How to Tighten a Harley Belt Drive
- 1). Locate both rear axle nuts on the rear suspension swing arm on each side of the wheel hub. Slacken off but do not remove the nuts in a counterclockwise direction with an adjustable wrench.
- 2). Locate the axle adjusting nuts at the rear of the swing arm on each side of the bike. Use an adjustable wrench and turn each nut an equal number of turns in a clockwise direction to tighten the belt.
- 3). Check belt deflection when the bike is cold (it has not been ridden in several hours) with a rider sitting on the seat and the side stand up. Depress the belt at the middle point between the front and rear belt sprockets with your thumb and measure the amount of deflection with a ruler. Ensure belt deflection is between 5/16 inch and 3/8 inch. Make final adjustments on the axle adjusting nuts with the rider sitting on the bike until these measurements are obtained.
- 4). Tighten the rear axle nuts in a clockwise direction with an adjustable wrench.
- 5). Torque the rear axle nuts to between 60 and 65 foot-pounds of torque with a torque wrench.