Hey guys: Here is my ride

2003 Sportsman 700 - 1300 Miles on it. With EBS.

Ok I know there is alot of talk of creapage but I need some definate answers about my ride. Same symptom....hard to shift.....creaps in gear.....The weird thing is that it is doing it Off and On. Not all the time. I replaced the belt at 1150 miles and that seemed to help, but now it is doin it again. So I took of the cover to look and the primary and secondary clutches. When the symptoms start my secondary is definately moving in idle causing the creapage and hard/impossible to change gears. Now if I give it some gas in N and let the clutchs spin, the secondary stops spinning when it goes back to idle. But as soon as I put into gear and give some gas the symptoms come back.

So is it the clutch? I checked the oneway bushing on the primary and it seems to operate smoothly and only rotates 1 way. However while exporing my clutch I noticed some really fine like blackish powder that covered my hands? Is that bad?

I also noticed that the belt was riding just a bit on the outer (towards the outside of bike) part of the primary clutch. I checked my engine mount and was fine and even tried to adjust it alittle but didn't help. Would that cause it to creep that much? Or do you think it might be the inner bushings? I don't have the clutch puller to see, but do you really need a puller. Any idea what that guy used on that Youtube video?

Any ideas would help! Thanks!

 

welcome. some times its the fiber washers beside the one way bushing that wears out that makes it creep. it's either one of the bushing, or the washers that are bad. this is as long as the clutch alignement is right.

 

Usually you need to blow out the accumulated dust and you can take out one or two shims (depending on how many you have from the factory) to realign the two clutches and have the belt more into the center. If belt is toward the outer sheath as you describe ,just take out a shim or two behind the back clutch and see if doesnt creep. If driven (rear) clutch turns,BUT your are able to stop it by your hand,then usually will shift ok. and not ceep with a load on it. If belt is more towards the inner front clutch sheath then adding shims will pull the belt out.I do this often on creeping machines and generally does the trick. Sometimes a new belt is needed depending on wear. This usually happens over a period of time as the clutches do get out alignment from shifting around ,plus check the fiber washer as Stendori suggested and if worn down too much it needs to be replaced. The rule of thumb given to me from the Polaris engineers is that the one way should have a minium of .020 to max of .040 side play using a feeler guage. Also the there is a wear washer in the bearing cup in front of the one way bearing that wears over time and needs replacement when you service the one way fiber washer. Unless you have the tools best to have dealer do this job. Just try the shims first and see if helps. OPT

 

Well I decided to bring it to my dealer, and they found that the fiber bushings had worn into the primary to the point where it acctually made a grove in the one way bearing and clutch assembly and not letting my belt sit correctly, causing severe creepage....Bad news, have to replace the whole primary clutch for $596 with labor....ADVICE, TO THOSE WHO HAVE MORE THEN 1200 MILES ON YOUR SPORTSMAN AND HAVE A CREAPAGE ISSUE, DONT BE TOO LATE IN DIAGNOSING YOUR PROBLEM. I THOUGHT IT WAS ALIGNMENT OR A LOOSE ENGINE MOUNT, THE EASY WAY OUT, BUT NOW IT CAUSED ME TO SPEND ALOT MORE $ THEN I NEEDED TOO!

 

thats too bad that it had to be that bad. good advice though for sure.

 

Did you keep the old clutch by chance?

 

I plan on keeping it from the dealer. Why? Need a beat up clutch?

 

Why can't the groove be repaired?
washer maybe?(make it sit normal)
seems a bit steep (cost) just for worn fiber bushing!..IMO...
Caper......

 

Cheaper to repair then to buy another bike! -- IMO

Its all how you look at it! Fix it, don't look back and enjoy riding it man!

Cheers,

R'

 

Well my place of work has a full toolcrib and toolroom also and the stuff I see the repair and alter is amazing......The stuff they can do with metal and steel........Caper........