Once again, another question on my prairie 400. Runs great overall, but as i reach full throttle it bogs down hard. From what i read they only go about 50 mph give or take. The later years getting closer to 57 or so. Mine will reach 50 pretty easy, with a decent amount of throttle left to give. Almost seems like it’s trying to go faster than what it typically should. Air filter is clean, was wondering if maybe the jets are too small, OEM carb was cracked so I replaced with an aftermarket. Any other ideas before i start disassembling?

 

So you can reach 50 pretty easy. That sounds good to me. About the same as my 2000 400 4x4.

How many miles?
How old is belt?
Have you replaced or rebuilt clutches?
I have not heard very many good things about carbs from China. What kind of carb did you install?

 

No idea how many miles, but i imagine they’re getting up there. But the belt was just replaced, and clutches were disassembled, cleaned and greased. The carb brand is probably Chinese, no idea of what it is exactly. Not complaining about the top speed or anything, I’d just like to reach it without it bogging down as soon as i do.

 

I am not sure.

I have never greased a clutch and was not aware this was something I should be doing. I thought grease attracts dirt and can also be flung to the belt surfaces ?

 

Inside the clutch sheaves is sealed and has roller weights and grease inside. Cleaning the old grease out and applying new helps a lot. I try doing it once a year just out of habit. Let’s the weights move freely and has helped with my top speed in the past.

 

Most modern variators run dry. Suzukis certainly do, except for the LT80, which is 1980s variator technology. Yamahas have greased rollers, not sure about Kawasakis as I never work on anything but KLFs. Once did a Mule variator years ago and I think the weights ran dry.

 

Well I learned something again. Been riding snowmobiles since 1992 and all of the clutches on those were meant to run dry on the skidoo and arctic cats I had.

I looked in the service manual for my 2000 400 4x4 and it does say to apply moly lube in a few spots.