i am asking this question for a freind of mine that bought a 2005 650 v-twin. he bought it in january of this year and the dealership had it listed a t brand new, however it had 8 hours of runtime on it and 5 miles..........normal?? anyway he went for a ride last weekand and was climbing a hill in 4-low and when he crested the top of the 30 foot hill a huge cloud of smoke poured out of the underbody. the dealership thinks that the belt is bad, is this normal for the mileage?

 

I wouldn't say that it was. Would you want to replace belts every 10 miles or so?
You don't hear about too many belts being smoked. Once in a while there is an issue with the clutchs and springs.
The AC dealer will want about $150-$175 for a new belt, aftermarket can range from $30 to $70. I put an 'Ultimax' in mine for about $60, not that I needed one, just that I wanted too. I have the OEM as a backup (??? don't know why but I do)....

 

Tell him to take it back to the dealer he bought it from and they should warranty any problems he's having.

 

If you do a search on the AC 650 V-twin you will find that when they initially came out they had many little gremlins that had to be tweaked and tuned. I thik because the machine was rushed to the market prior to complete testing.

As a result the Kawi engine and tranny inthe V-twin was not tuned correctly to the AC drive train. It had shim issues in the belt theat was making it too loose allowing it to slap and trip a sensor and put the bike into "wimp" mode or limp mode.

My guess, from what I have heard and read, is that the machine has burnt the belt because it is not "tuned correctly". Also, I remember from other posts, people suggesting taking it to a Kawi dealer to have the tranny tuned.

Or at least checking the Kawi posts on here to see what needs to be done and let the AC dealer know what they need to fix UNDER WARRANTY!

I remember some of the early 650 v-twin owners having similar issues and getting frustrated tweaking the fixes.

I think a Moose CDI or DYnatek CDI fixes some of the issues but I do not remember what they did to the shims on the belt? But DO NOT let the dealer tell you it is from abuse because 130 miles, unless you have 30inch tires, is awfully hard to abuse it.

SJ

 

everything swampy said is true. to add to it alot of guys say on the v2 models to drive in low range when doing roughly 45-50 mph . anything faster than that can be ran in high gear. they were saying if you ran in high at low speeds then the belt would be ruined. if you see "v2 rider" in here ask him about the speed ,he should know , and if you have other issues.

 

Isn't there a deflection adjustment on the V2 or something like that? If that is not correct I suppose it could cause problems. I don't know if someone mentioned this before or not. I think with one of the topics I was reading about this and I believe I ran across it in the service manual also.

 

I just checked and there is a deflection adjustment that is adjusted with shims.
You use 13lbs of pressure on the belt and it sould deflect 22-27mm (0.87-1.06 in). If an adjustment is needed the driven pulley needs to be removed for the insersion of the correct shims.

 

The V2's up until 06 had pretty heavy belt issues. The secondary clutch wasn't shimmed properly and resulted in a lot of smoked belts. V2 owners should use low range unless they are driving down the road. The quad will go about 55mph in low (unless it's an '06), high range is best used for casual driving at sustained speeds about 30mph. All trail riding should be done in low.

Buckaroo gave the right number for the deflection settings and almost every V2 owner will find they are out of deflection if they haven't already fixed it. I strongly suggest changing clutch springs when you adjust the deflection as it will help give a much crisper engagement.

The Dyna CDI fixes the belt light problem, which was fixed by AC in the 05 models. This was a sensor that would detect a false problem and put the quad in 'limp mode', allowing you to go about 10mph and that's it. Not the same problem as belts burning off prematurely.

While I don't think belts are typically covered under warranty, this one should be. There is a known problem with the clutch and when they replace his belt he must INSIST that they put the belt in proper deflection as well.