Gear down and belt drive

shattuck · Feb 26, 2015

I have a 2012 PRO RMK chain drive with Carl's 660 kit and Carl's clutching I have been reading the thread about Kurts Polaris gear down kit and was thinking about gearing down with one of the aftermarket belt drive kits or just changing the gears to a lower ratio in the stock chain case. Do you guys think it's worth the money to add the belt drive or would I be better off just changing the gear ratio in the stock chain case? If I decide to change the gears in the chain case what gears would you guys recommend or what ratio? I have zero concern for trail speed looking for better performance for off trail riding.

fullboredragon · Feb 27, 2015

Just gear it down, adding a belt drive isn't worth the money. Go 19/46 or 20/46 with a 74 pitch chain. Not sure what stock ratio on a 600 is, but if its the same as a 800 then the cheapest option is 19:43 with stock chain. Will have 2.26:1 ratio as compared to 2.3:1 with 20/46 and 2.42:1 with 19/46. 2.4:1 is what the kurts kit runs I think.

wfieldin · Feb 27, 2015

Personally I think 19/45 is the ticket....keep the chain drive. Requires a longer than stock chain.

shattuck · Feb 27, 2015

wfieldin said:
Personally I think 19/45 is the ticket....keep the chain drive. Requires a longer than stock chain.

Where could I purchase the chain and gears to run 19/45?

Teth-Air · Feb 27, 2015

shattuck said:
I have a 2012 PRO RMK chain drive with Carl's 660 kit and Carl's clutching I have been reading the thread about Kurts Polaris gear down kit and was thinking about gearing down with one of the aftermarket belt drive kits or just changing the gears to a lower ratio in the stock chain case. Do you guys think it's worth the money to add the belt drive or would I be better off just changing the gear ratio in the stock chain case? If I decide to change the gears in the chain case what gears would you guys recommend or what ratio? I have zero concern for trail speed looking for better performance for off trail riding.

As a dealer for the TKI belt drives I know the advantages of the belt drive but if you already have a chain case you should just gear down to 2.42:1 and get a clutch kit from Carl's. You will need a helix that loads the motor more than their standard kit due to the gearing. If you are all about weight then yes, remove that chain case, get the back plate and get a belt drive system.

Teth-Air · Feb 27, 2015

shattuck said:
Where could I purchase the chain and gears to run 19/45?

Depends where you are? You really should have our location in your signature or let people know when you ask a question like this.

shattuck · Feb 27, 2015

I'm in Western Washington. I was hoping to purchase over the internet didn't really want to go to a dealer. you recommend changing the helix I noticed there was some disagreement in the Kurt's Polaris gear down thread weather or not this is necessary.

wfieldin · Feb 27, 2015

You can find the gears and chains on EBAY or even on SW, put out a WTB ad.

Certainly there are things you can do with clutching, depends on elevation and riding style. I run stock helix with the black/purple spring. slp delrin washer and shim kit. Primary is weighted for my elevation 9000+ (10-58) and primary spring is an SLP blue/pink.

MDS, Carls, and several others can help with clutching kits.

purepolaris600 · Feb 27, 2015

I personaly would go belt drive.. why you ask, I have a 12 pro rmk 800 it had the chain drive and found the full stock belt drive components at haydays and could not be happier to switch, also am running turbo, and I notice a huge inmprovement over the chaincase, it rolls so much easer and feels lighter too, also seems like the throttle is way more responsive, I then switched to a camo extreame 2.5 3.0 pitch 7 tooth so that geared it down.

bryceraisanen · Feb 27, 2015

For the money involved... stick with chaincase. Theyre well proven. Put the money towards the proper clutching to match ur gearing. I dont think switching to belt is worth the 700+ dollars. And i have both.

Boondocking and anything deep snow, 2.3-2.5 gear ratio has been yielding awesome benefits. But you MUST clutch for it, imho. Otherwise ur only getting about 1/3 of the actual benefits of gearing down.

wellfed777 · Feb 27, 2015

stick with the chain case

Western Washington ! call Roosterbuilt they can get you the chain and gears and also hook you up with a awesome clutch kit
and their local for you

good luck

shattuck · Feb 28, 2015

Thanks for the replies I currently have the Carl's Cycle complete clutching new helix, weights and I think different springs do I have to redue all my clutching if I gear down?

wfieldin · Feb 28, 2015

I kept my same clutching when I went to the 19/45, works awesome.

LoudHandle · Feb 28, 2015

If you choose not to re-clutch after making large gear changes you are not getting the most out of your machine.

It is kind of like having a manual transmission and never using all the gears available. If you and your riding style are okay with that so be it.

thewayout84 · Feb 28, 2015

any suggestion on helix angle with very low gearing?

Sheetmetalfab · Feb 28, 2015

Carls clutching works great with 19/45 gears.
Geardown alows you to pull a wieght more consistently.

Say with stock gearing you might not like a wieght set because it bounces 7800-8100 alot.

Search

Gear down and belt drive

shattuck

Free Member

fullboredragon

Well-known member

wfieldin

Well-known member

shattuck

Free Member

Teth-Air

Well-known member

Teth-Air

Well-known member

shattuck

Free Member

wfieldin

Well-known member

purepolaris600

Well-known member

bryceraisanen

Well-known member

wellfed777

Well-known member

shattuck

Free Member

wfieldin

Well-known member

LoudHandle

Well-known member

thewayout84

Free Member

Sheetmetalfab

Well-known member

Similar threads