Belt or chain ??

Ok pretty much no what type of engine build to do. So here is another question for you guys. Any real advantage going to a belt drive like bdl or one of so many others on the market. I understand they are quieter and smoother but other than that is it worth the $$$$...most of the ones i looked at are $1,500 on up. Any opinions or experences would be appreciated

I'm assuming you're referring to belt-drive for the primary (engine to transmission) drive & the answer is no - IMO it is not worth the $$$$. Unless you're building a bike for show, Pro Nitro drag-racing, etc. And the wider primary belt-drive setup will require either forward footpegs / controls, or rear-sets.

There are some advantages to a belt-drive primary (no fluid to change, fewer adjustments, smoother, quieter) & I considered it when putting together a Land-Speed-Record Sportster project (167 HP, best run of 180.025 mph), but even in that application a belt-drive primary wasn't necessary. And a Buell with the stock chain-drive primary & final belt-drive running nitrous oxide injection ran a tick over 213 mph @ Bonneville.

We did change the final drive from belt to chain on 2 LSR Sportsters, but because you can get many more sprocket sizes, shorten or lengthen the chain & make overall gearing changes in about 15 minutes. At one time we ran 4 LSR bikes, but the primary chain on all was stock & we never had a problem with them.

Never had a problem with the street bikes either - changing the primary lube & adjusting the chain is easy. The only reasons I can see for a belt-drive primary is for show, or for a bike that makes so much power it'll break a chain. And if a 1650 cc Buell with the "silly gas" making over 200 HP won't break a primary chain, I seriously doubt you'll ever break one on the street / road.

Yea thats what i kinda of thought after reading up on that. One article said that it improved torque to the rear wheel by 7%, but other articles said nothing about that so its probably bs. Also there are alot of different width belts available, rivera has a slim setup that is fully enclosed but i don"t see the point if its not really going to improve the performace. I"ll place my $$$ somewhere else

Ok thanks....dropping that idea! What about the clutch, right now it is the stock setup...i am assuming i should beef it up a bit. Whats your take on that. Engine power should come in at around 100 or so and torque number in the 95 or so range. I might want to beat on it once in awhile but most of my riding consist of two lane highways and country roads. The existing clutch as about 20,000 miles on it...swap it out?

I don't know much about stock clutches on Big Twins, but for example, the 167 HP (125 ft./lbs.) Sportster setup I mentioned that we've used in 2 bikes has a bone stock clutch & it's never slipped. When putting the project together, I looked into the highly-recommended Rivera Pro Clutch & also a drag-racers' favorite Bandit clutch, but Earl @ ECS Engineering said you really don't need either one.

He likes both for certain applications, has a Pro Nitro Harley drag bike & makes parts for other Pro racers, but said setup is the key - get a stock clutch from the local H-D dealer & we'll set it up here - if you're off a thousandth of an inch it won't work right, but if you get the setup right you'll have no problems. Since Earl has 40+ years experience setting up H-D clutches & I don't, I got a stock clutch & let him set it up.

Biggest test was running the concrete track @ Maxton, N.C., where you start from -0- mph & have 1 mile to get going as fast as you can - it's top speed crossing the finish line that matters, not elapsed time. But obviously you need to get going as quick as you can to get up to speed & the bike that broke 180 mph we'd geared so tall it'd go 77 mph in 1st gear. Sticky Z-rated radial tires (required for speeds over 150) & I figure if you can't blow a stock clutch in that situation, you don't have anything to worry about on the street / road.

And to the best of my knowledge, most BT racers @ Maxton & also the Bonneville salt flats use a stock clutch / primary drive setup too - only bikes that make massive power like the Pro Nitro bikes need something different.

One more thing I'll mention is that neither ECS Engineering nor another indy shop in this area which deals primarily with high-HP Japanese bikes will sell or service Barnett clutch products because they've seen too many failures.

Thats interesting about barrnet clutches. Actually the pro clutch setup was what i was planning if i was going to change it. Thanks for the info...bones