I am buying my first atv and have heard that beltless trans are better. (Less slippage?) Or have they improved the belts so that this really isn't an issue?

 

They still make a ATV thats not belt drive?

 

yes, hondas

 

The belt vs beltless is kinda a moot point now. True, some of the first belts had adjustment problems but for the past few years they have been very reilable. You can still take out your belt with poor dirving - putting your quad under heavy, high-revving load while in HI range etc., but if you drive smart the belts will be just fine. Certainly not enough reason to choose a non-belt quad over a belted one if that's the only difference.

Jaybee

 

One major disadvantage about belts is that you can only achieve a limited spread of gearing with two pullies. Manufacturers gear them for flat land riding, then count on you to put it in low case for situations where you need lower gearing. I ride with lots of belt drives, and I always have to laugh when they have to stop at the bottom of a big hill and put it in low case. Holds up the whole line while they have to do their thing.

I am a gear-on-gear tranny guy. Some would say this severely limits my choices, but I ride very tight woods trails so I don't want anything other than a medium size trail quad. I'm perfectly happy with my Ranchers, but if I needed a work quad, about the only choice would be the Foreman. Honda just puts on a super low 1st gear, so you don't need a transfer case!

Honda does have non-belt drive trannies in the Rubicon and Rincon, for those who insist on an automatic. I feel like these are an overly complex solution....

 

I guess my biggest beef with the ATV manufacturers today is that almost NONE of them even give you a choice any more. Want a shifting transmission? buy a sport quad, want a utility or sport/utility? naaaa- you're too dumb to pick your own gear, here, you only get a belt drive because you don't know enough to shift and ride at the same time, like those brainiac sport riders !! Besides, we're too lazy and cheap to retool and offer you a choice for the thousands of dollars you spend on our ATVs.
Okay, that may be a bit harsh and overblown, but that's how it seems sometimes, everyone is entitled to their opinion, I know a lot of people love the simple,gas and go of belt drive, but is seems as if the few who like to shift have been forgotten, which is one of the reasons I still drive a 1995 Wolverine, the first true sport/utility quad there was, and now even that has been "belted". Drive what you want, I don't judge brand or size or transmission choice, but at least give me a choice in what I want to drive and they way I want to drive it !!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>One major disadvantage about belts is that you can only achieve a limited spread of gearing with two pullies</end quote></div>

Actually its the other way around.

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a transmission which can change steplessly through an infinite number of effective gear ratios between maximum and minimum values. This contrasts with other mechanical transmissions that only allow a few different discrete gear ratios to be selected. The flexibility of a CVT allows the driving shaft to maintain a constant angular velocity over a range of output velocities</end quote></div>

I think the Power and size of the ATV are getting powerful and heavy for a gear tranny now and its would require a larger, clumsier street motorcycle tranny to handle the higher power,so that why there are no powerful "Heavy Utility" ATVs with semi gears.

 

Amy,
Part of the answer depends on whether you prefer an automatic or a manual transmission. Some people prefer manual transmissions in everything, whether it be their truck, their Jeep, or their quad. I personally have found that I can finesse my way through an off road obstacle much much better with an automatic transmission than I can with a manual transmission and a clutch. My Jeep has an auto transmission, and my quad does as well.

All CVT transmissions in ATVs are not created equal though. We've had two Polaris ATVs with CVT transmissions, and had to repair the transmission in both of them. The Sportsman smoked the belt and ended up warping the whole primary clutch assembly, which was an expensive fix that was not covered under warranty. The Scrambler just smoked the belt, but our Polaris dealer refused to cover it under Polaris' lifetime belt warranty, because the belt was just smoked (worn in one area), and had not broken. We've had four Kawasaki ATVs with CVT transmissions, and they have been good for the most part. But they require adjustment periodically, and can tend to slip and squeek and squawk if they are not adjusted just right. And we've had ten Yamaha ATVs/UTVs with CVT transmissions (this is for our family of four, not just myself by the way). In the last ten years use, we have never had to even touch a Yamaha CVT transmission, ... ever!

The better CVT transmissions are as reliable as anything now-a-days. I think there are more important issues to consider when purchasing an ATV, like power, handling, suspension, terrainability, and overall reliability. I personally would rather have a powerfull good handling well suspended ATV that has a CVT transmission, than I would have an under powered, poorly suspended ATV, simply because I had to have a manual transmission.

DV

 

Our 97 Sportsman has 7500 miles on it without a primary or Secondary trouble. I used 4 or 5 belts in its 10 years with it but at $50 each and 20 minutes to change who cares.


My Ski-Doo just turned 8000 miles this winter with only needing belt changes as well.

It really does not get simpler than a CVT it could be totally rebuilt in a afternoon in the back yard if need be. Try and tear down a 5 speed Tranny down it would take a week.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: 95wolvI guess my biggest beef with the ATV manufacturers today is that almost NONE of them even give you a choice any more. Want a shifting transmission? buy a sport quad, want a utility or sport/utility? naaaa- you're too dumb to pick your own gear, here, you only get a belt drive because you don't know enough to shift and ride at the same time, like those brainiac sport riders !! Besides, we're too lazy and cheap to retool and offer you a choice for the thousands of dollars you spend on our ATVs.<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>

There was a flurry of market testing going on about 10 years ago, and it indicated that aging baby boomers wanted a comfy long travel suspension ride and an automatic transmission. Most of these people had never ridden a any quad and certainly didn't grow up riding motorcycles, so they had no idea how to shift a manual transmission whether it was an autoclutch manual or left hand clutch manual. But, if they didn't have to lean anything more complicated than pushing a button and pulling some brake levers (or better yet, one single brake lever that runs both the front and rear), they might be willing to try the sport. The North American manufacturers in particular (who had never previously built anything but a snowmobile), jumped all over this one...seeing they saw that there was a buck to be made!!!!

To many like me, this represented a "dumbing down" of the sport to accomodate any overweight, unathletic, out of shape senior citizen (better get that winch as well...you're going to need it!). This was the point where I completely rejected this whole paradigm.....

The result of this, is that these "dumbed down" machines are pretty much all the manufacturers now have to offer, and the young ute rider starting out these days doesn't really have another choice, so they really don't realize what they have missed....it's a prefect example of deevolution!