I know very little about the belt drive systems so can you change the gearing if you want? I've never ridden the 500 Scrambler but it seems like the way to go if the gearing is low enough for slow woods/hills riding

 

My brother in law has a 99 scramler 500 and I have ridden it quite a bit and it has all the power you would ever need for trails and hill climbing, he goes up some hills that are pretty extreme and Ive never heard him complain about it once.

 

The gearing is GREAT on the Scramblers as long as you are running the factory sized tires.... (22 inch rears)
I have friends that are running 25" tires on their Scramblers and only have problems when they are in REALLY heavy mud....
As long as you stay on the 22" tires, you won't have ANY problems.

 

Someone else said you had to blast up the hills with the scrambler....can you crawl up slow?

 

YOU can crawl up them but what funs that. Whats funner than rampin up the big hills.

 

I run 20" tires sometimes. I liked the overall gearing change as long as I don't plan on going over 45-50mph. I got it to 60 on the speedo with the 20" tires, but it takes longer.

I like the 20" for hill climbing because it's slightly quicker throttle response. Since they are also more traction (20x11x9 Holeshots) than the stock 22" tire, I can make some climbs easier. I don't spin near as much on hills, but I wheely more.

Most people would be perfectly happy with stock gearing. I like the stock gearing better, and I thought about changing my front sprocket so that it's the same gearing as 22" tires, but then I would have to change back when I run my 22" mud tires.

The Scrambler will blast up just about any hill. It will wheely sometimes, but not near as easy as most other machines, expecially most 2wd's, so in 4wd you can climb some steep stuff. It doesn't like to crawl up hills, the gearing isn't low enough. Plus, it's not as much fun!

If you change the gearing you would change sprockets, not anything that has to do with the belt drive.

 

If you change from a 13t to say a 12t on the front sprocket...how does that effect the gearing on the front drive system? It would seem to me that they both have to be changed to the same gearing ratio.

 

Adam, on the 98 & up Scramblers, they do not have front sprockets on them any more to change, that was on the 97 & older machines. Are you talking about an old machine w/ chain front drive & sprockets becuase our newer macnines have drive shafts so you cant change the front gearing. Right?
Thanks
Jim

 

Jim,

I wasn't thinking about that... When I said front and rear sprocket, I meant the front sprocket coming off the transmission and rear sprocket on the axle.

Yes, you should keep the same front/rear gearing ratio. I practicaly never use 4wd when running the 20" rear tires (I am running 23" front tires) because I never get in mud or water with these tires. I have used 4x4 a couple times when getting stuck midway up hills or somthing, and the tires just won't grab in 2wd. It does ok, but I wouldn't reccamend normaly doing it. You can feel the front end pulling more and it's tougher to steer because the front wheels stay engaged more.

 

I am working on a kit to change gear ratios on a 00 scramber front and rear. I'm running 25" vampires with a lot of cluth stall. If more people are interested I may market the kit depending on the response I get. PS. there's no such thing as a stupid question ,you don't know till you ask.