I believe I heard him correctly, I generally don' t make those errors. I guess I will have to start having you buy things for me, since you have a very good resource. The ex-AC dealer that had some parts left over, told me the dealer cost was $20 or $22 for the gasket, I got it for $15. You have an outstanding resource if you can get it for 40% less than a dealer pays for it. The retail quote of $35 for the gasket came from two dealers. The $174 quote for the belt came from one dealer then I found one on the internet for $59 delivered and ordered it.

 

I had a sway bar but didn't like the way that it mounted underneath being suseptible to rocks etc so I got rid of it. Playing with my suspension and tire pressures I have attained good handling. I can 'dirt-track' around most turns and when the rear hooks up it will lift the inside front tire off the ground. Guess I could not ask for any better from a utility machine, plus I still have the full articulation of the suspension in the really rough stuff. I passed an Eiger in a corner (on a dirt road) one day and it is pretty hard to out handle an Eiger (for a utility machine). I read an article where there was a 10 machine shoot-out in the 400-500 class utility machines and the Eiger got 10 out of 10 votes for best sporty handling. Since then I have added 6 ply tires and 1 inch wheel spacers and probably will have to reset my preloads and tire pressures for the handling again.

I am considering adding High Lifter lift springs to the rear. As my machine sits I have 1/4 in more clearance in the front than the rear with me on it, it probably is more. The High Lifters claim about 1 inch lift and longer travel. So I would have 11 inches of travel in the rear, and with me on the maching I might have a 1/2 more clearance in the rear. Right now the fronts travel 7/8 th of the shock and the rears travel 100% so maybe it will offset and have the rear just a tad higher than the front (which is what I want - if the front makes it over an obstacle then the rear won't hang up or drag). A better chance of backing up if I get stuck.

 

Sorry that price was for my Sportsman belt and gasket. I just presumed that all belts were the same price more or less. I did look up some other ATV belt prices and yes the AC belts and 660 Grizzly OEM belts are $112 !

The good news is when you do a goggle search it seems most aftermarket belts are $50-$60 for all makes and models so I guess Arctic Cat and Yamaha do not sell many replacement belts.

Chech out these Dayco Belt prices for ATVs. Even there High performance belts are a much better deal.

 

You may be right about AC not selling many belts, I stopped into one dealer and he did not even have one in stock and the man told me that he had been there for 10 years and had only sold 1 belt. I laughed and said to him that he had a chance to be a hero and be the only one in the company to ever sell 2 belts in a period of 10 years - lol.... That is when I found out that these darn things can last 10,000 miles or so. I figured I had a good bargain at $59 delivered from the internet and being a SUCKER for a bargian I ordered one before they changed their minds about the pricing - lol...

This is why I am dangerous to go shopping, I would walk around the store and leave with half the store, even if I didn't need it, just because it would be on sale... hehehe... Then the other half makes me bring stuff back or sleep in the 'dog-house'... "But Honey it was on sale"... lol

 

I agree with you on the articulation but at best I've lost 2 to 3" of suspension travel, so with 10" to begin with the Cat still has good numbers. Once the sway bar is on it's very easy to take off and reinstall based on what type of riding you plan to do. My boot guards pretty much cover the sway bar so I'm not concerned about rocks and usually ride alot of rocky trails with it on. Like everything else it is a matter of preference I suppose. I also run 6 ply and I keep the front shocks on the 3rd setting and the rears on the second and 5psi all around. This alone was a great improvement over the stock tires but again the sway bar serves me well for the riding I do. Wish I had known you had removed yours and I would have bought it from you. Even with the Terracross tires I have stayed 25' stock size and steer away from the spacers as the quad is already 48 1/2 wide to begin with with the ITP tires. Twelve inches of ground clearance already puts the Cat well above the other quads when it comes to going over rocks and again for most of the spring and summer I'll be riding coal hills where the sway bar gives the added stabilty on cornering and off camber stuff.

 

sat4314, I would have sold you mine. I almost kept it, I was going to put a steel plate on the back of my machine where the downtubes are and mount it there like the polaris machines do. But after weighing out everything I ended up returning it to the dealer. 90% of my riding is done at 20mph or slower and 1/2 of that is done at 10mph or slower. So basically I flipped a coin and back it went, and I bought some other goodies with the money, by which my kind of riding I would yield a little more bennefit for the money spent.

I basically did not like the design and thought that the AC engineeres could have put it on the back-end like the polaris's, they could have even had it designed for a quick-disconnect for those moments that you want to ride without it. If they would have done that then you would not have been able to get it from me with a pry-bar. lol...

I still may pick one up (may not be AC brand) and mount it, but it will definately be on the back and not under the machine.

 

Everybody keeps talking about the belts being so good, what about the rest of the transmisson, any problems there?--Thanks--Mike

 

Since no one has mentioned any issues with it then I would have to say then there are no issues with the transmission. I have a 400 and no problems with mine. I have not heard of anyone having problems. For the size of the engine the transmission is plenty heavy duty.

Sometimes, I help my friend yard wood and my 400 auto seems to pull just as much as his 500 honda auto. We will load up his trailer and I can haul it just as easily out of the woods. It is alot of weight. about as much wood as you could load in the back of a 1/2 ton pickup... I am going to guess at close to 1500 lbs plus the weight of the trailer itself.

It is a rugged transmission, no doubt.

 

Once you have a low range(auto or manual) option any ATV will pull hard. My 89 350 Big Bear while in low range seemed have more grunt than my 450 Foreman which had no low range option. The Foreman had a nice super low 1st gear but the Big Bear while in low had a super low 1st,2nd,3rd,4th and 5th!

These utility ATV without a low range option are just a cost cutting measure I would think.