I personally ama big fan of Belt drives, both on the primary as well as final drive. (I have a few Sportsters and Buells and despite the reputation for final drive problems I have a strong fondness for them and would love to fit them to all my bikes)
But for vintage machines I have yet to fit a belt kit to a vintage BSA but that day is coming, But I have done variety of manuf kits for Norton twins and one single. On unit Triumphs I forget the exact number but fitted about 8-10 Kits on Unit twin Triumphs made by M.A.P cycles in Florida and
I can say with certainty that these belt kits are a HUGE improvement. I used to keep a kit on the shelf in my shop and challenged customers to compare to a stock primary setup. Weight, quality of construction, and ease of maint. The belt wins every time. Just lightening up the rotating assy alone is felt by the rider plus how it revs up.
Theres both sealed bearings kits as well as open bearings intended to run a wet primary. Personally I have never opted for the wet kits as running dry is a huge improvement IMHO. But at one point I had and resold a Ironhead sportster and while servicing it was surprised to find a wet kit belt drive primary inside it. It worked well,, But on vintage British never opted for one.
So, I WILL be adding a belt kit to several of my BSAs at some point, and looking at the kits availible, so far the Bob Newby kits look the best but not ruling out making my own. The Suzuki clutch conversions similar to what Pearson makes but in a dry belt format seems the best choice.
I Just wanted to support the guy who opted for the belt drive kit as unless you have tried one you guys are missing out. I am interested as well about how people adapt the 4 spring or 3 spring Triumph style clutches as well but will look for topics on that or post a new thread. I just think the info on those conversions is lacking so more or less FYI knowledge I would like to gain.
