I recently had a problem with my quad shifting, when I opened it up the drive belt was inside-out.

Has anyone out there ever heard of this happening on the fly? I just bought this 2005 Polaris Sportsman 500 13 months ago from a dealer. Could this belt flip on it's own or was it put on inverted in the first place?

Please give me your opinions because this belt cost me 70 bucks and I've only had the chance to ride maybe a couple times a month since I bought it, also never rode it hard or anything. I'm just wondering if anyone's ever seen this before. Thanks.
John

 

Impossible, it had to have been put on backwards. If it was ran inside out throw it away, its shot and will almost for sure fall apart if reinstalled correctly.

 

Actually I have read of them flipping,ie the inside surface was on the outside and the outside(with the wrinting on it) was to the inside. Never seen it and can't remember what can cause it but I have heard it can happen...maybe putting it on backwards(as in rotation)? I can't remember where I read that though...so..maybe I dreamed it,lol

IMO I agree with Koerbs...doesn't seem likely..but I guess anything is possible..

 

Yes I had it happen on a snowmobile.......It was improper alignment of the clutches that caused the proplem...........Caper........

Note it flipped over at high speed.......60-65 miles per hour.........

 

Hard to imagine a belt flipping and staying that way because of the shape. Should run like this, \ / not like this / \

 

I had it happen on my "lil" 400 ,but it was under sevear stress.I was trying to push a jeep backwards and he was winning..Flipped the belt right upside down and then blew it all apart...Jeep 1 Polaris 0
It was one of them"Hold my beer and watch this" kinda things!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: onesavage

I had it happen on my "lil" 400 ,but it was under sevear stress.I was trying to push a jeep backwards and he was winning..Flipped the belt right upside down and then blew it all apart...Jeep 1 Polaris 0

It was one of them"Hold my beer and watch this" kinda things!</end quote></div>

no, not you putting that poor bike under stress lol. i would say check the clutch alignment for sure and maybe the engine mounts as well for seperation. i also agree the belts most likely junk now and wouldnt last being ran that way. make sure rthe new belt is correct and put on the right way so you can read the polaris name on it. i have only seen a belt flip on a snowmobile and it was becasue of wrong belt or way too loose.

 

Was getting some weird noise from the clutch cover, I pulled it to find the belt fliped over. I reinstalled it the correct direction, and not a mile down the road, shredded half of it.

 

I agree with above. Check the alignment. I would guess motor mounts.

 

I think someone just honestly didn't know what they were doing. The machine has 300 hrs on it, and everything is clean and in good condition. I've worked on lot's of Polaris's, and never have I seen or even heard of a belt fliping over under the cover. Think about how hard it is to get on and off, it would have to do basically that for it to flip. Not that I don't think that could be an issue with older higher hrs machines, that isn't the problem with mine.