GEBE Kevlar Belt Source

GoldenMotor.com

Tom Allen

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
77
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Chicago
Does anyone know where I can get a belt for my GEBE equipped bike? I don't want to buy from GEBE if I can help it. I think they milk it too much.
 

silvaire

New Member
Jan 25, 2009
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North of the Golden Gate
The difficulty is locating this size belt with Kevlar cord.

I do agree that some of GEBE's prices are a bit high, but I don't think $32 shipped for their belts is all that bad.

If you happen to find a good online retail source for HTD profile Kevlar belts though, please post it.
 

Tom Allen

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
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Chicago
I did not realize that the price included shipping. That is the issue ordering belts from parts suppliers--they seem to all ship UPS and the shipping rate can easily double the cost.
 

Bohemian_Lady

New Member
Feb 7, 2013
110
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0
Hawaii
Edit/Update: So I heard back from Gates Belts, and here is the email I was sent.
I am currently trying to source these belts as well, I went to the manufacturer website first. Tried the number string printed on the side of the belt, nothing. Measured the belt and counted the teeth, selected the proper category... not there. I am emailing them now to see if I can special order them.

Edit/Update: Here's the scoop via email from Gates Belts

Mandy,

The 1635-5M-09K belts are considered a Made-to-Order item. They have to be ordered in lots of 39 and will be delivered at that quantity + or - 10%. The price is $15.99 each and there is a 6 week lead time.

If you are interested in purchasing them, please let me know.

Thanks,
Philip Biedler


So that's where that lands, $630 ish for 39ish belts. =/ Wish I had the money to buy them.
 
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Albula vulpes

New Member
Mar 16, 2010
419
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0
FL
You can buy the identical belt made by Gates but it is made with fiberglass cords instead of kevlar from royalsupply.com for the GEBE for $13.80


Plug 92932636 into the sku/part number search bar on royalsupply.com's website.
 

Tom Allen

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
77
0
0
Chicago
Edit/Update: So I heard back from Gates Belts, and here is the email I was sent.
I am currently trying to source these belts as well, I went to the manufacturer website first. Tried the number string printed on the side of the belt, nothing. Measured the belt and counted the teeth, selected the proper category... not there. I am emailing them now to see if I can special order them.

Edit/Update: Here's the scoop via email from Gates Belts

Mandy,

The 1635-5M-09K belts are considered a Made-to-Order item. They have to be ordered in lots of 39 and will be delivered at that quantity + or - 10%. The price is $15.99 each and there is a 6 week lead time.

If you are interested in purchasing them, please let me know.

Thanks,
Philip Biedler


So that's where that lands, $630 ish for 39ish belts. =/ Wish I had the money to buy them.
Something is not right here. Go to Royal Supply and try them. But if you are in Hawaii I don't know what the shipping would be because these guy only ship UPS.These are not Kevlar--as I said GEBE has a proprietary agreement with Gates--that must be part of the agreement--you have to order a huge number of belts before they can make them available to you.
 

chanse

New Member
Jun 28, 2014
5
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0
california
You can buy the identical belt made by Gates but it is made with fiberglass cords instead of kevlar from royalsupply.com for the GEBE for $13.80


Plug 92932636 into the sku/part number search bar on royalsupply.com's website.
hi how good is this belt compared to gebe belt.
 

Tom Allen

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
77
0
0
Chicago
That is something I have yet to find out. I still have the belt that I got form GEBE. I also have the belt I ordered from Royal. I carry it as a back up. When the kevlar belt goes I will install the new belt and we shall see. I will update. I speculate however that its longevity will be close enough to the kevlar belt to justify its purchase and its continued purchase.
 

FFV8

New Member
Oct 29, 2013
551
16
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Spring Valley NV
A properly designed belt drive should have great life. If you are experiencing short belt life you may have damaged drives or alignment issues - if the drive was designed properly in the first place.

An HTD belt drive is fairly forgiving, and will deal with dirt, oil and occasional overload. The timing belt in the average car goes 60,000 miles without issue, and many owners ignore the scheduled replacement - I have seen many with 100k + miles on them.

Without knowing the drive sheave tooth counts I can't do all of the calculations for you. But the belt part number posted here (327 tooth) is a non-stock part. It is a 9mm wide belt.

A 5mm pitch HTD belt, 9mm wide can carry anywhere from 2 to 12 Un-Corrected horsepower @ 6000 rpm, depending on the tooth count of the smaller sprocket.

The power correction is a step that is often overlooked. A single cylinder piston engine has one power pulse every 720 degrees, and a minimum correction factor of 2.0 should be applied. With any type of oscillating load, an additional correction of 0.5 or more should be added.

If you have a 20 tooth sheave on the engine (driver), it will have short belt life with a 9mm wide belt. If you have a 36 tooth sheave, the belt will last 2,000 hours or more.

So what are the tooth counts in this drive?
 

