T Max Final Drive Belt Adjustment

TIJ650

TIJ650

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Hey!
I’ve removed rear wheel and wondering what the correct tension is on the belt??
Yamaha’s special tool is fortunes and I’ve even seen guys on YouTube with tuning forks (how apt). The tension is meant to be 80hz which apparently is somewhere around F on musical note. Wtf!! I guess it’s meant to be really tight??
Any cheats??
 
No idea as my Mk3 Tmax runs a duplex chain in an oil bath inside the swingarm, but maybe you could get a phone app that can hear 80hz a bit like a guitar tuner ?

Something like Tunerhippo.com any good ??

tunerhippo.com

Online Tuner — Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Violin | Tuner Hippo

Auto string detection, alternate tunings, strobe mode, ±1 cent. 100% in your browser.
tunerhippo.com tunerhippo.com
 
TIJ650 said:
Hey!
I’ve removed rear wheel and wondering what the correct tension is on the belt??
Yamaha’s special tool is fortunes and I’ve even seen guys on YouTube with tuning forks (how apt). The tension is meant to be 80hz which apparently is somewhere around F on musical note. Wtf!! I guess it’s meant to be really tight??
Any cheats??
Click to expand...

Seriously. If it’s supposed to be an F musical note you can use a free guitar tuner app and give it a tap

Otherwise a clip on tuner on one of the pulleys might be better

This one works well with low tones, picks up the E string of my bass easily which is tuned around 41hz

 
I’ll probably just tighten it to what it was 🤔
Alignment might be equally/ more important anyway.
 
Pukmeister said:
No idea as my Mk3 Tmax runs a duplex chain in an oil bath inside the swingarm, but maybe you could get a phone app that can hear 80hz a bit like a guitar tuner ?

Something like Tunerhippo.com any good ??

tunerhippo.com

Online Tuner — Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Violin | Tuner Hippo

Auto string detection, alternate tunings, strobe mode, ±1 cent. 100% in your browser.
tunerhippo.com tunerhippo.com
Click to expand...

I think they missed a trick going away from the chain / oil bath. That’s why I’m in no rush to swap my 2006 black max.

Still goes really well.

Would go for a nice mk3 but no real desire to go newer as I see belt issues on quite a few.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
There is a free app called "Gates belt drive" That is what I used. The app listens to the belt when you twang it and gives you info about the correct frequency. Works ok
 
Yes the duplex rear chain drive is very reliable and makes changing the wheel easy . I remember when the Mk 4 came out with the belt it was sold as reducing acceleration lag . It saved money probably . I have a 22 T Max with the belt and love it but agree changing the rear wheel properly needs the tool . I replace tyres at 6000 miles so the dealer does it at service time . Never have to adjust the belt between services though
 
One bit of Tmax advice I would give any owner of any variant is to replace the primary drive belt early, don’t push your luck with it as I did. Mine let go whilst accelerating hard into lane 4 of the M27 heading from Fareham to Portsmouth, the eerie silence of your bike hitting the rev limiter and cutting out and failing to restart is odd, luckily I coasted to the Cosham exit and had to push it about half a mile before being recovered. The failed Kevlar belt made on hell of a mess and needed hacking off with a hacksaw and a full strip down of the secondary sheave and spring assembly, lots extra work I could have done without, luckily I have the special tooling required.
 
Pukmeister said:
One bit of Tmax advice I would give any owner of any variant is to replace the primary drive belt early, don’t push your luck with it as I did. Mine let go whilst accelerating hard into lane 4 of the M27 heading from Fareham to Portsmouth, the eerie silence of your bike hitting the rev limiter and cutting out and failing to restart is odd, luckily I coasted to the Cosham exit and had to push it about half a mile before being recovered. The failed Kevlar belt made on hell of a mess and needed hacking off with a hacksaw and a full strip down of the secondary sheave and spring assembly, lots extra work I could have done without, luckily I have the special tooling required.
Click to expand...
😂
 

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I hope you have the proper tools to go with those spare parts, assuming that is a primary belt in the box? I bought a full variator/belt tool kit from a guy in France (where the Tmax is way more popular). I also modded the tool to hold the clutch basket when undoing, a simple mod to drill two holes and fit slim nuts/bolts,


Undoing the crank nut on the end of the primary sheave is best done with the variator held firm, hence the tool. Some YouTubers just use a rattle gun to bust the nut off, not an ideal way to do it in case the crank spins. IIRC my crank nut was an odd size like a deep 29mm socket. I change belts well within 10,000 miles, I've done about four belt changes myself now.

Another tip from me is to roughen up the faces of the primary sheave "variator" and secondary sheave where it gets highly polished by belt friction with a scotchbrite pad before fitting the new belt.

I had symptoms similar to clutch slip and assumed the Malossi clutch pack I had fitted recently was slipping on acceleration. Having glaze busted the primary belt friction faces before changing the belt, the symptom disappeared ( a big relief as I didn't fancy repeating the clutch change job).
 
Last edited:
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