[kz1000st]

Today that little voice, we all have, in the back of my head started yelling. "Change the Belt, Stupid". I have over 9,000 miles on the Fashion and just felt it was time. Good thing I did. When I pulled off the side case I was greeted by cracks between almost every tooth. The outside looked new but the belt was dry and cracking. Since the Fashion is a 2009 I guess that should have been expected. I had a nice, new Bando (made in Japan) belt from Parts for Scooters that I had browbeaten Matt into stocking 8-).

The cracks were the first surprise. Second surprise. After changing the belt and changing the drive case oil I was studying the old belt and something looked odd. You see, on Aramid fiber belts you see a white fiber layer near the outside of the belt. My Gates and new Bando had it and the Gates Powerlink non-Kevlar belt I also have (don't ask) doesn't. On closer examination I could see faded lettering on the old belt. "Bando" it said. "Hmmmm CF Moto puts Bando belts in their scooters. Nice." I also saw that all the bearings in my transmission said "Made in Japan" when I replaced the clutch shaft. Also nice. It bodes well for the future.

The moral to me is that if you have a 2008-09 scooter with the original belt, replace it. Mine was dry and rubbed but didn't appear to be stretched. 10,000 miles is coming soon.