As a fairly new owner of a side x side I am wondering how long of service you folks are getting from your CVT drive belts. I come from ATV with a 20 yr background and typically got around 2000 miles on my Kawasaki Praire.
I am not a real hard rider, used mostly for yard and ranch work with some play time. I am the owner of a Kymco 450i and so far great machine but figure the heavier machines would probably cause a shorter belt life but just looking at what others get as far as miles before replacing. These SxS are just to difficult to open up just to check.

 

I just had to replace mine after about 2100 hard miles. I was 20 miles out from my truck and I started hearing a chattering noise, under load, at 3000 rpm or so. Got it home and took the CVT cover off. Yep, it was the belt. Had two cog "teeth" missing and the area to either side of the missing teeth had two hunks of rubber delaminating. Good thing I turned around.

This is 2100 miles where riding in rough areas with 10 mph average speed is pretty common and also plowing in the wintertime. Not bad this past year but brutal the year before. I had changed the original belt at 1500 to see how it looked after plowing the two winters after I got it originally.

 

I know Arctic Cats seem to get a lot of miles on the belts, could be the Kymco shares similar design features. My AC's are manuals though.

 

How many miles do you have on the Kymco 450i so far?

 

I just change them every 2500 miles even if they look good, just for peace of mind.
My friend bought a 2003 660 Grizzly from new and still has not looked at his belt. LOL
And the ATV runs like new still.

 

Just about 350 miles, I know I am not ready for a belt yet just trying to get an idea of how long others are getting from theirs. I figure I will open her up around 1500-1600 miles and look it over. Want to have a spare on hand so if it looks worn I can replace it while she is apart. I guess next question would be 'what type of belt?" Is the mfg belt the best or are their aftermarket brands that build a better belt? I know when I owned my Kawasaki Praire the recommended belt was the factory belt, the aftermarkets belts would not last as long. At that time Kawasaki used Kevlar belts, so....not sure about todays belts and whose would be best ??

 

When the Kawasaki Praire belt light came on it was not ment to inspect it not replace it necessarily , then you just had to reset the belt check light.

 

I've used Gates belts and they've both been good for over 2000 miles. Probably would have gotten more life out of them if I dropped it into low gear more often than I do. With the Can-Am 650 I find I have the power to rip up hills in high gear when I probably should be dropping it into low for the belt's longevity.

 

Mine was a 2000 model year, before they had the belt lights. Dash was all mechanical which I liked much better. To many people have had issues with the digital dash, however on my Kymco they use digital....convenient YES but will it be a problem down the road...probably unless they have improved them greatly over the past few years.

 

On pretty much all machines, the stock belt is usually the best choice. It fits perfectly, most aftermarket belts work fine but you usually get the best performance and longevity out of the stock belt. Im at the 1500 mile range or so on my Brute Force now so I should be good for another year or 2 before I need to replace the stock belt on it. I do find myself riding in high most of the time too Moose. The v-twin has plenty of grunt in high, even at low speeds like 10-12 mph. Low range is used sometimes on steep downhill decents to control my speed a little better. I just don't like how the engine revs so much higher in low range myself. Its loud enough already in high, along with the cvt whine. Not to mention gulping even more fuel. Its thirsty enough in high.
Digital dashes have been around a while. My 2002 Rancher had one and I didn't have any problems with it. As long as you don't sink your machine, you should be fine. With the type of riding you will be doing with your Kymco, I don't think you will ever have an issue with it.