Kurt's Polaris Gear Down Kit?

olddude · Dec 18, 2013

How fast do you want to run down the trail, to get to your play areas? After all, these polaris tracks are rated to 75 mph before they could potentially throw a lug. To me it seems crazy to run down the trail that fast for any amount of time as it is dangerous, with oncoming traffic

sledneck_03 · Dec 18, 2013

olddude said:
How fast do you want to run down the trail, to get to your play areas? After all, these polaris tracks are rated to 75 mph before they could potentially throw a lug. To me it seems crazy to run down the trail that fast for any amount of time as it is dangerous, with oncoming traffic

ran my 08 155 80-90 mph alot around home on the lake. track looked flawless at 5007 miles.

nitro580 · Dec 18, 2013

well this kit was designed for the hills, so if you are a lake drag racer or trail dragracer than maybe the kit is not designed for you, but if you are that guy that is ok with still hitting 80 mph on the trails like we did without being close to top rpms and you want to kick the crap out of your buddies on the hills this is a kit for you. I see alot of people knocking the kit before they really know much about it, i know people are on this from everywhere but we have riders come through our area all the time and if you have doubts or want to see if its real, call dale at the missoula store or curt and justin at the seeley store and they would be more than happy to talk to you and show you what its like for this beast of a kit to kick the crap out of a stocker without sacrificing any engine or sled reliability like some other performance mods you can get

Old Scud-doo · Dec 19, 2013

olddude said:
How fast do you want to run down the trail, to get to your play areas? After all, these polaris tracks are rated to 75 mph before they could potentially throw a lug. To me it seems crazy to run down the trail that fast for any amount of time as it is dangerous, with oncoming traffic

It's not that I want to run 70+ mph down the trail. In theory, it's that I am going to be going 15% slower down the trail than I was when running at 30mph before. I have a 6 speed Cummins and it would be like running down the highway in 5th gear. Still doing only the speed limit but turning a lot more rpm. I would think that you would settle down into a slower rate of speed dependent on rpm or be running your sled harder at the same rate of speed as before.

Not dogging it. Just asking real world questions and opinions. I love being geared down and this is the first sled I haven't been able to mess with. I never ran anything close to 2.41 before though so I am little anxious about trying it. I think 2.28 is low as I have tried.

BTW: The guys at Seeley are awesome. Top notch on all levels. I spend a week there every year and visit them many times while there. I was only voicing a concern and asking for feed back.

Scottoz · Dec 20, 2013

Belt drive info?

Went to Kurt's website and can't find anything on the belt other then it is available. No price, no specs, nothing. Can anyone add?

Scottoz

LoudHandle · Dec 20, 2013

Old Scud-doo said:
It's not that I want to run 70+ mph down the trail. In theory, it's that I am going to be going 15% slower down the trail than I was when running at 30mph before. I have a 6 speed Cummins and it would be like running down the highway in 5th gear. Still doing only the speed limit but turning a lot more rpm. I would think that you would settle down into a slower rate of speed dependent on rpm or be running your sled harder at the same rate of speed as before.

Not dogging it. Just asking real world questions and opinions. I love being geared down and this is the first sled I haven't been able to mess with. I never ran anything close to 2.41 before though so I am little anxious about trying it. I think 2.28 is low as I have tried.

BTW: The guys at Seeley are awesome. Top notch on all levels. I spend a week there every year and visit them many times while there. I was only voicing a concern and asking for feed back.

I think most people are looking at this from a fixed gear ratio perspective. With the CVT being load dependent; so by gearing it down you do not really lose any MPH, in low load situations (trail riding) it will shift the belt out further on the drive clutch at the same RPM and you will be riding the trail like usual. The benefit is when you need the grunt of the low gear it is there for you. The reality is with the lower ratio you can actually use the whole clutch not just the bottom 2 1/2"-3" like the stock ratio relegates you to in the mountains.

theultrarider · Dec 20, 2013

LoudHandle said:
I think most people are looking at this from a fixed gear ratio perspective. With the CVT being load dependent; so by gearing it down you do not really lose any MPH, in low load situations (trail riding) it will shift the belt out further on the drive clutch at the same RPM and you will be riding the trail like usual. The benefit is when you need the grunt of the low gear it is there for you. The reality is with the lower ratio you can actually use the whole clutch not just the bottom 2 1/2"-3" like the stock ratio relegates you to in the mountains.

That is assuming you clutch for the new gear ratio. It is amazing how many do not do this. And going that far on gearing it will take quite a major change in clutching to take full advantage of the lower gearing. Thats where folks are seeing the big raise in rpm at trail speeds.

LoudHandle · Dec 20, 2013

theultrarider said:
That is assuming you clutch for the new gear ratio. It is amazing how many do not do this. And going that far on gearing it will take quite a major change in clutching to take full advantage of the lower gearing. Thats where folks are seeing the big raise in rpm at trail speeds.

Yes of course, I should not have assumed everyone would know that.

800poodragon · Dec 20, 2013

theultrarider said:
That is assuming you clutch for the new gear ratio. It is amazing how many do not do this. And going that far on gearing it will take quite a major change in clutching to take full advantage of the lower gearing. Thats where folks are seeing the big raise in rpm at trail speeds.

