Pick up a dictionary and look up the word sarcastic. If any one here is using negitive remarks the very first post is being sarcastic of AC. I too am an extremely satisfied and loyal Arctic Cat owner.
I'm active in a number of other forums and none of them have the number of people that come on and whine like this forum does. It does nothing to solve thier problem.

Meathead you still haven't answered the questions. You said you fried 5 belts in 251 miles. I assume you bought/warrentied/replace all 5 belts. Who installed the clutch kit? Did you fry the belts before of after installation and heres another who installed the new belts?
We don't know the whole story here but I do have a lot of experiance with Arctic Cat and I find replacing 5 belts in 251 miles to be extreme and not a good indictator of Arctic Cat reliablity.
I do believe it to be a safe bet that meathead has brought on his problems himself.

Use this forum to try and learn something not bash.

One more thing to say if we dont have problems is because we dont ride..... what is you address? I'll send you a tissue to whipe the tears from your eyes.

 

"Pick up a dictionary and look up the word sarcastic."

Sorry Old Crow. I misinterpreted your body language and voice inflection.

 

ive got 28 in 589 m/ts on my 650 le along with hl icm module,dynojet kit and 500 miles on it now with the orig belt ive gone through some serious muck like up to the seat water etc never had a belt problem ive had the limp mode fairy hit me once at 235 miles other than that this machine is flawless ive heard about oil leaks with synthetic oils that are not sg rated such as mobile one

 

Guess I'll chime in here. I don't own the 650, but know a few guy s with them, and their "problems' have been few and far between. The only time I've seen them burn the belt, was trying to pull someone out in reverse. There's no way you should have put 5 belts on that machine. After 2 I'd be asking some questions, and taking them up on their 2 year warranty coverage. Why would you spring for 5 of them before realizing that this isn't the norm? After the second, you should have been checking the clutch kit, maybe removing it to see if that was the problem, then carefully reading the directions and re-installing it, or sending it back. It is frustrating, but as you'll see, AC isn't the only ones with problems, these forums are full of Q&A's on different problems with all makes. If you want a completely "trouble-free" machine, you may as well get out of the sport altogether. Look at the conditions these ATV's are subject to, nothing will take the abuse and survive as good. Have fun on your skidder, that's about the only thing that can hold up to your expectations.

 

My 650 has over 2400kms on it and nothing has broken or burnt up on it yet(besides my leg on them screws).Limp mode sucks,but there will be a fix,someday,the exhust screws have a fix on the way and the tranny,well,don't care much for it but if you keep it shimed properly it will(should)work much better than what you have experienced.I ride pretty hard too.You got a lemon,imo.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. My 650LE has been awesome. I did install an EPI pro clutch (pink spring and removed the .8mm shim), 26 Mudlites on 5 series cast, Velocity devices unrestricted airbox intake, HMF QS1 slip-on muffler, PIAA 540 off road lights, KC reverse flood light (why they don't put reverse lights on ATVs I'll never know) and a Dynatec CDI. I had never had a single problem with it before I did any of the mods and all the mods I have done have made huge performance increases. It will beat a stock P650 in a drag and is just barely(and I mean barely) slower than a P700. I did have to rejet for the intake and exhaust mods but it was well worth the time spent. I have yet to break a single part and other than the performance of the rear brake (pitiful) I am extremely satisfied with it. By the way I think the single best mod I did is the tires. The stock radials suck a$$ and allow the front end to be pushed around. The Mudlites totally changed the handling characteristics for the better.
Sounds like you got a lemmon or your local dealership mechanic is the true MEATHEAD and just cant figure out the simple Kawi belt drive.

Rich.

 

I have an 04 650 right around 225mi and on belt number three, with a flat spot on number three. I have burnt two of them in reverse and the first one was my lack of knowledge high-vs-low. My only complaint is, here in ohio, so far all the dealers I have talked to know nothing about the trans or bike for that fact they told me reverse was low range. Every time I go to the dealer I share with them what I learn on here and eventually I will have to start charging them for lessons. LOL! I finally put a dalton kit in and took out the small shim, so we will see how it does, but it feels much better. Other than that it has never failed or stranded me and it usually out performs the other bikes I ride with! I would say you have a major lemon!

 

Oh yeah something I forgot to add in my incoherent rambling. If they came right from the factory it would save a lot of face and aggrivations!

 

if Meatheads attention to proper use or mechanical ability of his machine is equal to his spelling and punctuation, it's no wonder his machine seems like a lemon. I have a feeling the problems lies within the operator. He seems to be dodging Olecrow's questions for some reason.

Were those belts replaced before or after the clutch installation?

If any of you want answers to your transmission/belt questions, go to the Kawi forum. There are several knowledgable people there who have been inside and out of that tranny.

 

I think Meathead is suffering from the same problem that many other ATV riders have. A slight lack of mechanical knowledge about his ATV which forces him to have to rely on the capabilities of his local dealership's mechanic. Unfortunately most AC dealerships are not real familiar with the Kawasaki belt drive so I think that most of them just keep throwing belts on them without solving the cause of the problem. I took the time to research the problem and asked the P650-P700 guys what they were doing to solve there woes and I followed suit. Our local Kawi shop puts black EPI secondary clutch springs in every prairie they replace a belt on warrantee or not. He says that he has never had to warrantee a belt after he started doing it. Iknow in the last post I said I never had any problems with mine and that is true. I was lucky enough to have found extremely valueable information on forums and took the steps necessary to make sure that my AC doesn't leave me stranded. And for everyone who provided me information to help me out when I was modding my ATV, Thank You.

Rich.