I recently bought a 08 Scrambler 500 and have been having tons of fun with it, but every time a friend gets on it, they comment on how weird the clutch kit feels. Most of these guys ride sport quads so I don't know if they aren't used to it, or if mine really isn't normal.

The biggest difference is it feels like there is a large lag time from pressing the throttle to when it actually moves. I will admit I know very little about ATV mechanics, but from what I have read this is because it is getting the RPM's up before it actually engages. Am I correct?

I guess a good description of what a clutch kit makes a Scrambler feel like might help me determine if something if off in mine. It has a EPI clutch kit and a FMF pipe. I guess it has also been jetted. Belt was just replaced. To me it runs great, except from a new fuel leak after playing on the dunes...

 

There is no real answer, there are many different spring colours and clutch weights. Some people clutch for more low end for bigger tires others clutch for more top end speed.

What color springs are you using and what roller, weights do you have?
Thats why I tell people to call a place like Rick Ritters or Aaen. They do it so much that they know what compo works together for what your after rather then guessing and hoping to get lucky.

 

Heavier springs in a clutch kit will make the "lag" feel more pronounced as it takes more throttle to get the clutches to activate.Then just hang on

 

Thanks Old Polaris Tech. Sounds like it is most likely normal with a heavy spring. Not sure about top speed yet, not a speed demon at the dunes, thats for sure!

TLC, no idea what is on it, bought it with everything installed.

 

The primary spring determines 2 different things, stall speed and shiftout speed. The stall speed determines the RPM's that the motor reaches before the clutch enganges and the quad starts to move while the shiftout speed determines your Max RPM's that you will be able to reach with the clutch. The 3 weights in the primary clutch are also used to fine tune the stall and shiftout speed.

When you add something or change something that moves your HP and TQ curves around then you need to change your clutching to match that change and get the clutch to engage and reach maximum shiftout in the proper RPM range. On a manual equipped quad you can do this yourself with the clutch and throttle but on a PVT equipped quad like the Scrambler you need to change your primary spring and sometimes your primary clutch weights to achieve this. When you look at primary springs you'll notice that they are always listed with 2 different numbers which are the stall and shiftout speed. Some people like to go by the color of the spring but I've seen different brands (i.e Team, EPI and Polaris) use the same colors with different rated springs.

The easiest way to tell if your clutching is off is if your quad feels like your taking off in the wrong gear on a manual equipped quad and feels sluggish, not very responsive to throttle control, slow to accelerate and feels lazy on the top end. Polaris 4-strokes tend to have a very good bottom end punch so I would say that if you're feeling a lag right off the throttle on the bottom end you probably have a spring with the wrong stall speed rating.

If you want to get ahold of someone like Rick Ritter and talk with him directly just about any day of the week is to add him on Facebook. I see him logged in there just about every day of the week. He also has some cool pictures of his own personal projects that he plays around with.

 

What counts is from the point of engagement to top speed, Revs when engaging change depending on the kit, you exchange top speed for torque, Its all in the choice of the kit on the autos, We do the same with the sprocket gearing, If it takes a second to engage because of the revs for instant pull is a big difference from slow start you would deff know the difference. I recently bought an auto and it feels weird every time still switching back and forth. If it pulls hard and feels good for you stick with it. EX explained it perfect.