XB9R tensioner/pulley advice needed

I was wondering what y'all recommend for the fix of the tensioner?

I have a 2003 XB9R (still running a belt) and recently starting to get a lot of noise from tensioner. after pulling it off, one of the bearings (I have the 2 bearing, red seal setup) is no good, and I am finding it harder and harder to find parts for my bike. I looked through the forum and saw a lot about the dependability about the FS tensioner... now hesitant to get one. So since I ride 130 miles round trip for work, I am looking to you guys for advice on what you feel is the most dependable set up? Thanks in advance!

here's the best article available with pics on the fix.
https://www.twinmotorcycles.nl/artik...?cid=7&aid=292

each bearing is.... 6203 2RSL -----17mm Bore x 40mm OD x 12mm W ----- QTY. 2

see pic. remove 1-2mm of aluminum material where i drew the yellow marks. you can then slightly rotate the pulley downward relieving some of the belt tension which was set way too high from the factory.

Attachment 11356

really appreciate the help! had any luck with the newer model of FS?

I have one on the way. Hope it doesn't break on a hot lap.

Nice piece.

yeah, the free spirit tensioner was the one I was referring to. I spoke to a dealer that actually stocks them and he was telling me that they had only one of the new design fail... which they replaced under warranty. He said they wont be carrying them any longer, once they sell what they have in stock, as it is to hard to deal with warranty issues. He said it has been over a month and they were still waiting for reimbursement for the one that broke.... personally, I think if it takes that for a dealer, I'm not sure I want to deal with it on a customer level. (just my 2 cents) I know several guys that use them and have never had a problem, and they look really good!

VERY grateful to lunaticfringe for the link! I know this was a hot topic several years ago, and there were several people wanting to make a prototype to resolve it, but wasn't much on the end result that i could find. I suspected that someone knew of a part number for the bearings, and since the tensioner is getting to be such a stinker to find anymore, I will be rebuilding mine when needed. since she is a daily rider and has 18k on her, I suspect it will be a while till I need to do it again.

VERY grateful to lunaticfringe for the link!

yes sir my pleasure. the XR1200 was designed and engineered off alot of H-D/Buell technology and a belt idler tension pulley one of those pieces of tech. the XR piece inherently a better design but then again they had a frame to work with whereas buell never did.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by motoguy205

yeah, the free spirit tensioner was the one I was referring to. I spoke to a dealer that actually stocks them and he was telling me that they had only one of the new design fail... which they replaced under warranty.

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I looked into a FS Tensioner years ago but because of these failures, chose not to purchase. There's very little meat around the pin. Aluminum is far more prone to fatigue than steel and IMO there's just not enough metal to hold up.

Do you or anyone know what FS did to upgrade the product?

https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showth...sioner-failure

Looks like I need to keep a close eye on this part.