Bohemian_Lady

New Member
Feb 7, 2013
110
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0
Hawaii
The stock gear on my honda gx35 is a 12 tooth, the 327 tooth belt also came stock. I ordered the same belt when the first one went out, I read somewhere that any torque on the engine mount can affect belt life. Can anyone confirm this?

Tom: I'm going to go to the Royal supply website today to order the fiberglass belt as our back up... which is what the belt that is on its way was suppose to be. If I can figuer out exactly why our belt broke and fix it I'm thinking of putting the fiber glass one on immediately, as soon as I pull it out of the box. That way I can report back on the life expectancy, we ride rough out here I never expected the GEBE belt to last long. I figured 6 months to a year at best.
 
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Albula vulpes

New Member
Mar 16, 2010
419
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FL
I'm running a Tanaka 40 with a GEBE 13tooth pulley. The Tanaka 40 has more power than the GX35. My drive belt is in excellent alignment. I did get the GEBE 105G wheel though with the drive ring already attached though. I have not broken a belt. Knock on wood.
 

FFV8

New Member
Oct 29, 2013
551
16
0
Spring Valley NV
That 12 tooth driver is going to be hard on belts. It is way outside normal design parameters for 5mm HTD drives.

Yes, any flexing in the drive assembly that allows the shafts to deviate from parallel will shorten belt life. As the driver / driven become less than parallel, one edge of the belt begins to do most of the work, while the opposite edge is driven in to the guide flange by the side load.

What sort of belt failure are you seeing?

Shredded on one edge?

Teeth ripped off?

Just breaking across the width of the belt?

.
 

Bohemian_Lady

New Member
Feb 7, 2013
110
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Hawaii
FFV8: First belt failure was the belt simply not catching on the drive ring enough, it kept slipping despite being dry and oil free. The second belt failure was one edge shredded. I guess I need to go out and bend the mounting brackets so the don't put pressure on the axle nuts.

Albula: I have the same GEBE wheel, with drive ring already attached.

Also getting the fiberglass belt from Royal supply would have been an additional $45! Holy ****... The same belt directly from gates can be shipped to Hawaii via USPS for $3.50. and you get a per belt discount if you buy 10. I'm going to get one belt now to test it out, depending on how it performs I may order a larger batch.
 
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FFV8

New Member
Oct 29, 2013
551
16
0
Spring Valley NV
HTD drives should not "slip". There should be a solid tension - spring loaded tension devices are not a desirable feature. A properly aligned & tensioned HTD will run submerged in oil without issue.

The edge shredding is usually flexing in the drive system under load. It looks great static, and it shreds belts - a common complaint.

Do you have some pics of this drive? Perhaps an added stay or brace will solve the issue.

The fiberglass belt is very strong. If it runs straight with enough tension it should be fine. When setting tension, think guitar string, not floppy clothes line.
 

Bohemian_Lady

New Member
Feb 7, 2013
110
0
0
Hawaii
It's a standard GEBE set up. Aside from putting a strut from the engine mounting bracket to the rear fork just behind the breaks... I don't see a way to brace it. The Tensioner on the engine isn't bobbing at all really, it stays nice and tight. Not quite guitar string tight but any tighter and I'm afraid it would damage even the 105g spokes.
 

Bohemian_Lady

New Member
Feb 7, 2013
110
0
0
Hawaii
On and off road, the majority of the driving is done on paved roads. The bike is driven gently on the unpaved roads, the tensioner bobs a little bit on not paved roads but only if its really rough. On paved roads it doesn't move at all.

He uses it twice a week to get to work, 30 mile round trip. And I drive it once or twice a week, between 15 and 30 miles depending on where I work or what errands need to be run.
 

FFV8

New Member
Oct 29, 2013
551
16
0
Spring Valley NV
That unit looks like it is braced fairly well.

Spring tension can allow the belt to hop teeth under shock, which can damage a belt. Not an issue if the belt is protecting more expensive parts, but they do make an expensive fuse.

Just make sure the wheel axle & drive pulley stay parallel. Use a straight edge across the big pulley, and a second one across the drive pulley.

A fiberglass belt may work out fine. The 12t driver is going to shorten belt life regardless of reinforcing fiber type.

Keep the belt tight, and let us know how it holds up.
\
 

Tom Allen

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
77
0
0
Chicago
FFV8: First belt failure was the belt simply not catching on the drive ring enough, it kept slipping despite being dry and oil free. The second belt failure was one edge shredded. I guess I need to go out and bend the mounting brackets so the don't put pressure on the axle nuts.

Albula: I have the same GEBE wheel, with drive ring already attached.

Also getting the fiberglass belt from Royal supply would have been an additional $45! Holy ****... The same belt directly from gates can be shipped to Hawaii via USPS for $3.50. and you get a per belt discount if you buy 10. I'm going to get one belt now to test it out, depending on how it performs I may order a larger batch.
I am surprised Gates will ship USPS. I was informed by Royal that Gates is the original shipper and only uses UPS. I will look into this matter.