Lifespan of the CVT belt

Akkis

Member
Hi all.

Apologies if this was already discussed. I recently did my 12K service and that was a pretty penny (approx $1500). They replaced everything that is sched. for the 12k service (belt, rollers, some other things). My question is it really a necessary change of the belt every 12K? The upkeep on this bike is gonna kill me.

I read the burgman 650 belt basically never needs to be changed, why isnt that the case with the BMW? Whats the longest a belt has lasted for someone?

Thanks in advance.

Akkis
 

davidh

Member
Hi all.

Apologies if this was already discussed. I recently did my 12K service and that was a pretty penny (approx $1500). They replaced everything that is sched. for the 12k service (belt, rollers, some other things). My question is it really a necessary change of the belt every 12K? The upkeep on this bike is gonna kill me.

I read the burgman 650 belt basically never needs to be changed, why isnt that the case with the BMW? Whats the longest a belt has lasted for someone?

Thanks in advance.

Akkis

Excellent question and I'm not sure anybody knows. I, too, have been replacing mine about every 12k miles (I just replaced my third one last week at 15k miles). The short answer is that I don't believe there's any warning when the belt is ready to go. It'll just break and probably at the worst possible time (e.g., going 80+ MPH down the freeway). Were that to happen there are two possible outcomes -- 1) the bike becomes a rock and you have to get it off the road before being run over, or 2) the belt shreds, gets caught around the clutch or driven shaft and locks up the back wheel (with an even worse outcome). I've never experienced either but have friends who have both, mostly on Vespas but I believe the principle applies here as well.

For my piece of mind, I'll continue replacing at 12-15k miles. Finally, it's a pretty simple job and will definitely save you many hundreds of dollars!!!
 

justscootin

Member
I changed my first belt at 15,000 miles. I am not sure about when it is time to change it except what they tell us at 12,000 miles. The other thing you have to careful about is to inspect other parts such as the seal behind the clutch.

The belt may not break or shred but it will become to small and leave you with minimal power
 

exavid

Member
Honda recommends changing their CVT belt around 15,000 miles or so but I changed the belt on my '07 Silverwing at 24,000 miles. It measured out very close to the new belt and looked almost identical. The C650 belt setup is nearly the same as the SW, I have a new belt for my GT on hand, stored in a dark, cool place in a sealed plastic bag and will take a look at the original belt around 20,000 miles if no unusual sounds or anything occur. I bought one of the Mitsoboshi belts That Skutor mentioned from Italy for $100 a couple months ago and will use that when the time comes.
 

wsteele

New member
I had the belt and roller changed at 16000 miles and had them return the parts to me the rollers look almost new and the belt look the same no glazing or wear I think the belt could last twice the milage that they recommend for change, and that would depend on how you ride, lots of fast take offs and hard driving will take its toll, it's a crap shoot.
 

JaimeC

New member
My belt was replaced at around 20,000 miles, and only because a leaking seal behind the clutch got the clutch and belt soaked in fluid, so my belt replacement didn't cost me a thing (replaced under warranty). :)
 

justscootin

Member
It was the cost of hassle and being the passenger going home and recovering the scooter latter

My belt was replaced at around 20,000 miles, and only because a leaking seal behind the clutch got the clutch and belt soaked in fluid, so my belt replacement didn't cost me a thing (replaced under warranty). :)
 

JaimeC

New member
True Dat. But I did have a pleasant ride home from Rochester once it was FINALLY repaired. The leaking seal wasn't even what caused me to break down on the side of the road, either but I'm glad it was fixed.
 

kreiman

Member
I think BMW's service intervals err on the side of caution and are probably mandated by lawyers and accountants rather than engineers. BMW recommends replacing the alternator belt on my 1995 R1100RS every 24,000 miles. I didn't replace the original belt until it had 80,000 miles on it. I don't recommend ignoring BMW's service intervals, but I think my alternator belt experience illustrates my point. I think BMW also recommends replacing the drive chain on the C600/C650 at 12,000 miles too and I've heard a couple of people who do their own maintenance say that the chain was fine and they just needed to replace the adjuster with the next larger size. Since the chain runs in oil, I don't plan on replacing mine until I've used all 4 sizes of chain adjusters. My C600 Sport has 6,000 miles on it and doesn't have enough slack in the chain to need the second adjuster yet. As for the belt, I'm guessing that it will wear width wise becoming too narrow which will cause it to slip or cause the clutch engagement RPM to change long before it will actually break. I had a Suzuki King Quad 700 ATV with a snow plow on it that I used for 5 years when I lived in Colorado. I abused the heck out of that thing and would plow massive amounts of snow with it until the belt would actually slip and begin to smoke and you could smell burning rubber. It never broke and I never replaced it in the 5 years I owned it. Again, just my 2 cents worth (for what it's worth), and since I do my own maintenance (I also run my own independent motorcycle repair shop), I'm willing to take my chances as I inspect things such as the belt and chain fairly frequently. However, I don't necessarily recommend that approach for those who rely on the dealer for service. Roll the dice at your own risk!! I'm just glad I grew up with a Dad who was a mechanic as doing my own maintenance has saved me a fortune in the 30 plus years I've ridden BMWs. I couldn't afford to ride them otherwise!!
 
