So you shouldn't do that much towing with the 650/700?

 

You can pull just fine as long as you don't go super slow a lot, or as long as you aren't tugging on something that isn't moving. If you are pulling something and your wheels turning you are fine. If your wheels are stopped and you are tugging, it is instant belt death.

The pulley has to move faster than the belt (slip) at takeoff. You just need to be "smart" and never tug on something with your wheels not moving because it will burn one spot on the belt..

 

Put er in low range get the tires started and it will pull with the best of em! Ive pulled a 8000 pound multi engine pulling tractor around the pits, and to the scales, and into the start up lanes, (one team quit there gator and went and bought a prairie!!) and I never hurt any thing, I seed my water ways , plow my snow , drag race it, ride it like a idiot, ride it sanely, it has 3,350mi on it and the secret is get the belt broke in go with the minimum deflection you can get by with , put grease on your bushings while you got it apart and dont slip it like these guys are telling us and it will last a very long time. JH

 

I wish my bike had the yamaha cvt.My last bike was a kodiak and all you ever have to do to it is clean out the grease once a year and put new back in.It is very easy to get the belt off,you just need a bolt the right size to screw in the seconary to open it up and your done,just take it off.When you buy a Yamaha with the cvt you don't have to worry about belt stretch,shims,springs,nutt'n,changed mine at about 6000kms.

 

These guys are saying you can't "customize" your low-end though because it's tougher to put different performance springs on the Yami CVT. I suppose everyone has there own advantages/disadvtanges. To each his own.

 

That's exactly right redgob, they do each have their plusses.

However, a motorcycle vtwin will just about always outweigh a single lunger of the same displacement. I am pretty sure kawi is not gonna do a sprag clutch with their CVT for the weight reason.

If they asked all of us experienced prairie riders which we would prefer, we would probably say keep it like it is. I may need to change my belt more, but if yami made a machine with as much gut wrechin torque as the Prairie, I do not believe their system would be nearly as ideal for the yami owners. The hardest thing for the belt to do on any machine is the low speed stuff. Too much torque at low speeds shortens a belt's life. On powerful machines, it is a good thing to replace it more often than to not have to replace it as often. So, making it really easy to replace and maintain is tops for me. I can do it in 10-20 minutes if I don't have to adjust it.

Otoh, the PRairie 300 belt lasts just as long as the kodiak belt, even though it is not the yami desing but because of the reduced forces on the belt. The big bores wear them out more. My friend's griz 660 wouldn't even dream of going 6000km on one belt. He started slipping long before that, and he feels that he needs to keep a newer one in anyway for insurance.

 

Sorry,my bad.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

If you buy the 650 belt dayco no#2018 its works ok with the thinist shim in the secondary on a worn out 650 mechanisim and will work ok, (Real good) last report cause i said so!! were all in the same boat...LOL JH

 

So as far as adding and removing shims: you've already got your shims (belt tightness) down to the lowest spec and it's time to replace the actual belt. You get a new belt installed. Do you now need to add the shim(s) back in or just leave it a little bit tighter than when it came from the factory? And also, without the Nyroc Spring Compressor Tool for the shim procedure, what makes it so difficult? What else could be used to improvise for spring compression instead of this homemade tool? Would it be worth it to do this without the spring compressor tool or should I just have my dealer do the belt work?

 

Yes, you would need to put some shims in depending on the new belt. I have about 1000 miles without adjusting. Mine is still on the tight side. I am not going to reshim it. I will put a new belt it gets loose. Depending on my riding, it seems like it might take 500 to 1000 more miles to make this belt to loose. Not sure.

You can't ride with a belt that is way too tight. You have to adjust it. You can ride one one that is sligh too tight but it will pull a little at idle.

You could get fancy and use some kind of press instead of the "Nyroc" compressor. But the compressor tool is VERY easy to use, very easy to make, and very cheap. I wonder if I should go get a bunch of steel caps, drill them, cut them and sell them? I don't think I would get rich off that, but some people probably squirm at the thought of hacksawing a steel pipe cap. I used my portable bandsaw (zip).

You could probably pay for the impact wrench and the compressor tool that you need for the job in one trip to the dealer for belt adjustment. Not to mention the fact that some dealer mechanics won't take the time to do it right. However, they will take time to give you a story if you bring it back because they didn't do it right.

Reshimming is kinda easy too. It just take a few more minutes to carefully get those buttons in and out. Always lightly grease the shaft so it can't rust, and use moly grease on the sliding bushing and buttons.

I have just one thing to say as a warning: if you take a spare belt riding, take care to make sure it won't be too tight. That way, if you slap the new belt on while on the trail, it will be already adjusted right. For example, say the pulley is shimmed for a well worn 650 belt, a spare 700 belt will be too tight to ride. Put that 700 belt on first and get another one as a spare. However, you could use the worn 650 belt in a pinch even though it would be way too loose if the pulley was adjusted for a 700 belt. I suggest getting two 700 belts next time you change a 650 belt (or two gates ones). That way the spare one will work like the first one did when it was new.

I don't take a spare belt. Being "belt smart" while riding is mostly all I need to keep my belt reliable. I know some belts are defective, but not very many of them. All you need to flip the belt on and off is a 10mm socket wrench with long extension, 27mm socket wrench (or box end wrench I guess), and phillips screwdriver.

The belt job is a piece of cake. It is so easy to do it isn't worth the gas it takes to take it to the dealer, let alone go get it and bring it back.