch hub nut and comp bolt. A wood dowel works if you don't have the tool.
Wish you were closer, I'd help you out.
Zach
Nice Zach - I'll give that a go if/when I need to!
It's not a job I would do myself, and I speak as someone who has retro-fitted a TC swingarm, rear wheel and brake to my Evo, so I have done that part of the job and more. Getting the primary apart crosses my personal threshold of things I will happily tackle! So I sympathise with those who suggest getting it done, or borrowing a buddy who has done it before and is a good home mechanic with all the right tools.
get a book and have your buddy help you.yeah its a lotta work but this job will teach you alot of things you need to know about how the bike works down there. Go slow and pay attention.good luck either way you go
If it's THAT much of a b!tch....then maybe that's a god time to switch to a chain. Replacing a chain is as easy as feed it through and snap together.
~Joe
No way! I've ridden with belt drive for over 20 years now, got three bikes with them. There is no going back. One damaged (not broken) belt in all that time.
Thanx Zac, i'll remember that. By being minimal i meant i haven't work on one of these since my 79 EG. I used to due all my own work but since breaking my back in 01 and after 5 surgeries without much healing i can't due heavy lifting or tugging. My buddy has been a mechanic all his life and has all the tools (except maybe the clutch hub tool but he can make anything) as he runs his own shop and will be kind enough to do all the heavy stuff while i help where i can. Saving 300.00 bucks to someone on a fixed income at this time of year is a big savings so that's why i.m tackling this myself (with expert help).
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