Hey guys, I have been looking to buy a new big bore atv and don't know which to chose. I have a friend who just bought a artic cat 400 4x4 and he really likes it. I also like the fact that artic cat has a two year warranty. I have searched on here and see a decend amount of people have had belt problems. Did they solve this for '05? Or how hard is it to fix on your own? I saw many people talk about replacing springs & shims and then thightening the belt to about 23-24mm. Finally, if you don't mind me asking what is a good price for one?

 

The 650 twin is definitely a great choice no matter what. As i believe they fixed the belt problems on late 04 and new 05 models so that shouldnt be a prob. just remember its kinda of a picky trans. use low when possible and high on open areas. I own an 04 model and probably gonna buy an 05 this year, from calling around the dealers i found one for about 6900 red non LE model and thats in Athens Ohio, bout three hours from me. Same dealer i got my 04 from and gonna get this one from

 

when you say picky trans, what do you mean? I heard a little about using low instead of high gear, though I heard you can do about 40mph in low. I probably will not go faster than that too often so that is ok.

 

like on my 03 400 which has the duramatic trans. when im at the bottom of a hill in high im able to climb it no prob. but on my 650 if i try to do that in high gear ill start smelling burned belt. anytime when your in the woods and are taking your time through trails then use low gear. open fields and flatlands are fine for high gear. but definitly on hillclimbs, slow woods trails, and mudding you want to use low gear.

 

thanks for the info, and it sounds like your chevy truck is going to be nasty with 11" of lift! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Good advice. I have had the same experience, however, my 650 will do about 48 mph in low range, while my 375 (same motor as your 400) will barely get over 50 in high range. I never smell the belt in low range, no matter how hard the terrain. I have a bit over 400 hard miles on my 650 and the belt is in perfect shape. That includes tons of rock crawling.

Btw, I've had the 650 up to 65mph in high range. It felt like it had more, but that kind of speed scares the brown stuff out of me.

 

as long as you know what your doing, youll be fine. the 650 is a crazy machine. with a 800 pound trailer, it won a drag race against the polaris 700, grizzly 660, prarie 700, honda rincon, and some other big bore quads. thats awesome considering it was out displaced by almost all the others. and it took third in the drag time w/o the trailer. Ive hit 63 and still felt it had more. I had the camera out and only got a pic of 60 cause i thought i was gonna fall off or something every time i hit a bump. Check out my pics, i will put some more up soon.