I wanted rear belt drive on my new retro modern chopper. All the old rigid framed bikes from the factory were chain drive and they were messy and always need adjustment.
After doing a little research I chose the shortest belt available. It was 123 tooth and had been used on the very first rear belt drives Harley offered on Shovelhead models.
After installing the back wheel and belt I discovered I had two problems. The belt was too long and too wide.Later Harleys have narrower belts so I purchased a 70 tooth narrow rear belt sprocket and slit my belt on the milling machine to fit the late sprocket.
I wanted rear belt drive on my new retro modern chopper. All the old rigid framed bikes from the factory were chain drive and they were messy and always need adjustment.
After doing a little research I chose the shortest belt available.
Slitting a wide belt down to 1-15/16.
The skinny piece I slit off my rear belt. I offered it to a friend with an 883 Sportster. He didn’t see the humor. Haha.
If you look at the rear axle in the above picture, you see it is almost all the way back in the axle slot and the adjuster is near the end. This bothered me. A new bike should look like a new bike, not one with a belt stretched to the max.. I needed a fix.
I envisioned an axle spacer (photo above left) that doubled as an adjuster plate and would hide the appearance of the rear axle way back in the slot and the adjuster maxed out. So after a little imagineering I grabbed some stainless steel and headed to my milling machine.
My new axle spacer plates after I finished polishing them.
I don’t know about you but I think that looks a lot better and was well worth the effort.
