FXD Dyna rear pulley wear diagnosis help

[Hutch]

I Snapped a belt on my 2000 FXD at 50k and thought I would treat the old girl to a a set of pulleys at the same time.

I bought a DOSS after marker 'Hard anodised' one and after 6 or 7 k my belt started chirping (particularly when under load).

Bottom line the rear pulley has wear on both flanks of the teeth, but also the top of the tooth has been 'squared off' the combination results in a knife edge - this I feel is a bad thing? - pictures attached.

I have always paid attention to belt tension (setting it up with no shocks fitted and swinging arm pivot directly between the pulley centres to 1/4" deflection with 10lb load) and my rear wheel is straight according to the drilled holes in the swinging arm relative to the rear axle. I will admit the belt got a little loose (1/2" deflection) on a long touring holiday - just before the chirping got bad.

What I took for granted was that the new pulley had the same offset as the original. When I look at the wear pattern on the pulley the belt has been rubbing against the left (outside) wall of rear pulley but the inner edge is untouched.

The belt runs up against the flange on the left (outside) side of the front pulley (pic also attached) - I believe that is the design intent.

I am biting the bullet and paying the £400 ish for an HD original pully and will pay a lot of attention to the alignment.

Any further wisdom on this subject would be much appreciated - especially a diagnosis of my pulley wear pattern.

 

[dynalow]

As much as it grits my sh!t to say it, sometimes there's no cost effective option to paying the OEM premium. That pulley looks softer than the belt it's supposed to tug around and without a chrome coating - a way the aftermarket keep it cheap - the belt has little chance.

 

[ss2]

Jersey HD is your friend when buying pulleys. Motorcycle Storehouse (BDL Brand) belts from Hogparts (or similar) are roughly half the price of oe though and are made by Gates, same as the HD ones.

 

[Hutch]

Thanks ss2 and dynaglow.

I have purchased a new HD pulley from Jersey HD (What a great guy! - he went the extra mile and then some to make sure it was the right part, and a good price)

Having fitted it I went through the shocks off, pulleys in line with the swinging arm pivot 10lb ¼” deflection routine, and confronting what I believe was partly to blame for the extra early demise of the soft aftermarket pulley, namely aligning the rear wheel.

I fussed about with the bent wire and the holes in the swinging arm method for a while then the penny dropped! All I had to do was spin the wheel forward and tweak the axel adjusters till the belt tracked in the centre of the pulley.

The bike feels better than ever now, gone are the odd squeaks and patches of vibration at various revs. On reflection this method seems like a no brainer, but I have never heard anyone mention it?