Here's some observations.
The bike has almost 98k on the clock. The old belt was FINE. No cracks, wear or separations. Only difference being more flexible than the new one. I wouldn't hesitate to ride it another 50k miles on that belt. PO said it had never been changed out, and he had it the whole time.
The radiator is a PITA to get out. That alone made the whole ordeal much longer than it should have taken. When installing the new belt, be sure to push the tensioner all the way down otherwise you'll NEVER get that new belt on.
The timing belt cover mod was a godsend. Simply brilliant, slipped right back on.
Double, triple, quadruple check the timing marks. Then check them again. No way in hades I'm gonna go ripping out all that junk to re-do the belt again.
I didn't get one, but couldn't hurt to change the thermostat while everythings apart. Oh, and my pulleys felt and sounded fine. No other issues.
The bike has almost 98k on the clock. The old belt was FINE. No cracks, wear or separations. Only difference being more flexible than the new one. I wouldn't hesitate to ride it another 50k miles on that belt. PO said it had never been changed out, and he had it the whole time.
The radiator is a PITA to get out. That alone made the whole ordeal much longer than it should have taken. When installing the new belt, be sure to push the tensioner all the way down otherwise you'll NEVER get that new belt on.
The timing belt cover mod was a godsend. Simply brilliant, slipped right back on.
Double, triple, quadruple check the timing marks. Then check them again. No way in hades I'm gonna go ripping out all that junk to re-do the belt again.
I didn't get one, but couldn't hurt to change the thermostat while everythings apart. Oh, and my pulleys felt and sounded fine. No other issues.
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