** Belt Noise **

[sakirider]

I ride a 09 Nomad, and I have been experiencing a lot of noise from the belt area. I think it is primarily from the front pulley area.

I took it to my local dealer in Ahwatukee (AZ) and they loosened the tension on the belt. That adjustment merely changed the belt from lower RPMs to about 40 to 50 MPH.

They worked on it again and installed a new belt. They inspected the pulleys and everything was okay. There was also no problem with the engine alignment.

After all this effort, the problem still persists. It is still noisy, it is embarrassing having people walking on the sidewalk look back.

The stealership called Kawasucki and they believe it is gear noise. I think not. Other makes don't make noise, just noisy pipes. I wonder why it is so difficult for Kawasucki to get installing a good belt drive correctly. I hate bring the bike back to the deal because now they are on my time, my time is valuable.

Anyone have a solution, besides selling the bike?

[gv550]

I had the same issue with my Voyager, and spent 3 months trying to get rid of the belt whine. See my detailed write-up on the VROC forum, and it is also on Delphi Vulcan forum, titled Voyager Belt Drive Saga. Lots of discussion about it going on.
In short, I found the pulleys to be out of alignment and the belt was rubbing hard on the front pulley flange, wore out my pulley and ground 1 mm off the side of my belt. Remove your front pulley cover and look to see if your belt is rubbing on the flange.
I ended up making my own motor mounts and moving the front of the engine so the belt now runs in the centre of the front pulley. No more noise, no whine at all at any speed.

Garry

[billz410]

Saki:

All I can say is if you have to go through all the work gv550 did, I'd be pretty damn disgusted. :(" title="" border="0"/>

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by billz410

Saki:

All I can say is if you have to go through all the work gv550 did, I'd be pretty damn disgusted. :(" title="" border="0"/>

I agree. I read his write-up on Delphi and can't keep from wondering why Kaw can't get this right. It's not like belt drive is a new concept. Kawasaki has used it for years on other models. Just one more reason Harley looks better me than it used to.

[glwilson]

This seemed to be a problem that owners noticed right away... and one that Kawasaki has not bothered to provide assistance with in any manner -- except maybe to deny what the problem is.

gv550's work to get a "fix" for this problem is far too complicated for many owners that do not have the skill, tools, or time to do.

Personally, I would be rather upset... and would be relentless in my "hounding" of Kawasaki and the dealer. I would show them what gv550 had to do to fix it also -- just so they could see that there is obviously a design-flaw and that it can be fixed.

[Netnorske]

Is this is a problem typical of all new 1700's, or something unique to those couple of bikes...?? I will be asking about it at the International Motorcycle show in Seattle next weekend.

[billz410]

Originally Posted by Netnorske

Is this is a problem typical of all new 1700's, or something unique to those couple of bikes...?? I will be asking about it at the International Motorcycle show in Seattle next weekend.

Well, I have a pretty good idea what kind of an answer you'll get from Kawasaki on THAT one.

This whole things reminds me of what I call the Bikes With Quirks Syndrome. Yes, I suppose one could say each bike has it's quirks...

But let's take for example, the pinging on the Nomad. Now I suppose if you never open the throttle beyond 1/8th, and are never going up a hill, never under any load, you may say the Nomad doesn't have an issue with pinging. I figure about 95% of us would disagree with that notion, and hence fuel commanders, PC II's and III's, and/or whatever else is needed.

Another bike with a 'reputation' is the Honda ST1300- for generating massive amounts of heat to the rider. I've never ridden one, and I know there are many PD's in Arizona that use them, so I guess either the motorcops are roasting to death, or they've come up with some Secret Solution to the problem. Most of the forums I've read, the owners have had mixed results with using that 'Reynolds Wrap' type shiny insulating sheathing (not sure what it's officially called) to deflect/defer heat away from the rider.

I talked with a dealer about this once, and he claimed it was 'isolated incidents' and 'you can't believe half the stuff you read on the Internet'.

Heating, pinging, vibration, whatever the issue is, most bikes don't develop a reputation for a certain issue by accident, IMO.

So now we start hearing of guys having belt/pulley problems on the 1700's. And as usual, dealers who can't/won't/don't know how to do anything about it.

This is not Kawasaki's first belt-drive bike, though, so I wonder what the issue is.

When you are spending over $15K on a brand new motorcycle, there is no way in the world you should be having to deal with these issues, or fabricate and wrench a solution that was a design flaw to begin with.

Far be it from me to promote HD, but I've spent a fair amount of time on HD Forums, etc., and have yet to find anyone complaining about belt issue like this. Buying a new motorcycle from a major manufacturer such as Kawasaki should not be a crap shoot- "I got one of the 'good' ones, you got one of the 'bad' ones." Kawasaki needs to pull their head out of their ass and finish designing a motorcycle before they put it on the market. Unfortunately, none of this ranting helps a fellow member with his immediate problem.

Disgusted in AZ :(" title="" border="0"/>

[drno]

Belt noise on the 1700 is very easily correctable. (my dealer did this for my bike and it is super quiet. Your experiance may differ and I take no responsibilty for anything)
1 - Find a dealer or anyone that will listen to you (hardest part)
2 - Belt book tension is about 3-4.5mm deflection with 10lbs force. My dealer told me he set it to 6.
3 - Make darn sure the rear wheel alignmet is fracken dead on. Mine was out just a hair.

