Just got word from my mechanic that all the racquet coming from the clutch assembly were worn out bushings. I not sure what bushings he's talking about though. Has anybody else had this problem? Just another reason to hate Kawasakis belt drive. I've always been partial to Kawasaki , but I'm not happy at all with their belt drive and won't buy another one. Just more up keep than I expected.

 

The front pulley shoes should make a slight clatter when idling and that clatter should go away when moving. If it is a loud clatter, and it does not go away when moving, it could be drive or driven pulley bushing.

Is this an 02? The 02 driven pulley (moveable half) has a non replaceable bushing that you can either have made at a machine shop or just get an 03 pulley.

The drive pulley bushing has not failed on any hardly any 650s that I have heard of.

I hope I don't come across as rude, but the 650 cvt really should be extremely low upkeep. Your point of view is severly distorted by your 650 either being an uncommon lemon, or as a result of incompetant/dishonest dealer mechanics. The maintenance is easy for do it yourselfers. Some of the people that complain about.

I don't hear a lot of good reviews from dealerships in utah.

Here, near the vicinity of the "hill of considerable size , and the most elevated of any in the neighborhood", there are some pretty good honest dealerships.

My 650 has been awesome from a reliability perspective. However, if I had a bad bushing (drive or driven) I would think nothing of getting the cover off myself and just fixing it. I have broken a few things on my 650, I adjusted the belt once, valves once. Other than that I just ride it and it continues to run like new (or better since I have rejetted).

You will find that your 650 is 1/8th the complexity of a car, and 5 times easier to work on. Plus, after you have done the maintenance yourself, you develop a confidence in it.

 

I let someone borrow it for a few weeks during the hunting season, and when I got it back , I noticed it making a loud whining noise from the belt housing whenever I reved it up in any gear including nuetral. I took the belt housing off, but couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it sounded as if it was gonna fly apart, so I took it in. At first the mechanic said he's never heard anything like it. Since than, there's a new mechanic who did the disassembly and said there were multible bushings that seemed to have alot of play. I'm sorry, but thats all I know. Thanks for your input.

 

It might be just the KEBC bearing. You can replace it. I even have tech tip info on it.

The issue is not common, but it appears to be an easy fix.

Dig in man, tackle the noise and enjoy the ride. FYI, the Prairie is more reliable overall than it's compertitors (includes rincon). It is also the easiest to maintain.

 

I just replaced the front plate on my Drive Pulley with the bearing, OW MAN what a difference [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] , about 90% of my belt housing noise is now gone. Some guys are just replacing the bearing (kawi doesn't make it) however Ron Ayers has the plate & Bearing combo for $43