
I can’t be the first to face this issue but have seen very little in the way of advice online.
Drive belt was dry rot and snapped while riding. Replacement belt for a 2008 GV650 is 300 quid and only made by one manufacturer. Decided to do a chain conversion courtesy of the X-Ring Conversion Kit running a bog-standard 520 O-ring chain. This future proofs maintenance down the road (Pun intended) as I can pick up 520 chain at any bike shop. The trouble was finding a way to immobilise the front drive pulley in order to break the retaining nut loose.
Conventional wisdom says to put the gearbox in neutral, stand on the rear brake pedal, lean over the seat and with a breaker bar and bust the drive pulley/sprocket nut loose. However, that only works if there is a belt/chain attached. My drive belt was dry rot from sitting in a tin shed for 4 years prior to me purchasing the bike and snapped in two places.
After far too many swear words, in desperation, we pulled out a bit of rope and lashed it round. Should have done this first off. It worked a treat.
There are certainly a plethora of ways to get this done, but this was by far the quickest and easiest method we found.
Hopefully this finds its way to someone else in similar circumstances.