OK fellas, this will eliminate alot of posts about the reliability of Belt driven transmissions. In your opinion, organize the below list in the order of most reliable at ther top to least reliable at the bottom. Oh, and this is about belt driven transmissions, which excludes manuals and any automatic from Honda. Remember, Belt Driven. Also give a little explanation. Yoiu may also include earlier or later versions of some transmissions.

Kawasaki Automatic
Polaris PVT Automatic
Yamaha Ultramatic
Arctic Cat Duramatic
Suzuki Quadmatic
Bombardier CVT Automatic

Let the listing begin!

 

They are mostly likely very similar seeing that they all have the same weak link in the design. The belt. The most reliable would be the quad that came stock with a spare belt and was easiest to change in a mudhole.

 

The yamaha belt system is the most reliable because you dont have to adjust and stuff. But kawasaki has great performence and easy to modify. It just is a little picky.

 

Myself- I would stay away from one that actually gave you an extra belt- Like Polaris lifetime on belts that tells you something right there . I know someone who had one, after the second belt they try to charge you.Yamaha drive system hands down is the best , then Kawi
Cat
Bomber
Zuki
Last and least Polaris IMOA

 

Yamaha has the most reliable belt drive on the market.

 

thanks,i agree, and have had no probs., with mine.
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Does anyone have a any technical drawings or specs. of a decent CVT. I'm currently designing my own quad bike but I don't know enough about transmissions and I'm looking for any help/adive you can offer

 

Hello shawnmd. I prefer the simplicity of the Polaris system. It uses the belt as both the clutch and the variable transmission. It has its roots in snowmobiles which have been using the same type of CVT system for 40 years. It is well designed, durable and will easily last thousands of miles if used properly. Some of the other systems use a separate clutch that eventually will wear out and have to be replaced in addition to the belt. With the Polaris system, you will only replace the belt. It is a simple procedure. I have yet to replace either of my belts after 3 years of use. On my sleds, I expect 3000 to 5000 miles on a belt. These engines are much higher HP than any ATV ever built.
Bryce

 

I'm just going to recount my own experiences with belt drive transmissions, instead of getting into the theory about how something coulda, woulda, shoulda worked like.

I've owned eight Yamaha's with belt drive transmissions, and have not had to even touch any of them, ever.

I've owned four Kawasaki's with belt drive transmissions. Both the Prairie 650 and Prairie 700 needed to be serviced twice during the time we owned them. Both V-force transmissions received significant clutch mods for increased acceleration, but had no problems.

I've owned three Polaris ATVs, and both full size ATVs needed clutch work (the Scrambler 50 worked fine for the thirty miles or so that we put on it). The Scrambler 500 burned a belt and the dealer refused to submit the warranty claim to Polaris, and made me pay $137 for a new belt and the labor to install it (so much for a life time warranty). The Sportsman 500 HO needed the entire primary drive clutch assembly replaced, because the clutch itself warped, even though the belt was still fine.

And if you say I didn't use the clutch properly, that's fine, but I mis-used all of the ATVs clutches in the same way. So no doubt about it as far as I'm concerned, Yamaha wins hands down, at least for the three brands I've owned.

 

Dang DesertViper. You have owned so many quads in the last 8 years that I bet you have never even completely broken in an engine yet. Seems to me that you have no long term experience with any single quad, much less any single belt driven quad. The fact that you broke a quad in only 30 miles just seems to remind us that anyone can break anything.
Bryce