always wanted a Monster, never quite got one, but...

[FrankenDesmo]

That makes me feel better about when I do very similar daft things!

[the lodger]

It's good to know he's human after all.

Completely open belts, even with a bit of oven grille in front? Not so much a risk as a potential disaster that could ruin a decent motor...

Nick

[slob]

I’ve been through gravel traps with open belts on a 2v without problems, equally I’ve seen a friend’s 4v motor lunched after a single stray stone punched through a carbon belt cover. Flip a coin ...

[350TSS]

^^^ 2 valves good, 4 valves bad?

[slob]

I didn’t mean that, I just meant luck can be a bit random

[Darren69]

4v do have bigger covers with a flat area at the front, but still very unlucky.

[Mr Gazza]

I really like the open belt look on this particular bike, showing all the Silver. Covers are going to make it look heavy and clumsy. Personally I would have made a fairly tight fitting stainless strap over the front of the front two pulleys.. like a flat mudguard if you like. With minimal visual impact.

I think there is a good argument for leaving the belts uncovered; if a stone does get under a belt it is very likely to be spat out after the first revolution and probably only go round one pulley. However a foreign object in an enclosed cover cannot escape and could be moving at speed and ping into the belts several times.. furthermore it could well go unnoticed unless it made a lot of noise and continue to deteriorate in a damaged condition, whereas open belts are immediately inspectable and any fraying or holes will come to light very soon during one of those longing looks (don't deny it ).

emzedder had a nasty experience when his balls dropped, and his belt tensioner bearing broke up too, which is more relevant! I know that the bearings are inside the belt loop so the balls are fed into the pulleys to some extent, but I can't help thinking that many more of them might have dropped away into space if they were not enclosed.
Happily emzedder is a very sensible chap and noticed the damage before a belt failure.

I have a vague recollection of someone conducting a test on polyurethane drive belts, when they first started to become popular.. They were feeding gravel into a Norton or Triumph belt conversion and failed to damage the belt or pulleys, just to prove a point over chains.. Cam belt is a slightly different scenario, I agree, but I think they take more punishment than we think?

[Darren69]

Yea, so do I and I would do exactly as you suggested for the same reason with a cowl type cover and ditch the grill. And if I can't sell these carbon covers I may do exactly that. When I've fitted my Kaemna or DP pulley kit because my stock pulleys look sh1t.

[buzzer]

I agree that open belts are a risk.... I may look at a slightly different guard at the front as well.

For now, here is a short video of how it sounds.... I did take it up the street and the throttle response is fantastic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttwXvitwLT4

[buzzer]

Made a stand today to keep it upright and safe in the garage… The wheels are idler bearing i changed on a car recently when I did a can belt... makes it roll nicely. Also fitted the seat badge and tank protector.... with all the Corvid 19 issues its looking like I won’t be riding it for a while…

[buzzer]

Scratching around for jobs to do now while I cant ride it! made some frame finishers…

[Darren69]

Nice! I bet you could sell some of those on here?

[slob]

Originally Posted by Darren69

Nice! I bet you could sell some of those on here?

but bloody costly to make, in man-hours, if you don’t run a CNC lathe.

[Darren69]

Oh god yeah, so many hours work in those for sure. But doesn't everyone have a CNC lathe and a 3D printer these days though?