Frustrating situation. When I did the 100 hr. insp on my 08 Sportsman 400HO, I thought I'd measure the wear on the belt to keep as a reference. The belt looked like brand new with just a light dust in the cover. I checked the repair manual to find out what the specs were and almost dropped my drawers. According to the specs, I only had .005 " left before the belt was below minimum service level. I asked the dealer and he was surprised at the measurements. I ordered a belt so I could see what a new one was.

The dealer ordered 4 more for stock. Factory specs gave a figure and allowed +/-.031" as a min/max tolerance. When they came in, I measured all 5 and to my surprise, the BEST belt was .005" below factory recommended minimum specs.................

To sum it up, my original belt after 1251 miles was only .040" smaller than a new under spec belt. A poster, whose opinion, I trust told me that this was common and that proved to be right.

Come on Mr. Polaris, either your repair manual is inaccurate or the belt supplier needs to keep things within tolerances.

 

So the new belt was .005" out of spec for a new belt? ie it was already bad?
That's not good. But as far as your belt being .040" below spec...I'd say .040 in the scheme of things is a good bit of wear,but not bad for those miles IMO. Is it in danger of failing,of course not. But would that amount af wear result in a performance difference? I bet it would. JMO
Maybe not noticable,but I bet performance is affected a little. Is it enough to justify changing? I don't know.
Of more concern is the new belt being out of spec...

 

Boy thats something. Wonder how many dealers have popped guys for a new belt when doing a thorough inspection? The way most dealers do things these days I doubt many did cause I don't think they would take the time to take off the cover and measure it but it would be an easy way to make some money. Have you tried to contact Polaris to here their Bull Shi^ story. Probably not worth your time but maybe have your dealer give them a ring a ding to see what's up. Interesting find Mongrol....

 

The belt, according the tech at the dealership wasn't in favor of changing it be cause it looked like new and the lack of wear dust in the cover. He said if it was his machine, he wouldn't change it and might expect to get a couple more years of use out of it.

Performance wise, it was great, and if I hadn't measured it I wouldn't have seen any difference. If I didn't ride alone in remote areas so much I wouldn't have changed it, but.....................

Kind of like telling your kids that there's no boogie man under thier bed. Can't help looking just to be sure.

 

well i thought the belts were life time warranty. i know years ago snowmobile belts (oem) were way better because of there uniform size. guess thats not the case anymore. i wouldnt change it either if i was you imo.

 

I bet you could get another 1200+miles out of it...but I bet if the Engagemnt RPM,and upsifting and downshifting profile was different than a spec belt. Enough to notice or mean a hill of beans...most likely not.

 

Regarding belt engagement, the 400HO is differnet than its full size brother. The belt is tight between the drive and driven clutch and relies on a starter clutch to engage the drive. This way, the belt slips very little during its operation. Should last a long time.

 

I didn't realize that.

 

Mongrol always better safe than sorry especially if a grizzly bear is after.

 

Put the old one in your front box and carry as a spare. I always keep an extra belt with me, just in case.