Change Timing Belt?

[Mick Sandy]

Hi , I have 2001 st 1100. has 35,000 ks on it just purchased a few weeks ago .should i change the timing belt?

 

[Upt' North]

Mick.
You're probably good.
The belts should be good for 90,000 miles and generally are. The only real question mark is the age of the belt but I don't think Honda ever specified an age for change, only mileage.
If you intend to rip into it to give it a good looking at, then why not. But if you're thinking of riding it, that's what I would do.
Enjoy your ride and welcome from Northumberland UK.
Upt'North.

 

[Roger]

Put 10k km on it then change it - or you'll always have a nagging doubt it's going to fail through age....

 

[diferg]

Welcome from South East Georgia U.S.A.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

I suspect the belt is good but I have only two data points on two completely different bikes. Replace the belts in one and just at 5000 miles later, one broke and bent the valves on that bank. The replacement belts were likely 30+ years old and still in the package.
Since, elastomeric technology has improved.
Changed the belt on my 1991 that had sat up for two decades before I bought it. The old belt was indistinguishable from the new one, just as pliable and no showed signs of wear.
Lots of arguments either way. Do what you feel is best.

 

[ST1100Y]

Planning any long rides?
I'd go to quite some preventive maintenance to ensure reliability... t/belt + pulley + spanner + w/pump would be among them...

 

[red one]

Currently at 78K miles on my 2000 model. No plans to change it.....maybe an inspection at 90 K.

 

[paulcb]

It's a risk decision... how much are you willing to risk? Personally, I believe the risk of failure for you is very, very low and I wouldn't change it until 90-100k miles. The only ST1100 TB failures we know of have been due to the water pump failure, and that is very rare, only a couple that I've heard of. Also, those that have replaced them, have reported that the old belts looked and felt like the new one, mine included on my 2001 ST.

As a new ST11 owner, click the link below for general ST1100 info.

 

[LaurieC]

Following this post with interest as an st1100 newbie . Is there a way of just inspecting the timing belt without removing too much stuff? I have 79k kilometres [50k miles ?] and I assume it has the original belt ,bike is 2002. The belt age worries me not the mileage; any thoughts? ta
Take care. Laurie

 

[STeve A.]

The "book" says check the belt at 60K renew the belt at 90K.
Been in the trade more years than I care to remember (40+) and at one time looked after a fleet of 40 Transit minibuses.
We used to renew the cam belts every year (High Mileage) and the old ones would look like new. having said that we still got the occasional breakage even with new belts fitted. Not very helpful I know.
I did attempt to "Check" my ST1100 (1998) as it approached 60K, but found, unless you want to strip a lot of bits off, you can't see a great deal of the belt and every thing I could see was as new.
As one of the guys mentioned there is always the nagging thought in the back of your mind when out for a run, and I personally decided get it done at 60K and then forget about it. At the time my bike was 20yrs old and belts do age being largely rubber.
Not heard of any failures on ST1100's until very high mileages, every thing about them is very well made in my opinion and built to last.
If any one is going down the belt changing route I would strongly suggest always fit genuine Honda parts, and change the tensioner & idler pulleys at the same time.

Cheers.....STeve.

 

[SMSW]

Following this post with interest as an st1100 newbie . Is there a way of just inspecting the timing belt without removing too much stuff? I have 79k kilometres [50k miles ?] and I assume it has the original belt ,bike is 2002. The belt age worries me not the mileage; any thoughts? ta
Take care. Laurie

A better question would be, has anyone seen any signs of ageing or wear on these belts when 'inspecting' them. Aside from one post I've not heard of anyone who observed any visible wear/signs of age on their timing belt. As already mentioned, the old ones look very much like the new one. In the end, you are going to have to make your own decision...To change or Not to change, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of a broken belt, or to do the dang maintenance against a sea of troubles......

 

[ReSTored]

The bike is low mileage, but still 21 years old. Do you have a detailed list of maintenance done to date? I'd be looking at all fluids, including coolant and hoses, especially the under carb ones and the elbows, a valve clearance check and take a look at the belt when you're doing that. Aside from a water pump bearing failure and belt issues resulting from that (i.e. belt snapping, bent valves etc....) I don't think I've ever heard of a belt failure, so risk of not changing it is low IMHO.

 

[GGely]

SMSW, I love that quote... Igofar, I believe?

Replacing the belt takes a bit of time and a few bucks. Not to be confused with bent or broken valve stems, pistons etc.

i swapped mine on acquisition and, for my life anyway, won’t ever think of it again. Now, my grandson who will inherit it? That’s his problem, not mine. Though he did do some of the work getting it changed.

