Asking for a friend.

My friend has a 2016 850 XP with 1500 miles on it and is wondering when would it be a good idea to replace the belt??

The machine is loaded down quite a bit and he's a pretty big guy himself. This is his first ATV and wants to avoid trouble out on the trails.

 

the belts are designed to last a long time as long as they are not abused. most of the time you would go by the MFG recommendations on time of replacement or if he feels like it is slipping. I have known people to have 8 to10 K of their belts. personally when I use to run my 800's through the mud a lot I would take the clutch cover and clean the belt dust of the clutch.

 

thanks stendori - I'll send him back to his owners manual

 

Only thin I could find is to inspect it every 50 hours or 500 miles and replace as needed.

It depends on if the gent is using low when he should. High gear usage in anything but long duration riding above 10 mph is a no-no. Moose One blew a belt when he was riding in high gear when we were on a long stretch of technical rock crawling in NH. Only belt we've ever fried out on the trail. I did lose a few teeth doing the same thing on my Can-Am Outlander Max 650 XTP. Was in a slow going trail for miles and overheated the belt by staying in high range. Got me back to my truck though.

 

I never broke a belt that wasn't abused first. That being said, I always used to carry a spare belt and the tools I needed to change it. When one blew it was about 100 miles after I had smoke pouring out of the clutch snorkel. The other time I smoked one I got about 100 more miles on it too. I spent 20 minutes or so on the side of the trail changing belts with the help of a 1/4" drive socket wrench/flex breaker bar and 6" extension. I used it on the cover screws. That was a long time ago and I haven't blown a belt since. I'm still on my original belt and don't carry a spare anymore. I don't know how many miles I have on it but I think it's only around 3,000.

 

Its a whole different ballgame trying to change a 850 belt on the trail. NOT easy! The left rear wheel and a frame member must be removed. Trust me, you DON'T want to have to do this out on the trail. Do it at home in the garage.
Service manual recommends inspect/clean clutches and inspect belt at 100 hrs./1000 miles.
It simply makes no sense to wait until you have a problem or are broke down out in the woods to service clutches and put a fresh belt on. Belts are wear items that need replaced periodically just like brakes, tires or oil. The ONLY way to actually check/inspect a drive belt for wear is to MEASURE it. You really can't tell anything by just looking. If you can actually SEE something wrong with it the belt was worn out long ago.
I run pretty hard and travel very extreme terrain most of the time. My belts are generally replaced at around 3000 to 3500 miles. For me, that works out to about a year to a year and a half according to how much riding I get to do. Keep the old one for a spare.
Clean clutches and a good fresh belt keeps your machine performing at its best.

 

I knew you had to take a frame member off the 850 to get to the clutches but that's all I know about it. I agree that changing a belt in the garage would be better than changing it on the trail, but it was easy on mine so I didn't care. My friends like to take breaks for longer than it takes to change the belt on a 500, so that's what they did the second time. The first time I was riding alone. And you're right polman500 that they need to be checked occasionally, and the dust blown out of the clutches too.

 

thanks polman500 - he's at 1500 miles and has never checked it.
The question came up when I mentioned I replace mine every Jan whether it needs it or not. That way I never have to worry about it.
I knew the 850XP belts aren't something you want to change out on the trail but then neither is mine.

Thanks again.