I just recently had to WALK 10 Km from the back woods of Edmundston because
the belt of my p650 literaly blew up in a 100 pieces while going 95 Km/h. I never
felt the belt slip or smelled it smoking ever. I had checked it out a few weeks before
and it looked perfect. I was popping wheelies just minutes before with no signs of
belt slip. I had Dalton springs put in the clutch 6 months ago when I bought the
bike because the dealer told me it would compensate for the 26in Bear Claws
and would help slow belt wear. The bike only has 2500 Km on it. The belt blew without
any waring on a flat dirt road. When I took the clutch cover off , a hadfull of small belt
pieces fell to the ground, all the cords from the belt wraped inside the clutch. Had to bring
it to the dealers to have it taken appart and fixed. Needless to say I was not impressed
especialy after my long walk back from the boonies.
I have a accel module in the bike , I wonder if this had anything to do with this.
The dealer took care of replacing the belt and only charged me the labor($50+ tx) but
could not give me explanation for the belt failure.
I'd apreciate some feedback on this to find out if this is a fluke or do I have to
replace it twice a year.

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p650 Red, 2003
dalton springs
accel mod
26in bear claws
full equiped with everything

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles nobody wants walk out and leave their quad. This is the first I've heard of a belt on a quad breaking snowmobiles yes.

I quess it came apart to quickly for the switch to cut it out.

 

people that ride mud with big tires break belts all the time on prairies...

 

This is the first time I have heard about this too. You hear about this all the time on a sled because of the RPM they achieve and how much the belt stretches on a sled. On a quad its rare I think for this to happen because of the lower RPM.

 

I grenaded my 1st one at 1100 hard miles, a second one 200 miles later ( I've had a K-Bec problem, that I just got repaired, so I'm attributing the 2nd belt to that )... but when they go... 100's of pieces everywhere...WAM

 

This is why I dont like belt drive.

 

Beats picking out 100 pieces of gear or clutch out of your transmission...WAM

 

I always carry a second belt just for that reason, likely you could always get the belt pieces out without taking the clutch apart.

lesson learned Carry a spare belt, its bad enough that we don't carry spare tires on the quad, and were all susceptible to a blown tires.

Now I have blown up a few clutches in my day when ridding hard and that is a little tough to fixing on the side of the trail.

I'd go with a simple belt desing over anything else, just carry a spare and know how to change it.

 

I may catch some flack for this but isn't the Prairie 650 a little bit on the utility side? And I'm not trying to roast anyone or pick a fight, I just think a reality check should be made in the manner of which the engineers had in mind when building the P650. Now I like to slide around corners and gas it, but wheelies? I think if you operate it and push her like a racing quad you are gonna get some breakage. I can see the temptation. Be careful jumping it because the splines can suddenly bind. Some of you know I'm an Industrial Maintenance Mechanic and Machinist of 25 years. Now working for an Anheuser-Busch Brewery on high speed production equipment. We turn out 12 oz. cans of Bud @ 2,150 cans a minute. The machine is belt driven and it weighs many tons. We know a little about belts. I am currently trying to find out if GATES makes an equivalent. If so that is the belt you want. Woods is my second choice and I would stay away from Goodyear. But the belts may be proprietary and not used on anything else and made special for Kawasaki only. I'm looking. I love the P650 and will change the belt yearly if needed and be happy about it.
This is my first ATV this powerful. I read here about the belts and such and I believe the Belt and Clutch technology that Kawasaki is using here is not up to par with the Horsepower and torque. Or at least when pushed to the max as if it is a racing quad.
You guys have fun.

 

What I don"t get is , one of my freinds bought a 700 Polaris and a 500 Polaris
in Amhurst Nova Scotia and the dealer told him and put it on paper that the belts on his
bikes had a lifetime warrenty. Whats so special about their belts or clutches to support
such a warrenty. Or maybe the dealer was HIGH at that moment. This applys no matter
how hard you ride the things. They even told him to ride it hard or it might fudge the carbs.
I personaly don"t care for Polaris but it would be nice to have that Kind of Warreny.

Oh and as far as the P650 being a utility bike ; Arround here(Moncton N.B.) if
You dont want to have to go in circles on a hard track, you get yourself a 4x4 with
enough power to get through the mud and swamps cause thats all you"l find arround here.
And I didn"t buy the thing to go to mass on Sunday.If I want a Grampy style ride ,
I'll use the car on flat dirt roads. Thanks for the tips.



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P650, Red ,2003
26in Bear Claws
accel mod
Dalton springs
Full equiped with everything

300 fourtracks collecting dust in the garage
sice P650 is in the house.