| Final belt adjustment 2005 Sportster XL 1200 Custom This is the way I adjust the alignment of my final drive belt and if this helps anyone then great and if anyone has a better way I sure would like to hear from you. The service manual tells you how to check it by making a wire and measure from the swing arm to the rear axle but I don't see how you keep the wire square with the bike and the rear foot peg mount is in the way.
Here's how I do it, I put the bike up on a Motorcycle jack and spin the back wheel by hand and adjust it so the belt rides right in the middle of the sprocket, make sure your brake pads aren't in contact with the brake rotor that well mess you up. (I just take the pads out.) After test riding and getting it just right I took a cloth tape made a mark on each side of the swing arm and measure from that mark to the center of the rear axle and wrote it down. Now when I need to align the belt I go from the marks. |