Hello all. I am new to the forum and no very little about quads. Although I am very mechanically inclined and in younger years had a number or dirtbikes. I use wood as secondary source of heat and until recently have used my 1984 TriMoto 200 to pull wood out of woods either on sled or trailer. Believe me, this has been a lot of work with the 3 wheeler and got it stuck plenty. About 6 months ago I purchased a 2003 Yamaha Kodiak 400 with the ultramatic trans. This thing is awesome for what I have been using it for, plenty of power and traction. Last weekend though I had a chance to do some trail riding, nothing too serious. It seems that the rpm's are very high for the speed I am going, although no tach on this thing. At 25 mph the rpm's sound very high and not comfortable going any faster. Is this the way it should be or a possible problem? With my old 3 wheeler I can easily cruse at 25 mph at fairly low rpm. Thanks for any comments you can provide on this!

 

Not to be a smarty pants.....but were you in low range or high range? If you were in hi, and the rpms seemed a bit much, a few things could be wrong. You could have glazed the belt ,or it is getting worn. Another thing is the primary clutch grease could be hardened or full of dirt, and not allowing you to "shift up" to trail gear. also possible the secondary spring has lost tension, keeping the sheave from squeezing the belt and giving you the higher gear ratio. Last.....and I hope this is not the problem....the shoes in the wet centrifugal clutch behind your primary sheave could be worn, and slipping badly. First thing is to pull the cover, then rev it up in neutral, and see if the front clutch full closes, and the belt rides all the way up to the top of the sheave, and see how the secondary reacts as well. I would not recommend riding it with the cover off to check the clutch...too many moving parts close to your leg.

 

Thanks for the quick response! First, the 2003's do not have high and low range, I believe the earlier Kodiaks did. I will take the cover off and take a look. Is there more than 1 belt? The person I purchased the quad from said he changed the drive belt but the old one was fine and he gave the old one to me. It looks similar to a serpantine belt on a car. He said he did this for preventative maintenance, but now I am wondering if there is another issue. It will likely be Friday before I can take a look but I will report back with what I find. Thanks again!

 

Ok then, with no low range, then you are looking at just a few things....oil leak on the belt making it slip..dont think yours is worn much if the former owner just changed it. or the grease/ rollers are gummed up, or, the expensive part.....the wet cetrifugal clutch that drives your primary is shot. speaking of wet clutch....have you changed oil recently, and if so, did you use ATV/ Motorcycle rated wet clutch oil, or car oil? additives in car oil will make wet clutches slip badly. we will know more once you pull the cover and tell me what you find out with the belt and clutches. and only one belt !!

 

Okay, I took the cover off. Everything looks very clean and it appears that the belt is riding up as it should when I give it throttle. Maybe everything is working as it should and I am just not familiar with it enough? It just seems like the motor is really working at 25 mph, even at 10. I wish this thing had a tach on it so I actually knew engine speed. Thanks again for your help!