Guess what. NO MORE BELT NOISE.

[cactusjack]

Personally, I think paying over $12-$13k for a motorcycle puts you into sort of an "elite" or "premium" league. Just like buying a luxury car, you are buying a luxury machine and have the right to expect it to perform as intended. So the 1700's have an issue with belt noise, okay...but Kawasaki's reluctance to do anything to correct it is unconscionable. Like the lack of accessory support for the 1600 Nomads, this is more proof that Kaw doesn't care about their customers, at least not their cruiser customers. This problem is affecting their flagship model (Voyager) and Kaw's silence on the issue is deafening.

I used to work for a distributor of a well-known Japanese copy/fax machine company. They had a brand new, high end model they came out with and we had sold a couple to our best accounts. When these copy machines started having weird problems, they sent a team of engineers from Japan to investigate. They observed and took notes and issued a field repair to correct the problem, as well as fixing the problem in future machines in production.

I don't know if any Kawasaki "moles" are on this forum or not. Nevertheless, I am going to state right here that there are those of us who will upgrade our rides someday. At least for me, how this situation is corrected will weigh heavily on my decision. Glitches are expected in the first run of any production item, I get that. It is also expected that the manufacturer will resolve those glitches in a timely manner.

[Cajunrider]

It seems that the belt noise problem is only occuring with the 1700's. My son rides an '08 900 LT Classic and there is no belt noise whatsoever. If the 900's don't have a problem, the 1700's shouldn't either. If they don't have this solved on the 2010 models, then they absolutely don't care. If it is solved on the 2010's, Maw Kaw should issue a recall on the '09 models and make their customers happy.

[gv550]

drno, I'm glad that loosening the belt and adjusting the axle eliminated your belt noise.
In the interest of science, could you check 2 things on your bike?
First, look at the left front motor mount, see if there is a gap between the rubber puck and the steel mount, then look at the right side and see if there is no gap and the puck is bulged.
Second, with the bike on the side stand, crawl under the right side and look forward with a flash light and see where the belt is running on the front pulley. The teeth will be shiny where the belt runs, and also see if the outer flange is shiny.
I did experiment with belt tension and axle adjustments and was able to reduce the noise at first, but as the miles rolled on the noise returned. Now that I have the belt running in the centre of my front pulley, I can set the tension to 3.5 mm and there is no noise.
I am not predicting any gloom for your bike, I'd just like to know if all 1700s are the same or maybe mine is just "special" :)

Garry

[billz410]

Originally Posted by gv550

drno, I'm glad that loosening the belt and adjusting the axle eliminated your belt noise.
In the interest of science, could you check 2 things on your bike?
First, look at the left front motor mount, see if there is a gap between the rubber puck and the steel mount, then look at the right side and see if there is no gap and the puck is bulged.
Second, with the bike on the side stand, crawl under the right side and look forward with a flash light and see where the belt is running on the front pulley. The teeth will be shiny where the belt runs, and also see if the outer flange is shiny.
I did experiment with belt tension and axle adjustments and was able to reduce the noise at first, but as the miles rolled on the noise returned. Now that I have the belt running in the centre of my front pulley, I can set the tension to 3.5 mm and there is no noise.
I am not predicting any gloom for your bike, I'd just like to know if all 1700s are the same or maybe mine is just "special" :)

Garry

Garry-

You're probably tired of even thinking about this problem...

For those who didn't explore your experience on the Delphi forums, etc., can you explain a little about what you ultimately had to do? Did you build a complete new motor mount? I think you had mentioned the factory mounts had elongated holes which you tried to use to your advantage, but to no avail.

Based on this experience, what do you think now? Would you buy another Voyager, or would you look at something else? Had you considered other bikes prior to the Voyager?

Thanks,

Bill
Casa Grande, AZ

[gv550]

Call me weird, but I actually enjoy these little challenges!
I still think the Voyager is a good motorcycle, and it is an absolute pleasure to ride. If mine were stolen, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
At this point these mods have been done to only one bike, and I think it would be irresponsible to suggest other 1700s will need it, time will tell. Maybe my bike is "special".

It is still a mystery to me.........why would Kawasaki want the belt rubbing on a flange at the far edge of a pulley? I checked other brands and the belt runs in the center of the front pulley, most don't even have a flange!
And why have a rubber motor mount that doesn't touch anything?

Garry

[billz410]

Originally Posted by gv550

Call me weird, but I actually enjoy these little challenges!
I still think the Voyager is a good motorcycle, and it is an absolute pleasure to ride. If mine were stolen, I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.
At this point these mods have been done to only one bike, and I think it would be irresponsible to suggest other 1700s will need it, time will tell. Maybe my bike is "special".

It is still a mystery to me.........why would Kawasaki want the belt rubbing on a flange at the far edge of a pulley? I checked other brands and the belt runs in the center of the front pulley, most don't even have a flange!
And why have a rubber motor mount that doesn't touch anything?

Garry

Yes, well this sounds like it was a challenge, all right. Perhaps the severity of your experience was limited- let's hope, anyways. Sounds like a few others have corrected the issue with rear-wheel alignment, but not everyone....

Hopefully SakiRider gets his issue resolved.

[drno]

GV550, will do. Bike is on stand in front of the garage and a bit hard to get at one side, it may take a bit of time to get at it. First warm day Ill pull it back and see what I can see. Ive riden about 7400km after the adjustment and havent had any issue.