Replacement drive belt

So I just finished replacing the drive belt on my Road King / MotorTrike conversion. What a job ! Had doggone near every tool from the box out, and every combination of long & short, box, open, and ratcheting wrenches and all of my socket extensions ( both ⅜ and ½ drive ). And help from a friend.

But it can be done ! No removing the body. Just a lot of finagling to get the (2) frame pieces removed and then out with the old, in with the new.

If you have to do it yourself, use both you HD service manual AND a MotorTrike Installation manual. And go slow .

I replaced my belt during the process of converting my '87 Electra Glide to trike. I found it to be an intense project but one that could do and did without help. I did purchase the HD tools for removal of the clutch hub nut. I have a set of old craftsman 3/4" tools I inherited from my father and without which I could not have done the job. It was a good time to replace all the seals on the transmission and inner primary case to stop some of the leaks. Good times.

I had to make a primary locking tool from a piece of 1 x ½ rigid plastic. My clutch nut is a 1.187, which is the same ( within .007 ) of 30mm, and amazingly enough I had that one. Had to buy a T70 Torx bit for the compensator bolt. Everything came apart and reassembled fairly smoothly, but working on the conversion end of the bike was tight with the body in place. Replaced some fasteners ( went from hex head to socket head ). Made reassembly much easier. Toughest part was the lock bolts that keep the belt tension. A bear to get to, taking two people to each have wrenches, coming in from top ( seat removed ) and underneath. But I was happy to be able to do this myself. HD shop wouldn't do it, and I'm not confident in the local MotorTrike shop ( new owners since my conversion was done ).

ed

I have found the body removal is not such an intense step and believe me it makes life so much simpler.

Remove travel trunk, unplug a few wires and remove 6 body bolts and wha-la, ease of access.

last i knew Harley charged at least $1000.00 to do a triglide, I did my Champion conversion myself so am familiar with the procedures.

Wouldn't it be nice if i didn't have to split the axle?

pcombe said:

last i knew Harley charged at least $1000.00 to do a triglide

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When HD did my drive belt under warrantee, they gave me a copy of the work order for my records. Seems to me it was closer to $!500, but, I can't find the work order. And that's what they got paid from HD. Probably more if it wasn't warrantee.

Found the thread about it.

https://www.triketalk.com/forum/threads/27391-Bad-Drive-Belt?highlight=rock+drive+belt

See post #37 for pic of work order.

it was about $1500.

FuzzyWuzHe said:

When HD did my drive belt under warrantee, they gave me a copy of the work order for my records. Seems to me it was closer to $!500, but, I can't find the work order. And that's what they got paid from HD. Probably more if it wasn't warrantee.

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That would be about right when the assign two parts changers for 8 hrs. at shop rates.

On your Motor Trike, was the belt tension difficult to adjust after installation?

grandpawj said:

On your Motor Trike, was the belt tension difficult to adjust after installation?

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Well, it's not something I want to do everyday, but I guess the answer is "yes and no".

To loosen the unit for adjustment, there are 4 main bolts that are hard to get to. We (my wife and I) worked with wrenches from the top (seat removed) and the bottom (bike was up on stands about 16" off of the floor). One person to hold the bolt head from above, and one underneath (me) to loosen the nuts.

I had some long-length wrenches, gear wrenches, and regular combination wrenches in play, because each of the 4 bolts required a slightly different attack.

Then, loosened the bolts on the end of the adjuster cam, rotated the cam till tension is set, then tightened the whole thing up again.

It is an operation to approach with patience and planning at each step. Not difficult physically, but just matching the tool to the circumstance takes time and forethought. Slow and easy wins the race.

ED

This sounds like at least a 6 pack job (maybe a 12 pack in my younger days) lol. I have done a lot of work on my bikes over the years including top end jobs but I have never replaced a belt on one of my Harleys, much less a trike!

Congrats on getting it done!

Sunman