 

[Erdoc48]

Following this post with interest as an st1100 newbie . Is there a way of just inspecting the timing belt without removing too much stuff? I have 79k kilometres [50k miles ?] and I assume it has the original belt ,bike is 2002. The belt age worries me not the mileage; any thoughts? ta
Take care. Laurie

Inspection is quite easy. Remove the 2 side service covers (2 Allen head bolts, each side), then at the front of the engine, there are 2 black plastic covers of the timing belt that I believe are held in place with 3 bolts each (be careful not to drop these), then ease the covers off. I changed my belts due to age, but as others have said, they looked as new. It is technically a gamble to not change it, but a gamble you’d likely win. Maybe more valuable maintenance would be the changing of the hoses of these bikes that are under the carbs and main radiator hoses as well as O rings and metal elbows. Even those looked good when changed on my bikes (but were done when the bikes had 35K miles or so).

 

[dwalby]

It is technically a gamble to not change it, but a gamble you’d likely win.

Maybe more valuable maintenance would be the changing of the hoses of these bikes that are under the carbs and main radiator hoses as well as O rings and metal elbows.

yeah, the question that's not always obvious from the OP is are they asking about spending a few bucks on the timing belt and replacing it themselves, or going to a mechanic and spending a small fortune having someone else replace it for them. Self-replaced for a few bucks is an easy call, but when you add in the cost of the other pulleys it starts to add up.

the much more likely failure scenario is the hoses under the carbs. They're a leak just waiting to happen, and tend to explode catastrophically rather than leak slowly with time so you usually don't get any warning.

 

[Bee]

The "book" says check the belt at 60K renew the belt at 90K.
Been in the trade more years than I care to remember (40+) and at one time looked after a fleet of 40 Transit minibuses.
We used to renew the cam belts every year (High Mileage) and the old ones would look like new. having said that we still got the occasional breakage even with new belts fitted. Not very helpful I know.
I did attempt to "Check" my ST1100 (1998) as it approached 60K, but found, unless you want to strip a lot of bits off, you can't see a great deal of the belt and every thing I could see was as new.
As one of the guys mentioned there is always the nagging thought in the back of your mind when out for a run, and I personally decided get it done at 60K and then forget about it. At the time my bike was 20yrs old and belts do age being largely rubber.
Not heard of any failures on ST1100's until very high mileages, every thing about them is very well made in my opinion and built to last.
If any one is going down the belt changing route I would strongly suggest always fit genuine Honda parts, and change the tensioner & idler pulleys at the same time.

Cheers.....STeve.

Now normally I would be 100% with you on using genuine Honda parts but I did read somewhere a valid point about how old is a NOS Honda timing belt? Can you even get a newly made belt from Honda? I don’t know. They suggested getting a (newly manufactured) quality aftermarket belt instead. I have a similar quandary to the OP, my bike is 20 years old yet mileage is low at 12000 miles. For now I have decided to ‘ignore’ it and I’m slowly working through a long list of maintenance jobs (mostly detailed on the very helpful buyers guide) and building confidence with it. Finding a dealer/garage locally that I trust to take the job on would need a lot more research. I don’t want to spend £500 giving the job to someone else to make a mess of it, I can do that myself for free.

 

[ST1100Y]

Can you even get a newly made belt from Honda?

Quite a number of parts are identical across Honda automotive/power-sports/power-equipment...

 

[STeve A.]

Now normally I would be 100% with you on using genuine Honda parts but I did read somewhere a valid point about how old is a NOS Honda timing belt? Can you even get a newly made belt from Honda? I don’t know. They suggested getting a (newly manufactured) quality aftermarket belt instead. I have a similar quandary to the OP, my bike is 20 years old yet mileage is low at 12000 miles. For now I have decided to ‘ignore’ it and I’m slowly working through a long list of maintenance jobs (mostly detailed on the very helpful buyers guide) and building confidence with it. Finding a dealer/garage locally that I trust to take the job on would need a lot more research. I don’t want to spend £500 giving the job to someone else to make a mess of it, I can do that myself for free.

That's a good point, Anybody know how to tell the age of a NOS belt? or even a new aftermarket belt come to that given that the 1100 went out of production in 2001, could be some 20yr old "brand new" belts out there ??

 

[kiltman]

I’m on my third ST 1100. My first was a 1990 I changed it out at the recommended mileage and it was 24 years old, belt was still in good shape.
My 1997 I changed out just before the recommended mileage it was 20 years old no issue with wear on the belt. My 2002 now has 97k kms on the clock, I’m tempted to change it this year mostly because I have the coin to do so.
I get my dealer to do it. I strip off all the plastic and save the two hours of time required to get to the point of changing the belt. Each time I had it done this way I was charged 2.5 hours of labour to change the belt.
if it were me, I would spend the time and money on changing coolant hoses and flushing all fluids, and think of doing the belt a little while later after I got some time on the bike.

 

[dwalby]

That's a good point, Anybody know how to tell the age of a NOS belt? or even a new aftermarket belt come to that given that the 1100 went out of production in 2001, could be some 20yr old "brand new" belts out there ??

Everybody seems to use the Gates 325 belt which appears to be the same one Honda used originally anyway, and is easily available online.