Timing Belt Drive System

[KenWittlief]

As someone else has pointed out, belts with teeth have been used on motor cycles, instead of chain, to drive the back wheels.

Not little scooter bikes, big bore street rockets - and they dont slip or jump teeth, even when you smoke the back wheel for 200 yards down the street

not to take anything away from other teams that had trouble with belt designs, but (like everything else in engineering) you have to get the design and implementation right.

One thing, you want at least 180º wrap around each pulley in the system. This is great for two pulleys - when you try to hit three wheels + a drive pulley with one belt, then things get tricky.

Also, Ive been told the new notched belts only stretch a little after they are first installed. You re-adjust the tension after several hours of use. After that it will not stretch anymore.

Besides being light and strong notched belts have one other unique quality - they are very quiet. We all know that with mechanical systems, once all the noise has leaked out, the system quits (therefore quiet running mechanical systems last much longer :^)