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Vago

New member
I have a 2013 GT with 36,000 miles on it. At 26,000 miles the dealer did the big service. Replaced the rollers on the 'clutch' which were on backwards ( I was charged for parts but no labor on the entire service since it was the first time they had done a scooter service). They said the belt looked fine, the drive chain was replaced due to a tight spot in the chain. Supposedly the valves were fine. Most of my riding is rural and I don't have the city driving 'stop and go'. The dealer really doesn't have a clue about scooters because they don't sell many, and no one rides them enough to need service beyond oil changes. I wouldn't buy another one, or BMW for that matter. I need to stop by our local big city Suzuki dealer (the owner is the chief cook and bottle washer and mechanic) and ask him about the Burgman belt changes. I could rebuild my old Harley EVO for the price a major service on this scooter. I bough it thinking, gee, scooter, simple, cheap, comfortable. Like the bike, too bad about the Ferrari maintenance.
 

JaimeC

New member
Supposedly, the Burgman belt is a lifetime part. Browsing the Burgman discussion forums, though, that's a pipe dream. It is also a MAJOR job to replace (because the engineers didn't think it would ever have to be replaced). Caveat Emptor.
 

bicyclenut

Member
When I changed my belt at 13,000 miles it showed no real signs of wear nor any signs of imminent failure. Unfortunately I forgot to use a set of caliper to measure the new belt vs. the old belt to see how much wear was present at that mileage. At some point this year I'll probably but a replacement to have on hand for future changes and I'll have to measure and compare. Based on the belt condition I probably wouldn't have changed it, but when you buy it at $112 and you spend that much time getting at it, you might as well go ahead as it isn't much more time, you spend more time getting at it. That is one of the reasons for some of the high maintenance and repair costs - getting at the parts to be changed and replaced. Lots of panels and plastic to remove to get at things and it not usually just one panel off, it becomes multiple panels and are stacked or one needs to be removed to get another off. So much is packed into a streamlined body and hidden under these. When I've seen my buddy do work on his Sports Touring bike its much the same, lots of stuff to remove to do the work and get at the parts, this all takes time and patience.

When I purchased the BMW I was very worried about the maintenance costs seeing posts about dealer work and with limited information about true required maintenance and intervals. Initially the BMW seemed so much more complex and newer in design that my previous Honda's and I was resigned to the fact that I would probably need to take it into the dealer for maintenance and repairs. The 12K service was not something I looked forward to and I figured I might have to start a savings plan to be ready. However, after lots of research online (this forum and others), purchase of the repair CD, some You Tube videos, I have been able to do all the required maintenance on my own and I have found the maintenance costs to be quite reasonable, about on par with my previous 2 Honda scooters. You do need a collection of non-speacialized tools - torx bits and wrenches for sure, a torque wrench and a couple of specialized motorcycle/BMW tools (variator holder, axle tool). Otherwise you don't have to be some expert mechanic, just have some mechanical aptitude and the ability to follow diagrams and steps in a manual. Going at it slowly and carefully and many should be able to do much of this maintenance on their own. At 13K my total maintenance costs are only just above $1000 and about 1/2 of this is the 2 sets of tires I have replaced. We won't talk about the add-ons and farkle (aux lights, mounts, topcase, side cases, bags, etc.) that is probably more now that the maintenance, although some of that can be moved over to a new bike when the time comes.
BMW Maintenance.jpg
 

JaimeC

New member
FWIW, the C650GT hasn't been any more maintenance intensive than my old Yamaha TMAX. In some respects it is actually cheaper because the TMAX had a 4,000 mile interval for the engine and a 3,000 mile interval for oil changes. The C650GT is pretty much every 6,000 miles so it goes into the shop less often for maintenance than the TMAX did.
 

650Gtbrat

New member
Hi all.

Apologies if this was already discussed. I recently did my 12K service and that was a pretty penny (approx $1500). They replaced everything that is sched. for the 12k service (belt, rollers, some other things). My question is it really a necessary change of the belt every 12K? The upkeep on this bike is gonna kill me.

I read the burgman 650 belt basically never needs to be changed, why isnt that the case with the BMW? Whats the longest a belt has lasted for someone?

Thanks in advance.

Akkis
I got 40k on the belt on my 2013 before it failed just outside of Moosemen Saskatchewan, I'm from Calgary.
 

Pappy13

Active member
knowing this is all old info, just wanted to post, mine had 20,500 miles I replaced it with the sliders and the belt "looked" fine. Slightly narrower than the replacement, not quite as "tall" and turning it inside out revealed many cracks between the teeth.
 
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