ledebuhr1, as you can tell by my name I dont get to see snow very much. I havent seen a snowmobile since 1992 in Vermont!! It would seem to the layman (me) that a quad would break belts more than a snowmobile since a quad gets in thick mud. Does a snowmobile have this sort of strain?

 

texmud,

i think a sled would have alot of strain on the belt, but i dont know if its more than a 4wd quad.

if u had a mountian sled with deep lug track it would take alot of torque to turn it. a track has more friction than wheels.
its true that mud is much harder on a machine that snow.

its got to be possible to design a powertrain to handle 50hp. a thundercat snowmobile has 170hp stock and its has a belt too.


later
jon

 

ledebuhr1, didnt know that they had different size lugs on the tracks. Cool...thanks for the info.

 

Are you calling me a liar? Sure sounds like it Flatlander. Im a Yooper eh, damn trolls.

Belts are easy to snap and break when mudding. Remember we are talking factory test rider beating the $hit out of test equipment just like a redneck down south would with the biggest mud tires on the market.

Snowmobiles are easy on belts compaired to ATV's. Snow is soft and gives gumbo mud does not. I have personaly stuck my Polaris so bad one time that the tires would not turn in LOW range in southern gumbo mud. A swamp buggy had to pull me out with a CHAIN after my 4,000 pound tow strap snapped. That cost me a six-pack to get out of that hole. If I had pinned the throttle I could have snapped my belt with only 35HP and stock tires.

The factory rep told me they where testing this quad with the biggest aftermarket tires they could find because the customer that buys a machine like the new 700 Sportsman is going to put 28" outlaws on first or some other Big Wheel kit. So if you don't believe me too bad. I have nothing to gain by sharing any of this information.

 

odin,

i was not calling u a lyier, i know that u are just telling what the factory rep told u.

i would think that if polaris was testing the sp700 with the biggest tires(prabally 28" outlaws) then they must have stronger CV joints. to fit 28" tires u need a lift and this sometimes increases the angle of the cv joint
the amount of torque that it takes to turn 28" outlaws in gumbo mud is enoumous.
if the CV joints and the belt can hold up in this then i think it will be a good machine.

later
jon

 

Getting back to the Yamaha IRS, 660, ad infam orgasm.

I believe there will be a lot of the "Polaris Faithful" clamoring for this machine. A lot of the faithful have endured belt, clutch, seal, cv and other setbacks on a more regular basis than some of our "red" and "blue" brothers.

 

I am not so sure abot that Thor. My 99 Honda, whic I sold three months due to the lack of suspension, has had more problems than anybike I have ever seen. One engine rebuild after another, and rear u-joints, and it has never had a lift and has 25-26" TSLs. My 98 Grizzly was also very unreliable. It would overheat on a daily basis, the crankcase leaked like crazy, the rear drum brakes never worked properly, the front brakes only worked on occasion (even with ggod pads). There were several other problems, and it only had 300 miles when I got rid of it... SO, I will not be leaning toward the Grizzly. I will look at both bikes. I am sure they are both prone to problems.

Greg

 

About the belt snapping it does sound like a fib. The main reason a belt will snap is miss alignment of the clutches from the engine twisting. A belt will slip under load. Dont believe fire up your snowmobile, grab the break as hard as you can and hammer the throttle. the belt will slip. It wont break unless its old and week. If there snapping belts sounds like a engine mount prblem not an over power problem.
matty

 

The Honda rear U-Joint problem is very real. Last winter when I still owned my 98 450ES I got stuck in some deep snow. While trying to go in reverse the rear suspension stated to jack up and down rapidly causing the whole quad to jump up and down. Needless to say I did not try that again. I have owned many quads but only the 450 has done this in reverse. If you read the Highlifter site at all many serious mud riders have gone threw as many as 3 or more rear U-joints. This is also a weak link on the 500 Suzuki.

 

Yes a belt will slip under load then burn threw the belt and then it will snap or fray. A track on a snowmobile is about 30 pounds. A big wheel kit on a quad is 150 pounds. Are you starting to see the big picture now? Snowmobile drive lines are very light in weight compared to an ATV driveline. We are talking about WEIGHT here not strength.

Holding the brake and hitting the throttle? Is this the same as being stuck in serious mud and NOT being able to turn the tires? I think so.

I have seen 3 belts go all due to excessive HEAT build up and mudding. Snowmobiles operate in a cold climate all the time except for summer grass racing. The PVT is an open design not a closed one like an ATV. Trying to compare belt life on a snowmobile to an ATV is useless and pointless.

Now getting back to the 660 Griz. I will be lurking on the sidelines this summer riding the fence so to speak and will wait and see what developes.

King4x4 is buying a 650 Twin and I have seen him ride his old 600 Griz this man has a wanted "dead or alive" poster from his dealer
on how he rides his machine. Lets just say he will test the 650 beyond what any sane rider would do to a new machine. This will be a good test to see how tuff the new kawasaki will be.

As for Polaris I have spent over 30,000 dollars of hard earned money buying their products. Only time will tell if I decide to sink another 7,000 on a North Star product.