[luv2spider]

Hi Guys,
I am still having the loud howling noise when slowing down to stop from about 25mph to a complete stop. I have had my bike 1yr this month and have taken it back to the dealer at least 5 times complaining of this noise. I even took it to a different dealer and they did nothing either. I think the belt is still to tight, the dealership I bought it from loosened it a very little and said that it was in spec and they will not loosen it anymore. Has anyone else had this noise and or problem. I have a friend that said he had the same problem and he loosened his belt and adjusted it to the harley davidson specs and all the noise and everything stopped and he said the bike rode much better. He said his belt was so tight that he was seeing shavings of his belt up on his fender. I saw on here where another guy was saying that with the belt being so tight it could mess up the sprocket or the bearings. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do. Anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[NautiBrit]

You're on the right track. The belt tension specs have been changed a couple of times and not all dealers are up to date on the changes. I adjusted mine with a Krikit guage and the noises are gone.

[luv2spider]

NautiBrit, on 14 April 2011 - 09:43 PM, said:

You're on the right track. The belt tension specs have been changed a couple of times and not all dealers are up to date on the changes. I adjusted mine with a Krikit guage and the noises are gone.

Thanks so much for your reply back. So was your bike making the same noise? Also i have between 1500 and 2000 miles on mine and have been riding it like this ever since I got the bike. Do you think riding it with the belt to tight can do any damage to anything? Thanks for your help.

[groundeffect]

luv2spider, on 14 April 2011 - 09:55 PM, said:

Thanks so much for your reply back. So was your bike making the same noise? Also i have between 1500 and 2000 miles on mine and have been riding it like this ever since I got the bike. Do you think riding it with the belt to tight can do any damage to anything? Thanks for your help.

Yes, it is indeed best to follow the latest belt tension bulletin - having the tension too tight will cause premature wear on the sprocket bearings, which as I understand it, is why BRP adjusted the tension with the bulletin in the first place.

Best to contact you dealer about this to keep your spyder running in good shape!
Hope that helps.

[luv2spider]

groundeffect, on 15 April 2011 - 06:08 AM, said:

Yes, it is indeed best to follow the latest belt tension bulletin - having the tension too tight will cause premature wear on the sprocket bearings, which as I understand it, is why BRP adjusted the tension with the bulletin in the first place.

Best to contact you dealer about this to keep your spyder running in good shape!
Hope that helps.

Thanks Groundeffect, I have taken it back to the dealer several times but they tell me it is fine and and that the noise will eventually go away over time. When I first bought the bike you could not move the belt at all so I finally got them to lossen it a very little bit but it is still really tight and i still makes that noise when slowing down to a stop. From about 30mph to stopping it makes a loud whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp noise. Well thanks for message and have fun riding.
Thanks, Bart

[IWN2RYD]

luv2spider, on 15 April 2011 - 07:30 AM, said:

Thanks Groundeffect, I have taken it back to the dealer several times but they tell me it is fine and and that the noise will eventually go away over time. When I first bought the bike you could not move the belt at all so I finally got them to lossen it a very little bit but it is still really tight and i still makes that noise when slowing down to a stop. From about 30mph to stopping it makes a loud whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp noise. Well thanks for message and have fun riding.
Thanks, Bart

There is always a good chance I am incorrect... This sounds a lot like a dealer that is not properly tooled and is diagnosing this incorrectly. There is no brake in period for noise.

It is critical that the belt be tensioned correctly. If in fact this is where the noise is coming from, you have an issue that must be resolved sooner than later.

May I suggest a different approach to your current dealer or try another dealer?

Could you imagine the outcry from buyers if this was true (Noise from the drive belt needing to be broken in order to not make noise)? We just purchased a third Spyder last night (Traded in our RSS) and not one of them have ever had noise like you are describing.

[luv2spider]

IWN2RYD, on 15 April 2011 - 09:25 AM, said:

There is always a good chance I am incorrect... This sounds a lot like a dealer that is not properly tooled and is diagnosing this incorrectly. There is no brake in period for noise.

