Belt Driven Motorcycles

[Ian]

Has anyone ever ridden one of the above ( American Heavy Plant & Agricultural Equipment Exempted).
Or has anyone ever converted a conventional Chain & Sprockets to Belt driven. I'd be very interested to find out more.

[Moto63]

Hi Ian. Big bro used to own a belt driven Kawasaki 305 back in the 90’s. I rode that a few times, generally short rides but once rode it up to, around and back from the Lake District. So approximately 100 mile ride
Cheers, Michael

[Ian]

Thanks for your reply Michael, any observations that stand out?
I'm trying to find out plusses (++) or negatives (- -) for the system

[xbally]

I ran a Kawasaki Z440 a couple of years ago.

It was a high mileage US import with a few issues but none were related to the belt drive.

I don't recall it being any different to a chain except I never needed to adjust the belt and the main advantage was the belt is much cleaner.

Not sure why belts never really caught on. You can get a conversion for some bikes. I think Hitchcocks may do one for the 650 Interceptor and associated models.

[Moto63]

Thanks for your reply Michael, any observations that stand out?
I'm trying to find out plusses (++) or negatives (- -) for the system

Well, it’s a long time ago since I rode it but I certainly don’t recall any negatives nor any real positives. There again it wasn’t my bike, and to echo Martins comments, I do remember big bro remarking how he never had to adjust or obviously oil the belt. So generally plus pints I’d have to say. Obviously the bike was a low capacity at 305cc so not putting out much power, certainly not to the rear wheel. So maybe belt drives would suit the lower capacity machines rather than the more more powerful stuff 🤷
Hope this helps
Are you thinking of converting one of your bikes?
Cheers, Michael

[Moto63]

Also, I’ve just remembered. I took a Buell out for a test ride back in around 1996’ish.
That was belt driven plus reasonably powerful. It just wasn’t powerful enough for me at the time, coming off a triumph speed triple. I rode the Buell for around 50miles without any form of issue regarding the belt. I liked the bike generally, it simply wasn’t fast enough for me at the time. Hence I bought my second speed triple and not the Buell