timing belt age limit

Was planning on replacing my T-belt this winter on my 2003 ex plod ST1100. It's only done 59,000 miles but it's the thought of an 11 year old belt that worries me. After looking through this thread it seems I'm being silly to worry, but will probably do it anyway. I'll be doing it myself so will probably check valve clearances at the same time. The belt itself doesn't seem to cost much.

I generally change mine at 100,000 miles regardless of age. Got one coming up on my ST1100 2002 model.

garethjv said:

Was planning on replacing my T-belt this winter on my 2003 ex plod ST1100. It's only done 59,000 miles but it's the thought of an 11 year old belt that worries me. After looking through this thread it seems I'm being silly to worry, but will probably do it anyway. I'll be doing it myself so will probably check valve clearances at the same time. The belt itself doesn't seem to cost much.

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another option to consider is to wait a few more years/miles, then while you're in there replace the water pump, pulleys, etc. and you should be good for another 10-15 years.

I think I would worry more if the bike was left outside in extremes of heat or cold. If it's garaged, the belt shouldn't 'decay' as quickly. As someone on the board mentioned, there probably is an age limit to the belt, but no one has found it yet. I checked the belt on both my 2000 and most recently the 94 ABS I have in South Carolina. Both bikes' belts appear to be in excellent condition (the 00 has 26K on the odometer and the 94 has 28K). I'm in no hurry to swap out the belts, but may consider it in a few more years of ownership.

It is a Honda. Whenever you do your belt you are going to find it is in great shape. I just went 17K past my interval to change the belt in my Pilot, it looked new. Did I say it is a Honda?
I've done two belt changes on my 1100s and they both looked the same after going well past the due mileage.

Since this thread was is revitalized, it's a perfect opportunity to share the belt I put on for around 38.50 has gone for 20 thousand miles without a problem. I remember very clearly having the old one off that was 7 years old and it was hard to tell the difference by the way the belt looked. The new one had a white serial number on it which made the difference in which was which.

Erdoc48 said:

I think I would worry more if the bike was left outside in extremes of heat or cold. If it's garaged, the belt shouldn't 'decay' as quickly. As someone on the board mentioned, there probably is an age limit to the belt, but no one has found it yet. I checked the belt on both my 2000 and most recently the 94 ABS I have in South Carolina. Both bikes' belts appear to be in excellent condition (the 00 has 26K on the odometer and the 94 has 28K). I'm in no hurry to swap out the belts, but may consider it in a few more years of ownership.

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What you say makes a lot of sense. My reasoning stems from the advice that the belt should be 'inspected' at 60k. I figured that by the time I've got all the gubbins out of the way to inspect the belt, I may as well just replace the damn thing.

Also, I don't have the luxury of a garage, but I'm in the UK so apart from them dumping ultra-corrosive salt onto the roads every winter, there normally aren't the temperature extremes that you often get over in the US. I've already had to replace the alternator because of nasty corrosion issues (and had the swing arm welded up).

The water pump seems extortionate for what it is. Any info on the lifetime of this? Again I'd have thought it would lead a gentler life over here than in the US but I might be wrong.

Edit: just seen in the other thread on timing belt cost that it's possible to get a good look at the belt just by removing the valve cover end bits and turning the engine over. Think I'll do this and take it from there!

This forum's always full of useful info!

Gareth

Never inspected one in 250,000+ miles on 3 ST1100s. Don't check the valves either until 100,000 miles. The best thing you can do for a ST1100 is them often. ;-)

I wonder why automotive timing belts have a time/mileage replacement date yet Honda does not give both intervals for the ST's. Well - thats what my car mechanic told me for our last car - a 1992 Camry wagon that we junked this year with 190K miles and also for my 89' Honda Accord - still running strong. Well, maybe he has a vested interest in changing same, but as noted, the consequences of a failed belt can total the engine. I lean toward the 100K, maybe 10 to 12 year interval myself - as much as for peace of mind as for mechanical reliability.

Just changed the belt on my '98 @ 76K miles. It still looked new. I was more concerned about the age than mileage. But now I have a new belt installed and am all set for as long as I'll have the bike.

I'll tell you about Honda belts- my Dad was driving my sister's old 94 Accord for the past 10 years at least- it had > 250K on the odometer (the odometer stopped working ~ 20K miles ago)- the belt was never changed- it recently / finally gave up the ghost at 21 years AND > 250K miles, which I find astonishing! I saw the belt myself- it had some of the teeth/ rubber nubs missing and had areas of delamination as well as cracking. Still, that age and mileage is quite surprising for a rubber part. Because of the age/ rust of the rest of the car, the mechanic recommended not repairing it (because the money put into it would not be worth it)- my Dad now has a new(er) used car.

Erdoc48 said:

that age and mileage is quite surprising for a rubber part.

