Hey speedracer,
I wouldnīt toy with the idea of stretching the intervals. Because if it does fail, what have you saved?
I had a belt snap on me once and it was >1000 Euros to rebuild the engine. Which actually was the cheaper way of doing things, since the crankshaft didnīt get damaged. I needed 4 new valves, 1 new piston (changed them for 2 Omega ones although I didnīt have to), then get the bottom end checked out get new bearings...
New belts every 2 years cost you 100-150 for the belts, unless you take the cheap Gates/Quentin Hazel/Renault belts which are a fraction of the cost but no OEM product. The stealership shouldnīt take more than 1 hour to swap the belts. They usually do an oil change so new oil + filter may come up on top.
Anyway, if you now stretch the whole thing to 3 years with a set of belts, what are you saving in the end?
Imagine you will keep the bike for 10 years, which is very unlikely. Then you do 5 belt changes with a 2 year interval. Letīs say a service of this kind costs you 300$, then you would spend 1500 US$ in 10 years. If you stretch the interval to 3 years, youīll spend 900 US$. 600 bucks saved, sounds good right? Now, if a belt snaps because itīs too old or whatever has happened to it, add 1500+ US$ to the math, depending on what will be damaged if a belt snaps. Plus itīs likely that this would happen during a riding season. Iīd be proper pissed off if all my buddies are riding and I would be forced to sit at home, sunny weather, broken engine... Believe me, I have been sitting home this year and in 07. No. Fun. At. All. You even get these nice asshole text messages from your "friends" saying how good the ride is and how perfect the racetrack is, how much fun theyīre having... bastards.
600 $ in 10 years, thatīs 60 bucks a year, 5 $ a month, 17 cents a day. Iīd think twice about it
A few inspirational pics for you and your belt change:
