One of the problems is the tires they weight about 40lb.each the other is wet deep snow. Could the problem have to with gearing.The other thing is we are at 7000ft so he is down on power 15 to 20%.

 

I don't think the 26" Bighorns are a problem for the 650, I was out the other day in 15-18 inches of wet, sticky snow and my tires have 1 in tread depth. My tires are 25 lbs plus the steel rims and I have only a 400, I din't have any belt slippage and was pushing the snow up to the bumper on my machine. Only once in a while did I have to back up and get a run to bust through the snow bank that I pushed up in front of myself.

You have belt or spring problems by the sound of it.

 

Assuming that he's not getting any water on his belt, I would almost guarantee that his belt is out of deflection. Have him measure it! It should be between 22 and 27mm. He will undoubtedly need to remove some clutch shims from the secondary clutch (or have it done fore him). I set my deflection right at 22 mm on my 05 (with the higher gearing), and have had zero slippage with my 26 mudlite XTR's, mudding, pulling people out, ect. at 1500 miles on the stock belt. Assuming 26 inch tires, I do not think that a clutch kit is necessary, as long as the belt is in deflection. I did put a black EPI spring in the secondary, just as a precaution; easy to do when shimming the clutch. The only other thing I would mention is that the V2's are geared too high in reverse (and in forward for that matter), people tend to slip the belt pulling people out in reverse, so have him watch that.
Yup, these Kawi clutches are not the best in the high geared V2's, but it is an easy fix. DEFLECTION, DEFLECTION, DEFLECTION! Did I mention deflection?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

What is 'deflection' and how does a person set it, and what does 22mm provide that 27mm doesn't etc.

I am curious because I just put a new (Ultimax) belt in my machine today, didn't need one, I only have 2000 miles on my machine but just for something to do. I could not get the nut off so I went and bought an Impact wrench too - lol. Would have been cheaper to have the dealer do it but I had fun doing it. Not really because the AC dealer quoted me $174.00 for a new belt and I bought one from a performance place for $60.00... It looks as good and as strong as the OEM, if it isn't and breaks I still have the origional one.

Anyway what about this 'deflection' thing?

 

Deflection is basically the amount of "sag" that the belt has between the primary and secondary clutches when pulled down by a certain force (13 pounds in the case of the V2). It basically determines how "tight" the belt is. It seems to be a very important measurement in the Kawasaki clutches, but especially for the 04 and 05 V2's. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but deflection does not seem to be an issue for the other AC's.
Why is 22 better than 27? Because a tighter belt has less chance of slipping under load. Now, why that is the case, I couldn't tell you. Maybe someone with more mechanical knowledge than I have could way in.

 

Is it 13lbs, or 3lbs? I thought it was 3lbs of pressure. I could be wrong though

 

How do you adjust the tension... when I push down or pinch the top and bottom of the belt together the clutch wheels spread...

 

Yup, its 13 pounds, I just checked the shop manual. I use a digital fish scale, makes it pretty easy and accurate. As far as the 400, I don't think that you have to worry much about deflection, but I'm not really sure because I've never owned one, maybe someone else will chime in.

 

Phew, and I thought I was gonna have to take it apart again and set it. Well I put the new one in and backed up and drove ahead in the driveway and it seemed ok. I will find out later, I will take it down the RR tracks and see what is up... I didn't notice any mention in my shop manual about 'deflection' so I was curious about it and if I needed to do it and if so, then how...

 

Thanks we put in a kit and it works good know.