I was riding down the road today doing about 62 mph and totally shredded my belt. I'm not to disappointed I got 1400 rough miles out of this one. I never got no check light or any kind of warning at all. It had been squealing a little on take off so I know it was about to go. I'm glad it went now and not next month when were going to Hatfield Mccoy. I was wandering where the best place to buy one is, is this a dealer only item or are there better aftermarket ones out there. I've heard you can use Prairie 700 belts, does anyone know it thats true or not? I stopped by my local dealer to get a price on replacement. He shot me a price of around $200.00, thats including the belt. The thing that worries me is I asked how difficult is was to replace and he said not to bad at all. I asked him about the shims and checking the belt deflection - which I know nothing about but what I've read on here. He looked at me like I was stupid. He said they don't mess with that. He said they just put it back together the way it came from the factory. So now I don't know if I should just put it back together the way I took it apart and save myself some money or try to find another dealer. Theres not another one within a hour from here but if its that big of a deal then I guess I'll haft to make a road trip. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks DennisC

 

dennis,

Possibly the guy you were talking to was just a parts guy and not the mechanic who will actually be putting the new belt on. Without a doubt the new belt will need to have more shims added to the secondary clutch to obtain the proper deflection. I replaced the 650's belt with a 700 belt and am quite happy with it....not noticing any real difference in performance. As far as aftermarket belts go, I have no experience with, so i'll leave that to the guys who do. What I would recommend you ask them though....is if they'd set your deflection on the low side of the limit...ie: 21-22mm. It might squeal a bit when in gear and not moving, but will fairly quickly get over that....seeing how it's new and will stretch/wear-in, somewhat more than if you just set deflection on a belt with some milage on it. To me that price seems quite "dear"...even for up here in Canada....it might be worth while calling another dealer for a quote on changing it too.

Jeff

 

Dennis, run from that dealer!! I just had a new belt put on last week. Stopped in on the way home from riding. It was $25 labor for a half hour. The 700 belt was $70 so the total was $95 and I watched to tell him how I wanted the deflection. Was going to do it myself but for $25 I figured why bother. For the $$ they are talking you would be better off buying a shop manual, clutch puller and spring compressor and never have to see the dealer again. Just look on Nyroc, KOD and other websites for easy step by step instructions on how to do it.

 

I purchased a Dayco 700 belt for around $38.00 and installed it on a 2002 P650 without any shims. It had a slight squell at idle in gear for the first day. After the first day it has been running perfect. I would recommend you do it yourself. Don't let that big looking cover scare you. Pull it off and look inside, nothing will fall out of place. Follow Nyroc or Kissofdeath sites for more info. They are a Big Help!