This past Thursday my belt shredded which it has done before. The problem is when I removed the plastic cover I couldn't find much of the belt. There is about 10 inches sticking out from behind the drive clutch assembly. I assume the rest is back in behind there also but I can't pull it out. The opening is narrow and I can't believe it went back in there. At any rate I believe I need to get the drive clutch off which takes a special polaris puller tool. I talked to my local dealer and they said they can't sell me the tool even though I provided them with the part number to be sure they new what i was talking about. Has anyone else been able to purchase one of these or come up with another way to remove the drive clutch? I certainly don't want to take my bike in for a 5 minute job but I may not have no choice unless someone here can help me. Any suggestions?

 

Contact EPI. They sell the tool for @ $30. Got one from my polaris dealer. Weird they don't carry them there. Suppose they want to take your $ and have service do it. Should look into why you're shredding belts. Could be an alignment issue or do you run in high range a lot? Using low saves a lot on them. Also, what belt are you running? If it doesn't say Polaris on it then that may be the problem. They are worth the extra $.

 

Thanks for the 411 Switz. I do use only polaris belts and do ride in high an awful lot. I had the same problem with my 05 Sportsman 700 and took it in under warranty for an alignment check and they said everything was good. I have had two belts go in about 1800 miles. This will be number 3. Have you ever had your drive clutch off before, do you know if you need that special wrench to hold the clutch from turning? Is there anything to watch out for? Thanks again.

 

There's a thread here somewhere about making your own clutch removal tool but I figured $30 wasn't bad. Easier to do with a belt on so things don't move as much. Basically, you remove the primary clutch bolt, thread in the puller, and tighten until it pops off. The secondary is just splined so it will wiggle off. Clean out any debris and use air to get out dust and such. Could probably hold the primary in place with an old clothing belt or strap. Running in high a lot sounds like the issue so clutch should be fine. Low is the way to go unless you have to be somewhere in a hurry. Definitely saves on belt life. One suggestion is to watch ebay for new/slightly used polaris belts. I got two off there that were like new from a guy for $25 each. Always helps to have a spare!

 

you can buy these pullers and many places or just get a 3/4" fine thread rod w/ some nuts and make your own. cut the front engine mount as well to make sure it's not broke(you have to try to pry it apart to tell)as it will throw the alignment off and kil belts. imo

 

Look in the clutch air snorkel and make sure there is no pieces of belt in there, if you buy the puller, its better to use an impact wrench if you have one ,the clutch will come right off if you use one, even one of those 1/2 inch electric ones from harbor freight will work.Afrter you get the new belt on, rev motor up in nuetral, shut machine off and see where belt is riding, get it as close to center on the primary as you can by adding or removing spacers from behind secondary clutch.

 

About the snorkel, if parts of the belt are blocking it, it will cause the belt to overheat. NOT GOOD

 

Thanks to all for the advice. I got it replaced last night. I had a 3/4" fine thread bolt in another gear puller I had and I used it. It took some doing but i got it off with a large air impact gun. My problem was i used a punch to fill up the space to make my threaded bolt work. It was a narrow end on the punch, then a short taper and then a hex shape handle. The taper to the hex was not large enough and the hex portion began driving into the shaft on the bike, peeling back the hex corners. Finally it caught and the clutch came off. Then I had a punch stuck in my bike. I got it out by clamping vise grips on the punch very tightly. I then used an industrial ratchet strap (like they use on transports) with one end to the vice grips and the other to a legged down steel workbench. The bike actually started sliding towards the bench when I tightened the strap. Keeping the pressure on, I hit the vice grips with hammer and it let got. Don't think I wasn't sweatin this one. Luckily the threads in the hole are set back in so there was no damage done. The lesson learned here is make sure you use something with a large enough diameter to fill the gap between the shaft and the bolt. BTW there was some chuncks of belt in the air duct like was suggested there might be. This could have turned out much worse but thankfully it didn't. Hopefully someone will read this that is a first timer removing their clutch and not make the same mistake. Thanks all for the help.