[mike1nw]

2008 AN400
The current belt is coming up to 18,000 miles. I have a new Suzuki belt in the tool box.
I have changed previous belts at ~15K intervals. Neither time the belt showed appreciable wear (width).

How many miles do y'all get from a belt.
I'm thinking of going for 20,000 miles My miles seem to be local lately.
If I take a trip, I'll change it.

 

[mikeyMarine]

when I had mine I went by the wear tolerances, mic d it and if it was still in, kept on riding , miles didn't matter,

 

[G-Dub]

Suzuki says around 15k miles, so I wouldn't chance it. Broken belt can put you in an unsafe situation and wreak havoc in the CVT.

 

[mikeyMarine]

G dub and the book are correct, I don't remember how many miles I had on the belt and it may well have been less than 15k , I just remember mic ing it every time I had the cover off and replacing it when it was at limit, I put 10 k a year on the bike so was inside the cover frequently to clean dust out , check clutch shoes and avoid being inside the house with an angry S/O. (the refrashing beverage fridge was out there too)

 

[Abner Bjorn]

I replaced mine recently on my 2008 at 17,500. Belt still looked good. Rollers showed almost no wear. I installed a Malossi belt and 19 gram Tech Pulley Sliders. I think 20k would have been no problem. I wasn't going to button it back up just to replace the belt 2,500 miles down the road. I had horrible clutch shudder that came back 500 miles after I cleaned the clutch right after I bought the bike. I've put about 1,000 on the new belt and sliders. Clutch shudder still gone. The bike is much smoother around town as well.

 

[kwajman]

My mechanic says don't go by miles, do an annual inspection and go by that. I've got just under 21k on mine and I'll update you with this Springs oil change and inspection. I know ZERO about mechanical things so I have to go by my mechanics word.

 

[G-Dub]

Regardless of the size of the belt, at some point age, time in service (heat cycles) and number of trips around the pulleys (flexing) will have to come into play with respect to the service life. Suzuki recommendations are probably just an average of all this and more.

Also, I don't know about other folks, but I have a hard time getting consistent measurements of the belt width, depending on exactly where I measure and how much pressure is applied. I try to run the caliper jaws somewhat parallel to the edge of the belt to avoid "local" variations. One time I got a measurement higher than the spec for a new belt on one that had about 10K miles on it. So I tend not to take the measurement as gospel, but use it as one factor among several.

 

[Bluebottle]

To add to what G-Dub said
You also get shearing within the belt that breaks down the bonds at material interfaces. This is different and independent of the cracking visible on the outside.

Stress cycles/severity tends to get you more interface damage, heat gets you more elastomer “ageing” - but obviously it’s not a black and white thing.

 

[John Holbrook]

I am considering mounting a sidecar to my 2005 an400. Do you believe that will appreciably shorten belt life?
I have had a sidecar mounted to a chain driven bike, and chain life was shorter, as was tire life.

 

[Bluebottle]

I’d say it would shorten the belt life but I don’t know how much, I’d be guessing on that.

I’d be religious about keeping the cvt air filter clean to help keep heat down as much as possible.

I know the propulsion guys balance clutch, clamping force and torque adapter values against weight/drag but I don’t know enough about it or what’s available off the shelf to advise with any confidence.

I’ve seen 400s, majestys, Piaggios and Vespas with sidecars so their are probably posts out their to be found.

 

[Charbroil]

I’d guesstimate Belt life reduction would be proportional to fuel economy mpg reduction with the side car.