V Star 950 drive pulley problem

[@mehmetyuncu5899]

we also opened that same area because there was a squeeky sound.. in our situation there was no grease plus a lot of rust.. after greasing it all went fine and no more sqeeking.. thanks bro! hope u've solved ur problem.. cheers!

[@MountainGuerrilla]

The pulley comes staked from the factory, the nut is put on, then a punch is used to mash the edge of the nut and the shaft together, this prevents it from loosening. you must have removed the nut in the past and not either restaked it or used loctite. the shaft isn't too hard to replace if you are half way mechanically inclined.

[@keithdewees8885]

I have a 2014 Bolt-R spec. Bought it off the showroom floor with three miles on it. 42,000 miles and nine years later, it is doing the exact same thing as this video shows. If you own one of these bikes or the older V-Star 950, don't wait for symptoms. Replace the washer and locknut now as a preventive maintenance and use Red Heavy Duty Lock-Tite on it when you torque it down. I think I can still save mine, as the splines on the shift are wallowed, but still gripping, but I plan on replacing the pully and coating the inside surface with Lock-Tite #660 later on.

[@GuaranteedEtern]

Or get it looked at by a mechanic who is aware of these issues - the nut and washer may be fine, but the belt is just too tight. If the nut IS loose, have them check the splines and see (such that they can) if the bearing looks ok.

[@MountainGuerrilla]

do not, whatever you do, use red loctite, you need to heat it to remove it, it takes more heat than should be put into that shaft, use blue block tite. and on the splines use Molykote, spline wear is cause by fretting, the microscopic action of rust welding and breaking over a period of time. It remoives material from both surfaces, causes a fine dark red dust, and will result in the output shaft needing replaced, I think the pulleymust be haredr than the shaft becasuse most pulleys don;t wear as bad as the shafts do.

[@paulacabbo466]

I was going to get the 950 tourer but got the 1700 roadstar because of the pulley alignment problems on 950"s the engine on some 950's isn't straight in the frame or its off to one side

[@propaneandpropaneaccessori3446]

I was thinking of buying a vstar. I guess I could ask to open up the cover and look at the pulley and shaft whenever I do

[@BEEBEE159]

So much for belts being less maintenance than chains.

[@MountainGuerrilla]

less doesn't mean none, this was taken apart and not put back together properly

[@georgecanakis1075]

I just saw your video and i feel for you brother. I have the roadstar 1600 and i caught it just in time. They all have this problem i put a new nut and washer and red lock tight on the threads then i torque it at 62 pounds hasn't moved since thats a lot of damage that gets created.

[@GuaranteedEtern]

Is there any way to know if the bearing was damaged? I mean, I know if it spins but it's hard to hear any noises with the motor/road unless it's really bad.

[@GuaranteedEtern]

So, my 950 had the belt WAY too tight, and I started hearing a sound when rolling off the throttle. So, I took it to a shop and the guy eased the tension on the belt and found the pulley nut was loose (nothing like what you had), so he tightened it with some Loctite - sounds much better, but even the mechanic said "maybe it's time to sell it". My worry is the bearing now has much more wear than it should, and cracking the case is way beyond my weekend mechanic skills. Bearing failure seems like one of those things that could happen tomorrow, in a week or never. If the bearing was bad, would I know right away?

[@yammieboost4714]

Yes on the output shaft, locktite red, not blue. It's also extremely important that it is torqued to the correct spec and that you re-peen the nut it the locking grooves.

[@brucewayne-ej3cx]

Thank u

[@ijabbs143]

I heard someone say they welded the pully on.. Wonder what it cost to be repaired proper. What are you planning to do?

[@GuaranteedEtern]

@@ijabbs143 I suppose that could work if the splines are still somewhat intact and keep the pulley on straight - especially on an older bike where rebuilding the motor isn't worth it.

[@ijabbs143]

@@GuaranteedEtern I think someone welded and then sold it off. I would never do that to someone.

[@GuaranteedEtern]

@@ijabbs143 Yeah - someone looking to do some maintenance would be "WTF" - but this would only be something you'd want to do for an older bike - i.e. one where you would junk it if the only option was a total engine rebuild or replacement, which sounds like this repair would require.

[@HaiVu]

How did you solve your problem? I have a similar peoblem, tho not exact the same: when I took the nut off, a part of the shaft (about 3/4 inch of the tip) came with it. To replace the shaft I have a mechanic friend estimated it to be a $3000 (Canadian dollar mind you) to replace it, $2k in labour and $1k for parts. That's about how much the bike is worth. So second option is to tap a bolt onto the end of the shaft to hold the pulley in (going to a shop to see if they can do this). Third option is to sell the bike for scrap. I am hoping the second option will work.