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The typical condition for those who replace belts on ST1100s some 15-20 years old is "the belt looked brand new, except for some of the lettering being worn". While they typically don't have 250k miles on them, they tend to fare much better overall than your Accord belt did in terms of longevity. I had a 1980 Scirocco with a timing belt that threw a few teeth at 10 years old, fortunately the engine was non-interference, so a quick belt swap and back on the road. But the construction of the ST belt is much higher quality than that one was. Don't know if all belts have gotten better over the years, or if Honda just always chose a higher standard, or both.

Just replaced the timing belt on my '98 with 76 K miles. The teeth looked almost like new. It probably would have lasted for another 10 years. But I would have been concerned about it failing.

my 97 has 62K on it and is the original as far as my knowledge. I plan on replacing it this winter, doing a valve check, inspect the clutch, change the gear oil and seals in the diff and check the gear mesh as well as inspect gears for wear, and any other things I can think of while I'm in there for nothing more than peace of mind

Steve :

I wouldn't worry about it . I just changed the timing belt on my '98 . I assume it was the original belt - said " Made in Japan" on it. It looked like new after 76K miles. But when you do replace it, you can get them online at Rock Auto ( Gates T325 ) for about $41.

I battled this exact question one year ago. I bought a belt for my 93' 1100 with 26k miles and it still sits on the shelf. I just bought a second ST 1100, 94' ABS/TCS, with 11k miles. I think I'll put the 93' on the rack and ride the 94'. However, I going to sell one of the two.

I bought a 1991 ST1100 with just over 17400 miles on it back in July. The original owner rode the bike for five years then parked it in his garage...with only occasional starts/short rides until I bought it. Rode it for around 300 miles looking to shake out obvious bugs...found none. Given my experience with a similar taled 1978 GL1000, I couldn't convince myself to just trust in the force. Took it down the first week of this month to replace the belt. The 'old' belt is original, no cracking, scrapes, or other signs of deterioration. I turned it 'inside out' looking to open any delaminations and found none. The flexibility of this belt feels the same as the new replacement.
Not being a crystal ball type, I feel better trusting the bike after the change...but...I see no reason this belt could not have made it to 100,000 miles or so. Just no age related issues I am familiar with Honda's earlier attempts at timing belts.
Think they finally got it right.

Deterioration cant be seen with the naked eye. Even when the flexibility is the same, there still can be hair cracks in the rubber. Which can turn into bad cracks.

My 1100 is from 1990 and had run 50k. When i changed the belt i noticed great flexibility with my old belt compaired to the new one.
Like day and night.

And 50k could not have caused this. This was also an issue due to the age.

I believe you when you say it could have lasted 100k more.

But as oldbiker said: to get a piece of mind by changing the belt, says it all.

Guess that the age of the timebelt comes along with that feeling.
There is no time limit for the belts. Just common sense.




De dwazen zijn die mensen die denken dat een spiegel er alleen is om hun uiterlijk een cijfer te geven.

Oldbikefixr said:

I bought a 1991 ST1100 with just over 17400 miles on it back in July. The original owner rode the bike for five years then parked it in his garage...with only occasional starts/short rides until I bought it. Rode it for around 300 miles looking to shake out obvious bugs...found none. Given my experience with a similar taled 1978 GL1000, I couldn't convince myself to just trust in the force. Took it down the first week of this month to replace the belt. The 'old' belt is original, no cracking, scrapes, or other signs of deterioration. I turned it 'inside out' looking to open any delaminations and found none. The flexibility of this belt feels the same as the new replacement.
Not being a crystal ball type, I feel better trusting the bike after the change...but...I see no reason this belt could not have made it to 100,000 miles or so. Just no age related issues I am familiar with Honda's earlier attempts at timing belts.
Think they finally got it right.

Click to expand...

Similar situation with my belt. A '91, purchased 4 years ago with 32k, changed at 44k with the automotive crossover belt for 38.50. Almost couldn't tell the difference with the new one seeing the old one on the floor. Best guess, with it out of UV rays is what contributes to it's longevity.

In case anyone was wondering I have 25k miles on the non OEM timing belt.

My previous rider, a 1978 GL1000 was my first experience with Honda timing belts.(Sold three of them and bought the St1100.) Those belts were made to fit pulleys that resembled toothed gears (used two belts). Honda had a replacement interval of 40000 miles or five years if I recall correctly. It suffered a belt failure after 2 years and 5000 miles and bent the left side exhaust valves. Several of the 'teeth' had sheared off. I had purchased replacement belts on line...they were Gates as well. My on line source claimed the belt had not been manufactured since the mid 1980's. My suspicion is that this belt pair had been sitting in someone's warehouse for 30 years.
The ST1100 belt and pulleys are a completely different design, eliminating the sharp transitions on the belt at the root and crown of the teeth of the older designs. This newer design eliminates most of the lateral stress that the older teeth were exposed to.
I suspect that UV exposure (improper storage by the distributor or owner) and excess heat exposure are the main causes of premature ST belt failures.