What would you typically change for this? Weights? springs? helix?

theultrarider · Dec 20, 2013

800poodragon said:
What would you typically change for this? Weights? springs? helix?

Mostly helix and secondary springs. I am not advanced enough in my knowledge of that to give advice to setup someone else's sled though lol. And honetly, not many are unless they make the gearing changes also. I would start by asking a shop that does do the gearing swaps. Such as the maker of this gearing kit! Beyond that, winterbrew (aka roosterbuilt clutching) I know from following his posts is also an advocate for lower gearing. Those two places would be my first calls for guidance should I decide to gear down. But like was said above, just because you gear down, you don't need to be running 7k rpm @ 50mph on a trail. That's clutching.

Going West · Dec 21, 2013

Gearing down with no clutch work will almost always lose you track speed even when climbing. I have never been able to realise a gain in climbing tack MPH with a gear down usually, a 1-2 drop. I know most will disagree but just what I have found. Though I have nevere messed with the gearing on the rmks.

geo · Dec 21, 2013

I've experienced the same as Going West with large gearing changes. It is a fact you will need to change the secondary if you lessen the load applied to it and that is where you make the clutch changes IMO not the primary.

The rest of the benefits are no-brainers to me and can be debated-proven using math. Any time you can increase mechanical leverage (gearing) to your track and more balanced belt contact (close to 1 to 1 ratio) in your clutches, you will benefit in performance (less parasitic loses) and the components will do less work which means less heat and wear.

The 73 mph (for 2.4ish to 1) people are quoting is the optimum for efficiency at a1 to1 ratio (not top speed in OD if it matters). The best efficiency means the least hp loss to the track (we all know how much sleds lose to the track, it's why we just get by with only 135 horses lol).
The poo clutches have the least amount of OD of all three. On the other brands I've owned I shot for a 65ish mph at 1 to 1.

Trail rpm does not have to change at all if you gear down. You should see a track speed increase in deep snow by gearing down. It's all about your secondary there.

Yes you can have it all lol.

Scott · Dec 22, 2013

I rode this today in a 155 @ Seeley with Curtis, owner of Kurt's.

AlI can say is...what Kieth Curtis said.

Even in the parking lot, loading and unloading a stocker and this one...I could already tell there was going to be a difference.

With the gear reduction and clutching this thing is seat of the pants FASTER on the trail. Whoever said they'd find slower speed and higher revving on the trail needs not worry.

Really responsive in the DEEEEP powder today, feels like really great backshift. Better throttle response.

Noticeable difference over mine with just a bit of clutching.

It was surely fun to ride and getting back on my sled was a step backward.

nort10 · Dec 23, 2013

I saw you yesterday in Seeley....I was the one on the blue pro at the test hill and Curt asked how my gear down kit was working. The gear down kit is the real deal, that is all I have to say! I agree with Kieth Curtis also!

Scott said:
I rode this today in a 155 @ Seeley with Curtis, owner of Kurt's.

AlI can say is...what Kieth Curtis said.

Even in the parking lot, loading and unloading a sticker and thus one...I could already tell there was going to be a difference.

With the gear reduction and clutching this thing is seat of the pants FASTER on the trail. Whoever said they'd find slower speed and higher revving on the trail needs not worry.

Really responsive in the DEEEEP powder today, feels like really great backshift. Better throttle response.

Noticeable difference over mine with just a bit of clutching.

It was surely fun to ride and getting back on my sled was a step backward.

Old Scud-doo · Dec 23, 2013

So I see now how that would not effect rpm's probably. But do you not just do the gearing or do you need to clutch also. I already run a Team TIED and SLP MTX primary weights. Does the kit have clutching with it that I won't use? Or can/is it tailor for my existing parts? Got me thinking now.

2XM3 · Dec 23, 2013

Same setup as well, team tied and the mtx's, good question

Scott · Dec 23, 2013

Gonna have to do some clutching.

Scott · Dec 23, 2013

nort10 said:
I saw you yesterday in Seeley....I was the one on the blue pro at the test hill and Curt asked how my gear down kit was working. The gear down kit is the real deal, that is all I have to say! I agree with Kieth Curtis also!

Cool. I was the one on black pro with white side panels, wearing a orange/white jacket with really wet sweaty fogged up goggles. Lol

polpro800 · Dec 23, 2013

I have a boondocker Tial Turbo on my 2013 Pro RMK. Will the turbo clear the Teth Air belt drive gear down kit?

BlowinSmoke · Dec 24, 2013

The Kurt's team has done extensive testing with the gear down kit using the stock clutching and the Kurt's Polaris performance clutching.

FYI... so if your on a tight budget this year. You can use the gear down kit with the stock clutch configuration but will not see the full potential of this system without changing clutching as well.

NOW if you choose to change your components one step at a time. Then you will find the belt temps not being decreased and running as cool with stock clutching as is achieve with the Kurt's performance clutch kit. With stock clutching you'll also find the responsiveness and back shift abilities of your clutching not being the most optimal combination for peak performance.

Just remember the secondary clutch is a torque sensing unit. When gearing down the drive train your making the system much easier to respond throughout track load variations and terrain changes.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Years....

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