[@bigpig41]

put er back together with your shim if you think it needs to be there for alignment purposes.....tighten your nut down and then take a titanium or cobalt drill bit and drill between the pulley and shaft at the area where there is a trough between two teeth on the shaft....and after you get a hole drilled take hardened dowel pin or roll pin from harbor freight and drive them in each of about four holes you drilled around the shaft evenly spaced. You may want a washer under the nut then that covers each of the four pins. How do I know if my 09 V-star is one likely to have problems? from the V.I.N. ??

[@markratner4445]

You must not have read about 12 valve Cummins? You do not put a dowel pin in places like that!

[@ericx7476]

Man that sucks, I've read on the forums about people having problems with that, belts wearing out fast, the noise . The early year models had issues, that's why I don't wanna buy a used one, kinda scared to run into an issue like that, here in california I see 2009 models for almost 5k! Used!

[@yammieboost4714]

Eric X I wouldn't be scared of them, other than this she has been perfectly reliable, and for everyone else this fix corrects the belt with no issues. I'm 100% sure that the nut coming loose is my own fault.

[@cjmars822]

I have an 09 with 11,000 miles on it amd the front pulley shaft broke going down the freeway. Basically have to put a new engine in it now.

[@oritawey]

I have a 2013 950 and I love it but ill keep an eye out for the pully

[@bdh821]

My trans felt like it was skipping/slipping from a stop on a semi aggressive start. I assume this is the reason why?? I also have a 2012 vstar 950 touring..

[@MountainGuerrilla]

I've got this problem, my output shaft is fine, about to delve into the clutch and see if it;s there.

[@tommcintosh6006]

I just ran into this problem with my 99 Road Star. It's not as bad as yours but the splines are wearing down quite a bit. Did you end up getting a fix? I was thinking of just finding a way to permanantly fix the pulley on. Drilling a hole throught the pulley and the spline shaft and running a pin in might work. What did you come up with?

[@yammieboost4714]

Tom McIntosh the fix for me was a new motor and lots of locktight on the nut holding the pulley. Drilling and pinning would be a major pain as you'd have to tear the motor down to get the shaft out anyways and at that point just throw a new shaft in her. I ended up rebuilding the motor and keeping it as a backup.

[@ghostrider5201]

I have this problem on an identical motorcycle. I vant to buy a new pulley and shaft. I am interested in whether it is possible to pull out the entire gearbox on the right case without touching the crankshaft?

[@HaiVu]

Had consulted a few mechanics, and they all said you have to tear the engine apart to replace the drive axle. Would take 2 days (16 hours) to do this, around these parts (Canada) shops charge $125/hr, so that's $2k in labour alone. I am hoping to find some other solution to mine, similar to the guy who made this vid.

[@propaneandpropaneaccessori3446]

So I'm guessing you need a new output shaft and to do that you would have to split the transmission from engine?

[@yammieboost4714]

Cats n Cars yes you have to split the cases to replace the output shaft. The later vstars don't have this problem, and as far as I can tell it's limited to the 950. Other than this I can't say enough good things about the bike.

[@ridewithme3428]

Do you think the shim could’ve made it worse? By having less tooth for the pulley to grab?

[@GuaranteedEtern]

If the nut was literally finger tight, maybe it was creating a space for the pulley to slide back and forth, reducing the area the splines have to grip causing them to start fracturing? Normally, the spline/pulley are pretty tightly mated so you don't get tons of movement... the over tight belt probably causes tons of strain on the bearing not the splines.

[@shortattentionspangarage1312]

That is a terrible shit sandwich ya got there. I'm digging into my 950 cush drive bearings now, they went south on my about 300 miles from home at the beginning of a trip up to the Smokey Mtns.

[@andysmith6896]

This is probably an old post now but...my question is....if you had your time over again what, if anything would you do differently? Not put the shim in (assuming this exacerbated the issue?) spent more time jeffing around trying to align the rear and front pulley? Its an awful predicament in reality and like others have said Yamaha should have recalled them but I guess there was never enough units shifted in the first place....

[@yammieboost4714]

If I had to do it over again I would do a chain conversion... Which is exactly what I'm working on now. Ive had never ending issues with the belt on this bike, I wish a company would offer a chain kit for them but as we speak it's a custom job.

[@chasejones7468]

my scr950 did the same thing red dust and smooth (formerly) splined drive pulley and shaft

[@duelrunner1768]

Yamaha seriously needs to do a recall for this. I have a 2012 950 with the same issue.

[@yammieboost4714]

Big Black Cycles i agree i aeem to have solved it with a generous amount of thread locker.

[@brucewayne-ej3cx]

@@yammieboost4714 ima try it

[@yammieboost4714]

As an update I haven't had any more issues since the thread locker, I just check every now and then to make sure everything's still tight, 20,000 miles and counting.

[@brucewayne-ej3cx]

@@yammieboost4714 did u put the thread locker on the output shaft?

[@markratner4445]

Does anyone know if this repair is backed by Yamaha? 26k on my 09 and I have this issue.

