When the belt gets wet on a Kodiak 400 will the bike move at all when the belt starts slipping or is it just stuck and has to be towed by another 4-wheeler or winched out? Only concern about the Kodiak. One week to decide between Kodiak & BB.
Thanks

 

depends on how wet you get it, if you get it a little wet you will still move at a steady pace and it will dry quick, all will be good.
On the other hand, if you fill the case, it will just slip and you will need to be toed.

 

Duckmeat,
What I have found is to carry a deepwell 13mm socket and a ratchet. If you get the belt wet, there is a drain hole. Not too difficult to find, it is at the lowest point of the clutch housing. Pull the bolt, drain the water, reinstall the bolt and you are on your way. Not hard to do, even when it is below freezing. I ride mine year round and last winter, found out the hard way that my cooler intake hose had come disconnected. At least that is how it works on the 2000 model.

 

Hey Duckmeat! AKChappy is absolutely right about the socket and drain bolt. I've gotten water in my belt compartment twice in 2 years. and both time it was the tube that came off the belt compartment. Like AKChappy said it takes a few minutes to drain and you are back on your way in no time. If that is all that is holding you back on the Kodiak then I wouldn't be worried about it. Just carry a socket and rachet and all will be ok. I have some water pics posted so you can check it out. The only thing however is I don't have one of me coming through with the kodiak because I'm the camera man. So when you see the Vinson coming through I went through it minutes before with no belt slippage at all. The water was right to the headlights.

 

 

My brother just sold his kodiak 400...it was an 04...he bought it used and we have ridden together for about the past two and a half years...he was definitely not easy on it or afraid of any mudhole...we ride 750-1000 miles a summer and I only saw the belt get wet once. Make sure the seal is good when you get it and dive in!

I have an 08 big bear and I would still be an advocate for that if that is your other option. The IRS is what sold me...added ground clearance and comfort of the ride. I have been totally satisfied with the big bear.
Mudslinger2

 

Another trick is rev the ATV in neutral,that dries a belt much quicker.

 

I'll just be echoing what others have said. The belt drive is very easy to dry out with the drain plug. In fact, it was this feature that sold me on my Ultramatic '07 Grizzly 450 over the Big Bear.

My buddies all run 680cc Rincons and I wanted an auto trans to keep up with them. But, I didn't want the automotive style tranny of the Rincon since it did not seem like something you could fix in the field when if/when you sunk your quad.

I've towed some heavy trailers with my Grizzly and with the wet clutch equipped Ultramatic, it doesn't burn belts like a snowmachine or Polaris four wheeler.

My dealer told me that since they came out with the system, he's only sold around 10-12 replacement belts since '98.

 

No ATV burns belts in Low range when worked hard. How can a Yamaha Ultramatic have a wet clutch? I get 2000 miles out of a $80 belt and when I change it even though it looks like its good for another 2000 miles, I just change it anyways. My sleds don,t burn belt but there for pure thrill not a work horse to me just trail riding.

This is what I mean by loaded.

 

The Yamaha Ultramatic is a belt drive, centrifugal clutch system tied into a wet plate, semi-automatic type clutch system. The belt is always engaged (unlike a Polaris system) and the wet clutch inside the transmission housing is what engages/disengages depending upon RPM.

TLC,
Didn't I already have this discussion with you back in '08?