Help - Sportster front pulley nut won't budge! - Harley Forum

MONTY · #1 08-09-2009, 05:57 AM

HELP!!!!

OK, i've got fed up of rear belts cos:
1. They're not lasting as long as they should (don't want a discussion on why etc., been there with HDRCGB thanks!)
2. They go without warning and leave you ride-less until the new belt has arrived and they take ages to arrive (2 weeks in my case - doh!).
3. It seems to be too easy for people to get confused and screw things up even more - the belt that (eventually!) arrived was the wrong one, and this from an authorised stealership!

SO: I decided to convert to chain, and ordered a set of chain & sprockets, with next-day delivery (woohoo).

The kit arrived and i started the job. I've got as far as whipping off the rear pulley and replacing it with the new back sprocket, and the bike is back on its wheels, but the front pulley is proving to be a problem!

The front pulley nut (which is on a left-hand thread) really does NOT want to come loose. The Clymer manual says to put the motor in gear and so using the engine to lock the shaft, but I'm exerting enough torque to overcome the engine compression and turn it over, yet the nut still won't budge! I've tried the air impact wrench, but that didn't work either and i'm not too happy with subjecting the gearbox internals to that anyway ...

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for any help!!

MONTY

unclepsycho · #2 08-09-2009, 12:21 PM

Wow! Is this nut you are trying to take off in the primary? or is it the next nut behind the primary sproket nut? I'll go ahead ad describe my adventure with the primary chain sprocket nut, I think it is similar to your sporty, so here goes:

on my evo bike, the book showed putting a 'plastic' or some other material block in the primary gear to lock the primary chain in place. Then use a long cheeter bar. This block goes at the top of the chain, not the bottom. At the bottom the chain would put a lot of pressure on the adjuster and break it. I noticed the primary chain looked like it was gonna be damaged when I did this, since it was trying to climb over the block, but just as I was gonna let off, the nut came loose. They sell a block for this purpose in catalogs, but I used a cut to fit block of wood. and now I have wood chips to clean out of my chain.

The picture below shows me on the crankshaft nut, but I think it gives you the idea.

hobo55 · #3 08-09-2009, 12:31 PM

Have someone apply the rear brake or tie the brake pedal down while trying to get the nut free.

MONTY · #4 08-09-2009, 03:28 PM

Thanks, but sorry i maybe wasn't clear enough - it's the nut holding the tranny pulley for the final drive (to the back wheel) that I'm trying to get off so as to swap over to chain.

Problem is the reason for changing is (another) broken belt which left me coasting down the highway amongst heavy traffic ...doh!! So i don't have an intact belt to link the front pulley to the rear and then simply apply the rear brake to lock things up ... so i need another solution.

But actually, your post has reminded me (which i should have remembered) about the belt primary trick - i have belt primary on my Pan/Shovel bobber anyway! So i'll try and lock the pulley against something solid in the same area and then torque it again.

Thanks again for your efforts, I'll keep you posted.

Any other ideas / tricks, anyone?
Cheers

MONTY · #5 08-09-2009, 05:54 PM

Woohoo!!

Sorted. I cut a piece of bar to the right length and jammed one end it into between the teeth on the pulley, the other end I rested on the large captive bolt sticking out below and ahead of the pulley (which pokes through the case when it’s back on and is what you fasten the front silencer to). Then I attacked it again with the impact wrench and (after a while …) it came loose. At last!

Thanks again Scott

unclepsycho · #6 08-09-2009, 06:31 PM

Great!!!!
Sorry my description was for something else...but I'm happy that it sparked an idea for you to ''git-er-done"

Have fun with the rest of your project.

JCourneyaP · #7 08-09-2009, 11:03 PM

I dunno Monty. Belts do break. But.........How many have you broken? Have em on too tight or Aligned improperly?

MONTY · #8 08-10-2009, 03:56 AM

I got the bike ('91 XL883) 3 years ago with only 1900 miles on it (!!). It was the first Harley with belt final-drive that i'd ever had (prolly be the last now, LOL).

The first belt went at about 8 or 9 k, not sure now, but i put that down to the fact that it was 17 years old or whatever. All the same, £140 for a replacement and having to wait a week or two for it to arrive didn't enamour me much to belts, nor the fact that it went with no warning at all.

The second went 3 weeks ago now, with about 19,500 on the clock. Again it went without warning, leaving me coasting down the outside lane of the M6 amongst rush-hour traffic. Again it took ages (2 weeks) for the £140 replacement to arrive. I guess the last straw was finding that they (an authorised dealership) had sent me the wrong belt!!

I know there are arguments about how you adjust the tension and making sure you've got your wheel aligned, etc. etc., but ya know i think if you treat belts as carefully as chains then they should be as good or better. Well, they haven't been for me. They've lasted no longer than a well-looked-after chain, but they've gone without warning, leaving me off the road 'till i get the replacement through.

In contrast, with a chain:
1. You get plenty of warning that a replacement is needed, as your chain needs adjustment.
2. You can get 108 links of 530 chain almost anywhere, very quickly.
3. Even the full chain and sprockets kit (which I'd need every other change) only costs the same as a belt (and that's on next-day delivery too).
4. Modern chains last a lot longer than they used to, especially on HDs where they're not usually subject to huge power outputs like on sports bikes.

For me, the issue of not being off the road for ages is the clincher - this is my everyday ride for commuting, etc., and particularly since my Pan/Shovel bobber (now promoted to "Sunday Best") is currently partly dissmantled for a makeover i really can't be waiting 2 weeks for a new belt - let alone another 2 weeks while they send the right one!!

Cheers

MONTY