Drive Belt Failure

[outlander]

My pcx was at 14,500 miles. The belt failed tonight, hopefully no damage was caused. From now on I will replace belt every 10,000 miles instead of 15,000.

[Mel46]

15,000 is the recommended time but there are factors that can change that. For instance, if you do a lot of stop and go, and the "Go" requires that you accelerate quickly, you are going to wear your belt out faster. At 14,500 on your belt I would have been looking at the belt often. I think city riding should prompt a belt change at 12,000 miles.

On my wife's bike we changed it at 10,000 miles and kept that belt as an emergency backup. Since we have slowed our riding considerably she has very few miles on the new one, but I may take the cover off and inspect the belt for age..

[iceman]

Changed the belt for the 1st time at approx 18,000 miles - came out looking like new and the width was uniform and good too. Still, it had done more than it should so changed it anyway (had a hard time getting the variator nut off the 1st few times I took a look, and then getting the cover off due to one of the locating posts being seized!

Don't buy a dodgy Ebay belt or special kevlar type, the belt is one thing you should get from a dealer to be sure it's proper spec.

[you you]

15,000 is the recommended time but there are factors that can change that. For instance, if you do a lot of stop and go, and the "Go" requires that you accelerate quickly, you are going to wear your belt out faster. At 14,500 on your belt I would have been looking at the belt often. I think city riding should prompt a belt change at 12,000 miles.

On my wife's bike we changed it at 10,000 miles and kept that belt as an emergency backup. Since we have slowed our riding considerably she has very few miles on the new one, but I may take the cover off and inspect the belt for age..

If you do then do a garage shot.

[Gil]

Check the width of the belt. I'm wondering if it went under the service limit.

[Mel46]

On my wife's bike we changed it at 10,000 miles and kept that belt as an emergency backup. Since we have slowed our riding considerably she has very few miles on the new one, but I may take the cover off and inspect the belt for age..

If you do then do a garage shot.

Since we moved I am still trying to locate things and organize the garage. I will need room to work on our bikes, so I suspect that it will be a while longer before I take the bikes apart again. Meanwhile, I know that they both run quite well. I rode each one out to our new house from our previous one with absolutely no problems. I took my wife's bike on that run at night and the lights worked as anticipated. A 1 hour night ride in the country is great on a PCX.

[OldGuywhoTinkers]

I have read that a GENUINE HONDA BELT should go 15,000 miles safely, and I am currently planning on that. It makes more sense to change the belt and repair any variator or rear drive face drive issues at the same time.

[Mel46]

It will last the recommended 15,000 miles under most conditions. There have been members here who have gotten more than that out of their belt, but I would recommend getting a replacement before that time, just in case. It is not a good feeling to be pulling shredded pieces of belt out of the case in the dark, on the side of the road, using a flashlight.