It is critical that the belt be tensioned correctly. If in fact this is where the noise is coming from, you have an issue that must be resolved sooner than later.

May I suggest a different approach to your current dealer or try another dealer?

Could you imagine the outcry from buyers if this was true (Noise from the drive belt needing to be broken in order to not make noise)? We just purchased a third Spyder last night (Traded in our RSS) and not one of them have ever had noise like you are describing.

Hi IWN2RYD, Thanks for your response and I have tried another dealer and they were worse than where I bought mine from. They had my bike for 2 weeks and then called and told me it was ready and I asked did they fix the problem and they said they rode it and rode it and found no problem. Well do you know how much they rode it...about 1 mile that is all because when i dropped it off i checked the mileage and it only changed by 1 mile and some tenths so here in richmond virginia the dealers suck. So how am I supposed to get my bike fixed when the crappy dealers here just keep telling me it is fine just keep riding it. Very Very angry here.....Everything else with the bike I love but this noise sucks and is very embarrassing.

Bart

[IWN2RYD]

luv2spider, on 15 April 2011 - 07:57 PM, said:

Hi IWN2RYD, Thanks for your response and I have tried another dealer and they were worse than where I bought mine from. They had my bike for 2 weeks and then called and told me it was ready and I asked did they fix the problem and they said they rode it and rode it and found no problem. Well do you know how much they rode it...about 1 mile that is all because when i dropped it off i checked the mileage and it only changed by 1 mile and some tenths so here in richmond virginia the dealers suck. So how am I supposed to get my bike fixed when the crappy dealers here just keep telling me it is fine just keep riding it. Very Very angry here.....Everything else with the bike I love but this noise sucks and is very embarrassing.

Bart

I am heartbroken that you are in this position. We know that a good dealer from any manufacturer is not always easy to find. Unfortunately I am not familiar with your neck of the woods and cannot suggest a dealer to you

I can assure you though this sound (Unless I and many others are tone deaf) is not normal at all. Certainly that does not help your situation, and if I was closer I would stop by to take a look. My main concern is the belt is not aligned and or adjusted correctly and this is going to cause a bearing failure at an accelerated rate. This assumes I am correct as I am not standing there nor am I a BRP Tech.

[NautiBrit]

luv2spider, on 14 April 2011 - 09:55 PM, said:

Thanks so much for your reply back. So was your bike making the same noise? Also i have between 1500 and 2000 miles on mine and have been riding it like this ever since I got the bike. Do you think riding it with the belt to tight can do any damage to anything? Thanks for your help.

The noise did ease up a little over time, but when I changed out my rear tire at about 12,000 mls, I loosened the belt and now have almost 22,000 mls and no noise. Both the belt and sprockets are holding up well. There have been reports of early sprocket damage, that seem to be traced back to the overtight belt.

[craigclive]

I had the same problem. It started when I had a new rear tire put on. The belt was tightened to factory specs *(which were wrong. the belt stretched and created the whomping noise. The belt burned out the rear wheel bearings and the front pully to break. I purchased a belt over the internet. Can Am paid for the bearings and the pulley but not for the labor which was a lot. The dealer had to purchase a device from Gates rubber which uses sound to adjust the belt. Works fine now.

[luv2spider]

craigclive, on 16 April 2011 - 06:49 AM, said:

I had the same problem. It started when I had a new rear tire put on. The belt was tightened to factory specs *(which were wrong. the belt stretched and created the whomping noise. The belt burned out the rear wheel bearings and the front pully to break. I purchased a belt over the internet. Can Am paid for the bearings and the pulley but not for the labor which was a lot. The dealer had to purchase a device from Gates rubber which uses sound to adjust the belt. Works fine now.

Hi Craig, Thanks for the info and I am hoping to get my belt loosened in about a week or so by a guy that has a spyder and adjusted his own. The dealer just refuses to loosen it anymore. I have between 1500 and 2000 miles on mine so do you think in that amount of miles that this could be doing damage to my rear wheel bearings and front pulley. Also how much was the belt over the internet because i think someone said on one of these forums that the belt at the dealer is 600.00. Well thanks so much for your response. Have a great day. Bart