Belt Chirp

I never had the issue with my Thunderbird but on the forums there was a lot of positive experiences with Food Grade Silicone spray. It was said the food grade spray had no acetone in it. The acetone can damage the belts apparently. The other point that was made was a little bit goes a LOOOOOONG way so use it sparingly or you'll end up with silicone everywhere.
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Sphinx said:
I never had the issue with my Thunderbird but on the forums there was a lot of positive experiences with Food Grade Silicone spray. It was said the food grade spray had no acetone in it. The acetone can damage the belts apparently. The other point that was made was a little bit goes a LOOOOOONG way so use it sparingly or you'll end up with silicone everywhere.
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That's the stuff I couldn't remember.
Supposed to help . . . for awhile.
 
Oh $hit...I almost made a smart a$$ comment about the fact the rockets don't have belts until I remembered we have a Tbird forum...no help to offer just a random comment
 
Don't know about Thuderbirds but the belt on my Softail would squeak if it was adjusted to tight, gotta remember there a toothed belt not a rubberband they don't have to be tight. When my Harley was new getting serviced where I brought it still in warranty the belt would be squeaking every time I picked it up. I would get home and back it of a bit and it would be all good. I told the shop about this and they said to put powder on it. Don't know if that would have worked as running it with the right deflection stopped the squeak. From memory 3/4 to 1 inch midway between the pulleys on the top.
 
I just did a two day run up into Kentucky on my Tbird Storm, chirps in tow. Put my Mp3 player ear buds in with Ozzy and Ray Wylie Hubbard on loud. No chirps and 400 plus miles of thrashing the sweepers and twisties. All good. My belt runs against the outside edge. Is any bike perfect ?
 
I do not know about Triumph dealerships but Harley dealerships make a habit out of setting belt tension way to tight. This can cause the noise you are describing. Check your belt deflection. Wheel would really have to be out of alignment to chirp.
 
i may as well give an opinion. i have never adjusted a belt on a motorcycle but i assume
it would be adjusted like a chain not to loose and not to tight. also the rim must be center as best as possible.
i can see that if it is to tight it might be stretching the belt and there fore making the lugs not mesh on the sprocket and making a squeal or chirp.
if the rim is not centered then the belt would run heavy along the side.
 
This video might clue you in on the problem. I had a belt break on my RK at just under 10K. I ended up going with a stronger belt that the dealer recommended for use on bikes pulling side cars. It sounds like a misalignment to me..
 
Mine was so bad I got rid of the bike. Nothing worse than sounding like a squeaky tricycle coming down the road. Good luck!
 
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