Might have an SD card that you can remove and plug into your PC. Not sure. Never seen one out on the trail.

 

This week we're talking transmissions and how what's super popular today wasn't always holding the popularity top spot:

https://atvconnection.com/articles/a...-facts-know-9/

 

CVTs have been used in snowmobiles for ages and it was just a matter of time before they put them in other OHVs. Everything I drive is automatic and always has been.

 

CVTs were invented a hundred years ago or so. Back in the sixties, we had a farm sprayer that had a "Salisbury Drive". It was a V belt between two pulleys and you could change ratio with a big lever that "compressed" the primary and the secondary would split open. Worked good. Was replaced with a hydrostatic drive that worked better.

CVTs are now popular in economy cars and even bigger ones. They offer the advantage of having the engine always at peak horsepower during acceleration, and then at low rpm when your desired speed is achieved. There are no planetaries, and no wet disc clutches, and no torque converters.
Most car CVTs are chain drive.

Who will be the first ATV manufacturer to offer a chain instead of belt? The horsepower of the machines has grown so much that a chain is starting to make sense. A lot of us carry a spare belt with us while trail riding for the weekend. We wouldn't need to if we had chain drives.

David

 

Rubber CVT belts are a lot simpler to make and to use than steel belts. With Kevlar and other stuff reinforcing the rubber belts they're quite strong and they can handle the power of high powered snowmobiles. ATVs are less powerful and no problem at all.

 

Good point jumbo: I had forgotten about those 150hp snowmobiles clawing up Colorado mountain passes. I still hear about folks burning their belts in their ATVs. It is recommended to carry a spare belt and the tools to change it with you in your repair kit. I should think a spare tires would be more valuable.

David

 

I used to carry a spare belt and the tools it took to change it. I actually changed one on the side of the trail. IIRC it took about 30 minutes to fix it. I burned my belt and knew it would break sooner or later so I carried a spare. I got about 100 more miles on the old belt before it broke. The same thing happened both times I burned a belt. That was several years ago and I haven't burned another belt and haven't broken any more. I don't even carry a spare belt anymore. If I break one I'll have to send my friend to get my truck and trailer so I can haul it back. I don't ride alone anymore so I don't worry as much about things breaking. There's always someone nearby to give me a hand.

 

Belts get burned most often because you drive in high gear when you should be in low. In low gear the pulleys go faster and cool better with the fan effect. In high the fins aren't turning as fast and won't cool the belt as well when going slow. Deep snow, sand, slow hill climbs, technical rock sections, plowing, hauling, etc. should be done in low.

 

Heck, for me the only time I'm in high range is when there is a straight section where I anticipate higher speeds. Trail riding for me is in the 20 mph range. Engine rpm varies between 3k and 4k IIRC. I agree low range increases CVT pulley rpms and thus cooling air flow. And it puts less strain on the belt and gear box and even front and rear drives as you will more likely get wheel slip.

But belt problems go away with a more expensive chain drive it seems to me.

David

 

One of the times I burned a belt I went down a hill on a really tight trail. The wheels barely fit between 2 trees and it actually raised the quad a little going over the roots. When I turned around to go back the way I came from I couldn't. Because of the angle of the hill and the size and shape of the tree roots the space between the trees was narrower than my ATV. I didn't see any way around it so I put in in 4x4 low and gave it the gas until it started smoking, and I still couldn't get between those 2 trees. Eventually I found a way through some other trees away from the trail that I could loop around through the woods to get back to the trail a little farther down.

It ran perfect after that until about 100 miles later when the belt broke on another trip. I think that was the time chunks blew out the CVT air exhaust and landed on my foot. I can't remember anything at all about the other time I smoked a belt but I'm pretty sure I did it twice and the belt lasted another 100 miles afterward and broke on a later trip.