[@terryw7520]

Where did you get the spacer for the front pulley? What was the final fix. I need to fix my wife's 950 her belt chirps and we need to fix it. Thanks

[@yammieboost4714]

The spacer was from tractor supply, I wouldn't recommend it however as it turned out to not be hardened and wore away over time. The best solution to belt chirp I've found is to make sure the rear axle is as straight as possible to ensure the belt doesn't ride excessively on one side of the pulley, and I also use a lube that you are SURE is safe for the belt. I use a product called Yamalube. It is expensive but I spoke with a Yamaha rep and was assured that it wouldn't damage the belt, making it my choice. Sadly however I still face belt squeak and wear issues and I'm currently building a chain drive conversion. Maybe someday I'll have a video on it if I ever get my shit together haha.

[@kickflipless]

if you do that video, definitely update here. I'd love to convert

[@hauk3839]

I just bought a 2015. I hope it doesn't do that. I got a 1 year warranty do that should help

[@rudycantu2907]

I have a 2015 Yamaha v star 950 at 16000 miles I change oil brake pads and just recently the back tire nothing else but I bought it brand new it seems bullet proof this video is really scary though. Hope you have same results.

[@maranathalifewellnessworld7888]

My 2015 is doing it now. I just retorqued the 30mm nut. The pulley was loose, but you cannot tell with tension, so remove belt and check for play. Red rust dust is a tattle-tale on this issue and Yamaha definitely knows this is a problem, but they so not care, cause we are stupid enough to keep buying them.

[@bigpig41]

Are those teeth on that splined transmission shaft TAPERED(designed to tighten up as you draw the pulley nut up ?

[@jamesweber4938]

No

[@Miguel-ng5wm]

Was that regular wear or was it because of the stress from all the extra torque of the nitrous?

[@yammieboost4714]

Martin Delira This wasn't caused by the nitrous, it was caused by the nut working itself loose and the pulley being able able to chatter around.

[@reb64000]

I've got a 09 with 35,000 miles no problems yet. That sucks!

[@GuaranteedEtern]

Dude I had the same and it started making noise a week ago.

[@marknodwell7920]

Hey man. Do you have to remove the swing arm to swap the belt on that 950?

[@yammieboost4714]

Mark Nodwell nope you can get it out with the swing arm in place you just have to squeeze it between the frame and swing arm.

[@marknodwell7920]

@@yammieboost4714 can you dm me? I have questions...

[@yammieboost4714]

I'm out working on a ship right now and only have my phone, I don't think I can dm in the app, but I'll answer any questions you got

[@marknodwell7920]

@@yammieboost4714 sure. Okay... 1) where did you cut your back fender? 2) is there anything I can do to prevent me from losing my front pulley like that 3) have you found a non-yamaha replacement belt in your travels? I can't find any spec (length and tooth count) 4) have you found the "oil light" coming on when first riding the bike is an issue? My oil level is fine, but the first 10 or so km's after starting it up at the beginning of the day, will throw the red oil light on Thats all for now. I think my belt is stretched and am about to embark on swapping it myself.

[@yammieboost4714]

1) the back fender is cut immediately behind the seat 2) your best bet on the pulley is don't remove it unless absolutely necessary and if you do make sure you torque it to the proper spec and use lots of locktight 3) the only belt I've used is factory yamaha, as far as I can tell no one makes one with our tooth count. 4) I've found the oil sensor to be extremely sensitive on my bike, going off if more than a 1/4 quart low and I've even seen it flicker in tight corners. I would add a 1/2 quart and see if that helps her out, I keep mine about a quart overfilled and I've never had any issues going on 70,000 miles now.

[@bricejevinn]

When I take off in first or second hard the bike starts to jerk until I let off the throttle a bit.... could this be the same problem?!

[@bmwm5f10]

Did you sort this problem?

[@kickflipless]

I have the same issue on mine. Had it right after I got the bike and the shop fixed for free but never told me the issue. I've put about 10k on it since then and now it's doing it again. Curious what action I need to take

[@bricejevinn]

@@kickflipless primary chain...stretched or loose...put a new one on..homy shit a new bike!!

[@charlesrchamberlain]

mine just did this today. how hard is the fix

[@yammieboost4714]

charlesrchamberlain how bad is the shaft? I decided to just swap in a new motor off eBay, it was a little more expensive but the turnaround was faster.

[@charlesrchamberlain]

shaft and pully are destroyed already replaced the pully. i dont know how to replace the shaft but i bought a brand new one.

[@yammieboost4714]

charlesrchamberlain that is the output shaft for the transmission, in order to replace it you have to split the cases, I definitely wouldn't try it unless you have experience building motors.

[@charlesrchamberlain]

YammieBoost ive rebuilt cars all my life but never mess with bikes. i know its the same almost just smaller. then again i dont want to risk it. thank you for the help.

[@yammieboost4714]

charlesrchamberlain the only major difference is that on bikes the transmission and engine share the same case, making transmission work a real pain, your very welcome.

[@cukymonster33]

:(