Belt Tension Frequency Meter

[mbopp]

Just thought I'd contribute information on a tool I stumbled onto today.  

When setting the tension of the timing/cam belts you are trying to hit ~100Hz or so.  To measure this people have used various guitar tuning apps.  Chris Kelley has a great video tutorial for doing this.  

iAnalyzer (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ianalyzer/id335449113?mt=8) has been mentioned here which works, but there is actually a tool / app made for checking belt tension, for Gates bicycle belts.  The app is called Gates Carbon Drive.  And appears to be perfectly made for such a thing.  

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carbon-drive-bicycle-calculator/id438346486?mt=8

Gates, like Ducati recommends tensioning their belts this way.  They have a tool like the MotoReva frequency tool which Ducati Seem to use most.  And it looks almost the same.  http://www.carbondrivesystems.com/forbikemakers.php?lang=us  Maybe it is the same.  

This free iPhone app is pretty useful and foolproof it would seem.  To be honest I've not used it for my belts yet as I just found it.  I try to remember to post my experience when I get around to doing the belts this fall.

Just thought I'd mention it!

[roggie]

 

I wondered if something like this was out there...

[dark_duc]

While doing my 24K service I gave up on the meter that came with the kit I rented and did the tried and true allen wrench measurement.  I could not get the meter to display anything consistent and measurement would vary greatly on how hard you "strummed" the belt.  Not knocking the app, just the whole theory of setting belt tension this way... of course, it could just be me 

[Slide Panda]

While doing my 24K service I gave up on the meter that came with the kit I rented and did the tried and true allen wrench measurement.  I could not get the meter to display anything consistent and measurement would vary greatly on how hard you "strummed" the belt.  Not knocking the app, just the whole theory of setting belt tension this way... of course, it could just be me 

Apples and oranges. The allen method is just fine for you bike, and mine too (2000 900) but it only really works for slightly older vintages. As time progressed the tension spec's changed

[Speeddog]

For those of us who haven't drunk the apple juice, there's an Andriod App, gStrings.

[1KDS]

I saw that app, I thought it was something else though 

[ducpainter]

While doing my 24K service I gave up on the meter that came with the kit I rented and did the tried and true allen wrench measurement.  I could not get the meter to display anything consistent and measurement would vary greatly on how hard you "strummed" the belt.  Not knocking the app, just the whole theory of setting belt tension this way... of course, it could just be me 

That's why the tool they use at the factory also does the 'strumming'. 

[ungeheuer]

Bah humbug.

Cold motor, new belts, insert 2x pieces of High Tech Package Binding Strap between belt and idler pulley. 

Tighten bolts.

Remove the HTPBS belt tensioning gauge.

Ride.

Works for me..... but you use your harmonicas if you must  .

[memper]

But this app might actually be useful for those of us with no tach
http://tunelab-world.com/tachometer.html

[mbopp]

But this app might actually be useful for those of us with no tach
http://tunelab-world.com/tachometer.html

That's pretty cool.  I know there are other ways of doing these things, but I'm a Mac developer (programmer), so this stuff is just my world.

[BK_856er]

I used to use Audacity to record/analyze belt twang and adjust tension - a bit too tedious even for me.  Recently did the belts on both my bikes and checked out a few of the options (sorry, no smartphone, just PC and wired mic).  My new favorite is Courroies from the maker of ducatidiag.  Key for me is being able to see the raw data to help determine the quality and fine-tune the mic placement and technique.  Quiet environment is highly preferred for all these acoustic methods.  4V is way easier to set than my 2V.

I could be mistaken, but doesn't the real Ducati tool use optical and not acoustic measurement?

BK

[clubhousemotorsports]

Yes Ducati's tool is optical.

Acoustic works as well. When I was at the dealership using the ducati tool you could get different readings by different force used to strum the belt. Now I use an acoustic and the force seems to matter little. Acoustic would be hard to use with a lot of background noise to interfere so Ducati chose optical.

You also will find that after you set the belt and rotate the belt 360 deg. The setting will be different most of the time. You are just trying to get it as close as realistically possible.