Ok..now im kinda new to these belt driven bikes..my dad has a 650 prarie and i ride it quite a bit. NOW..i've been reading this forum for a bit and im hearing that its best to keep it in low unless you plan on really cooking it...Ok..so how fast is too fast for low? MOST of my trail riding is done under 30kms/hr...BUT then we'll come to an opening and we'll cruise around 50-70 kms/hr. SO which is it...whats the best gear to ride in?

 

Scott, that's a real good question and has long been my frustration with belt drives. Maybe some people live in areas with many miles of good trails, fire roads etc and stay in high range all day. For those of us who travel in ever-changing terrain, we have to keep changing all the time. Just when you decide the trail is good so you go to high range, you get a rough spot that forces you to stop and go back to low range. So you leave it in low range for a while and the trail turns good and all your buddies are gone while you stop to go back to high range. Back and forth every 5 minutes,all day long. And every time you change, you have to come to a complete dead stop.
I'm ready to get rid of my old Polaris, but all the best new bikes (like the Prairie) are belt drive now, and I just don't think I want another belt. Unless lots of Prairie owners can tell me that its not like that anymore. Well guys, what's the story?

 

I don't have a 650 but I can tell you most of the time I leave my 360 in High all day long...well unless I come up on a really tough mud whole or a really really ruff section like a rock garden where your only going to be going like 2 or 3 MPH and you just need a lot of torque to get you past it.

 

HI GUY'S:
I ride mine in high most of the time...unless the trail gets slow and rough. Up to 30kms an hour in low is a joke ...I have mine up noticeably faster (can't remember how fast) than 30. The black spring helps belt engagement to the point of almost never putting it in low. When in a trail with good traction...in low she almost jumps of the ground! But even in high she's got all the grunt in the world to almost never go into low. I really don't think that leaving them in high, hurts the belt at low speeds all that much. I re-shimed at 1300km and put the spring in...and while out of spec yes, it didn't look bad. and with no shim she's measureing a shade less than spec. I rode mine alot in high and suffered no ill effects.

ROB

 

listen to your bike it will tell you... I travel 99% in high, and I use low when I hear my belt working too hard or a really rough spot, but instead of low in some rough spots I use the momentum of the bike. 2 up the I would use low more often but I only ride single. I use low to plow snow.

 

I have gone 38mph in low range. It seems that 30mph (44kph?) max is a more comfortable speed limit for low range.

It is a pain to keep shifting up and down, but the belt lasts a lot longer and there is less pulley grooving if you keep in low as much as possible.

Taking off in high, climbing, mudbogging,or anything else that you do under 5mph or so is better done in low range, at least from a belt wear perspective.

sometimes I am accidentally in high when I am going up a hill that slows me down a lot. No big deal, I don't go confess my mistake to a priest, I just continue to try to keep it in low range whenever I know I will be going slow. I won't be buying nearly as many belts as others who go everywhere in high.

 

Only time I ever use low is in deep mud or when crawling really slow.
I perform regular maintenance on the belt like blowing out dust and have no "grooving" of clutch faces to speak of.

 

Agree with NYROC and that is what the owner manual tells us, "Keep it in Lo Range unless running at higher speeds." I have ridden mine right at 2000 miles, 1400 of them with the current belt and the belt is still in tolerance and I run most of the time in Hi Range unless it is really rough going. But, I have also installed the 'black spring' and removed all the spacers in the driven clutch so that belt tension is at or slightly below tolerance. Next month I will be in SW Arizona again riding the desert mountain trails and some riding at Glamis. Will probably put around 750 miles on it in the two months I will be there. I plan to remove the KEBC actuator lever before I leave. BTW, today I got mine back from the dealer after he replaced the KEBC actuator for the second time. The tech told me that there had been three P/N changes for that actuator. Appears that it is somewhat prone to failure. Forturally, I have the extended warranty which have paid for both of them. While there, I bought a new belt to take with me as it is a looooong way to a dealer from where I stay in Arizona. Price was $90.00 less 20% discount the dealer gives me as I have bought two ATV's from him.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

IMO, here are some bad things to do to the belt, sortof in order from most to least destructive. I don't have any lab data on this, it is just kinda gathered from experience with many belted quads.

1. Get it wet and try to move forward while it slips (depends on how bad you do it).
2. Drive with the belt loose (makes it wear belt and pulley real fast).
3. Neglect to install the black spring.
4. Ride a lot in really dust conditions, sucking in a lot of dust (it is proven that dust plays a huge factor on belt and pulley life).
5. Big tires.
6. Ride slow in high.

I did all 6 of these bad things on my first belt, and it was gone by 500 miles, and I tried to squeeze more out of it by adjusting it but it was a lost cause by 650 miles or so.

Now, I do not doubt for a minute that some people get by with little wear driving in high all the time. However, I want to maximize my belt and pulley life, and I know that low range will help somewhat. Sometime I have to use big tires, sometimes a little drowning cannot be helped. Those things are bad, but it is smart to try to reduce the wear every way I can. I can't stay out of the streams and mudholes, having fun is the whole point. I might as well trade my 650 in on a leather couch.

therefore I:

1. Play dead if the belt is wet and wait for help.
2. Keep the belt tight.
3. I put the spring in.
4. I sometimes hang back in a dusty ride, or volunteer to lead. I will probable get the DiamondG cvt filter or something.
5. I only use my big tires on nasty rides.
6. I try to use low range to decrease belt and pulley wear.

 

My low range top speed is 41mph. I ride in low range when I know my avg speed will be in the 30's. I love the instant speed you get when running around 30-33mph and give WOT and its like a rocket. I will say this is with stock tires. The heavy 589s on c-series just kill the zip the P650 has. The top speed suffers and the quickness is gone. That why the 589s are going on the Kodiak next summer. ITP ATRs will be going on the c-series for the P650.