Ok OK OK OK, Hondamatic is hydralic tranny. But either way if its called a CVt let it be, But either way. Its not as good as a yamaha's. Just cause the price for breakdowns. But i've never seen one with a problem, and i've seen some serious abuse delivered too them. From rollovers to hitting tree's to pulling trucks, wheelers etc. And never missed a beat. Only time it isn't up to par is when its really cold and you have to let the tranny warm up before you take off. But thats not a biggy.

 

Polaris was the first to use the belt on the ATV but they never improved the use of the unit, they stayed with the snowmoble type clutch. It was the other ATV that went to the engine braking in the clutch. And most of the manufactures use baskily a different designe of braking. With the use of braking the belts have changed and the cost has gone out of this world. The belt for the AC 500 is at $150 with tax. Go through two or three belt and you can spend $500 easy. And the AC 650 are getting a short life. What the 500 is is hard to say but even if 2000 miles that is expensive.
My ATV before the Cat was the Honda Rubicon and I put 9 9 8 4 hard miles on the ATV and never had a problem with the transmision or bike. Only gas and oil. brakes were near new when sold. They had the best engine braking in the industry.
At 2000 miles to a belt that is $750 for transmision cost.

 

apparently they say the arctic cat can go over 5000 miles easily on a belt and i would say cat suzuki and yami all have good belt designs. honda well you don't have a belt so they are off on their own i guess when they work they work nice but for people who like mud and pulling hard they aren't exactly ideal. polaris's isn't that bad i seen alot of them burn belts but they do pretty well under alot of stress and kawi is at the bottom of the barrel burning belts becomes a fact of life with the kawi setup.

 

See V2Rider, people say bad stuff about the Kawi burning belts. Told ya. Why do they say that? Anyway, the new wheelers are all too nice to choose between. Its getting hard to choose a brand. But thats a good thing isn't it?

 

They say that because they have modified, or put bigger tires on their quad. Its not the fault of the design, its their own fault for messing with a perfectly good machine. It was sold the way it came for a reason. Poor sports blame their belts burning up when they are the idiots who put tires on that are three times the size they are supposed to be!

 

i agree with V2 rider. huge @$$ tires in mud + belt = burning.

 

fourwheeler came stock with 26 inch tires i put on 27 inch tires the 589's are not a very aggressive tire. it never see's high range unless i am running down the road 60 plus miles an hour, but when i get in the mud i can't faness my way around i gotta hit the throttle harder so the clutch snaps together so it doesn't burn the belt. if i idle in just a lil bit of mud i can start to smell the belt burning. after the clutch springs it is better but it is always in the back of your mind. my vote for the worst deffinately goes to kawi.

 

If the question is which cvt is better, wouldn't the answer be the one that is the most durable and can withstand the most punishing conditions without burning belts? It is definately not the Kawasaki system, I would rank it dead last, and I have a V2. That being said, with some maintainance and common sense, it can work very well. My vote would go to the Yamaha or the Duramatic in the 400, 500, and H1 Cats.

 

v2 you are correct but there aren't many people without bigger or atleast aftermarket more aggresive tires on their machines. but i understand what your saying. I've seen lots of people with a small displacement wheeler with 27" on them. And its rediculous. But i guess if i was going to put on big mudders i'd throw some diffrent clutch springs in so i wouldn't have to worry about it.