BDL primary? good/bad

[DOTY]

I have rocked 2 BDL's never once had a problem ! would use them again !

[Guest]

before going with the primo drive, I talked to a BDL rep about my horsepower/stress requirements. I had broken three primary chains, so I had some obvious concerns.

He told me that the narrower belts were holding up better then the wide ones, for high performance applications. His own opinion was that the narrower belts allowed a little bit of stretch, where the wider ones were more rigid

[Guest]

appreciate this is an old-ass thread but I figured I would bump it anyway as I put one of the BDL 1.5" enclosed drive kits on my evo softail around a year or so ago.

I got the kit with the BBP - 600 ball bearing pressure plate and it removes the hassle of having to mess with spring pressure adjustments on the plate. You just load up the clutch plates in order, then put the ballbearing cover and plate over it all and snug down the bolts until they are fully seated. Pretty easy to do. The kit is very basic and easy to install and I have to say I have never had an issue with clutch slipping.

The only gripes I have with the kit are that the belt has a tendency to rub against the outside primary cover so in order to actually put the primary cover on, I had to dremel some meat off the inside lower part of the cover to stop this from happening. The clutch lever is by no means "easy" to pull and is a damn sight stiffer than stock. However, I do run a kicker on my bike which does not have as smooth a ball/ramp assembly as the stock cover and I needed to run a longer pushrod to account for the extra travel inside the assembly to engage the clutch. This may be why the lever is harder to pull.

Noise isnt too bad with the cover on. I have run it a couple times with the cover off just for fun and it does start to annoy you because you end up wondering if the constant spoon slapping noises are the clutch or something else! The biggest issue for me is the way the bike will no longer seem happy at low rpm in higher gear cruising. It starts "chugging" a lot easier than with the stock set up so you often end up changing up and down through the gears a lot more often, particularly in traffic.

Im happy enough with the purchase but in hindsight I probably wouldn't bother with another belt drive primary again.

[47str8leg]

appreciate this is an old-ass thread but I figured I would bump it anyway as I put one of the BDL 1.5" enclosed drive kits on my evo softail around a year or so ago.

I got the kit with the BBP - 600 ball bearing pressure plate and it removes the hassle of having to mess with spring pressure adjustments on the plate. You just load up the clutch plates in order, then put the ballbearing cover and plate over it all and snug down the bolts until they are fully seated. Pretty easy to do. The kit is very basic and easy to install and I have to say I have never had an issue with clutch slipping.

The only gripes I have with the kit are that the belt has a tendency to rub against the outside primary cover so in order to actually put the primary cover on, I had to dremel some meat off the inside lower part of the cover to stop this from happening. The clutch lever is by no means "easy" to pull and is a damn sight stiffer than stock. However, I do run a kicker on my bike which does not have as smooth a ball/ramp assembly as the stock cover and I needed to run a longer pushrod to account for the extra travel inside the assembly to engage the clutch. This may be why the lever is harder to pull.

Noise isnt too bad with the cover on. I have run it a couple times with the cover off just for fun and it does start to annoy you because you end up wondering if the constant spoon slapping noises are the clutch or something else! The biggest issue for me is the way the bike will no longer seem happy at low rpm in higher gear cruising. It starts "chugging" a lot easier than with the stock set up so you often end up changing up and down through the gears a lot more often, particularly in traffic.

Im happy enough with the purchase but in hindsight I probably wouldn't bother with another belt drive primary again.

I’ve noticed , with only the rigid 4 speed kick start 1.5 inch kits only at least , the belts are too tight . The 2” does not seem to have this problem. Get the one size smaller sprocket when ordering. Perhaps this is the case with your set-up as well ?

[Guest]

I think the chugging is a combination of things to be honest. I have an EV27 cam so the powerband is shifted more to the middle of the rev range and also the lack of a compensator means it will naturally "buck" a little at lower revs.

[Nottimportant]

Just an fyi for anyone buying a used older bdl belt drive. Make sure it's a bdl !! A korean knockoff called roadmax looks so much like a bdl that even a bdl tech identified it as a bdl unit until I took off the pulley end covers and sent him a pic. If you do buy the roadmax, be studying on clutches cause you will need one shortly.

[shovel625]

1.5 bdl open belt on my shovel, with ratchet top 4 speed. 3rd season on this set up with no issues or belts replaced. i ride 4- 5 days a week. 20-30 miles day, work commute etc.

[BlackDog]

I installed a 3" BDL on my Softail 2 years ago and I like everything about it especially the sound. I ran it for a while without the cover but it violently ate 3 pairs of jeans. I know it's a Softail but it's all I got.

[Hubbard]

1.5 bdl on 4 diff. scooters. all hi mileage, all open no worries

[seaking]

Just an fyi for anyone buying a used older bdl belt drive. Make sure it's a bdl !! A korean knockoff called roadmax looks so much like a bdl that even a bdl tech identified it as a bdl unit until I took off the pulley end covers and sent him a pic. If you do buy the roadmax, be studying on clutches cause you will need one shortly.

Pretty damn sure they're supplied by Taiwan at this point for BDL, the kit I ordered had "bestorq by BDL" no origin mark. "American Prime MFG" is who I'd buy belts or any open primary going forward.