For as long as I can remember I've had reservations about the Praire because of the CVT. But after reading what you all have done with the unit my fears have subsided. However, one issue does remain, and I know these were a royal pain in the behind on cars; necessitating a wheel alignment after replacement. How do the MacPherson struts hold up; how long do they last? Do they ride well? How big a deal is it reall to replace them?
Thanks all Prairie owners............

 

They seem to hold up well but I think the springs are on the soft side,they can be changed easly. I don't think you can change the alignment with the struts,just set the toe and let it go!

 

Yeah, the P650 stock struts are ok, but the stock springs are much to soft for hard riding/racing. You can upgrade the springs to either Progressive Springs or Elka springs...both are stiffer than stock springs and also adjustible.

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

How long do they last?

 

My bike has about 6000km or 4500mi and the struts are great. I did however change to progressive springs early on, the stockers were to soft.

 

Cool- thanks for the infor, guys. Now about the CVT. I'm fixin' to get a prairie, and after reading everything I have on here I'm much more comfortable with the CVT, but the question remains, how long does it last? Can it be improved? What effects does a wider, thicker belt have? What can I get awasy with?

 

The cvt works very well and is tuneable depending on what you like and how you ride. Myself I run larger heaver tires and still want proformance so I have lighter weights, red drive spring and red driven spring. In about 6000km of use and abuse I have had no problems with the cvt except for the odd smoked belt. I am finding that using low in mud and on steep hills realy improves belt life, also using a 700 belt seems to be a good idea.

 

You don't need a wider thicker belt. You may be overthinking this belt thing.

I make it a point to be sure the rear wheels turn when I put power to them so that I don't burn the belt. I stay out of sled pulls, since there is nothing 'all terrain' about them, and a heck of a strain is put on the drive train. No offense to anyone who enjoys sled pulls.

One forum member wrote from South America saying his P700 had 3400 miles on it, the 2wd-4wd had started flashing, and could it be caused by the belt. The quad was his only transportation to work, etc.
That post is a fairly pragmatic answer to your question.

I've been riding my P700 for 6 months now on rocky trails above timberline, so rocky that the engine and the cvt does enough work to use half a tank of fuel in 15 miles....no belt problems so far. BTW, if I'm on easy riding trails, about 35 miles on half a tank is typical. I carry a belt and all tools to change it out in my pickup, but I'm the only one I know who does (beginning to wonder about myself). I've yet to see a belt fail out on the trail.

Good luck, but you actually won't need it with your new Kawi.

 

YEah- I think you're right; overthinking about the belt. Shouldn't build the bridge 'till I get there. I don't plan on trashing the thing, the most aggressive tires I plan to run are some Maxxis Bighorn 25". I'm really attracted to the CVT because running in snow, letting off the throttle to shift gears really saps the momentum and puts things outta synch. Any pointers on a twist throttle?
Thanks again...........

 

I recently sold my Praire and one of the reason is I did not care for the belt drive. I feel it is very loud and it did not do a good job of getting the power to the ground. At speed it made a strange whine (mine did this as well as a friends Prairie) so I felt it was not the best choice for hunting or plot prep. I was very disappointed in the belt and it would often slip if it was not freq. adjusted. In a work enviroment it was not very durable that is why I went back to a direct gear drive tranny and could not be happier. Good luck with whatever you choose.