Belt Drama. Please Help

ktm131rob · Feb 18, 2018

I the past couple weekends I have had some somewhat frustrating issues regarding drive belts and I want to get to the bottom of it. Last weekend I rode a 70/30 mixture of trails and tight trees. Trails where well groomed and snow was somewhat setup but fairly deep. The trail riding I did was fairly fast and wide open I kept moving around the rpms but on my way back to the truck(doing about 60) the belt exploded. I had 600 miles on it and I ride tight trees so I figured what the heck. Put on my backup Gates Carbon G12 and took off. Blew everything out last week and went about my life. Fast forward to yesterday. Out riding on a steep tight up hill pull with about 65-75 miles on the gates belt and pop. So there I set quite a bit of build up on the clutches and they are scalding hot.....

Sled is stock 17 163 800

My questions are?

1) Do those long straight trail runs really that bad for the belt?

2) Whats the break in like on a gates belt?

3) Does anyone think it is heat related?

4) is the gates belt junk?

5) is there anything else that leads anyone to believe that its a faulty spring. i will check them but i was hoping to have a couple ideas to try.

I was a skidoo guy. got a 14 pro, no issues.. so this is kinda my first Polaris belt rodeo.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

SRXSRULE · Feb 18, 2018

ktm131rob said:
My questions are?

1) Do those long straight trail runs really that bad for the belt?

YES, its hard on the belt, and even harder on the track. I rarely ever ride a groomed trail but If I do, 40mph is about the max speed.

2) Whats the break in like on a gates belt?

The belt needs to be stored properly, not folded in 1/2 like the OEM spare belt holder requires. Then the best break-in is 2-3 heat cycles on the belt. fully warmed up without putting a heavy load on the belt (10min of riding) then allow it to cool down, then repeat.

3) Does anyone think it is heat related?

Not surpised the OEM belt blew at that mileage with that kind of riding. Adding extra vents or the mtntk Blow Hole is a good idea.

4) is the gates belt junk?

YES, if you dont do the break-in, they will explode. No, if you take the time to do the above mentioned break-in. They are 1/2 the price of the OEM, if you buy 2 new ones, you can swap them back and forth on the first ride and the break-in is pretty painless.

5) is there anything else that leads anyone to believe that its a faulty spring. i will check them but i was hoping to have a couple ideas to try.

Doubt the springs are bad at 600 miles, you might break a primary spring, but that will cause several other performance problems and you would know it.

I was a skidoo guy. got a 14 pro, no issues.. so this is kinda my first Polaris belt rodeo.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Answers in quote, after questions.

ktm131rob · Feb 18, 2018

SRXSRULE said:
Answers in quote, after questions.

Thanks for the help. I did a couple things wrong here and I knew that after I had the couple issues I did. So do you recommend sticking with OEM belts or Gates, I can get a pretty sweet deal on Gates belts so that would be cool but I don’t like to skip corners.

AdrenalineAddict · Feb 18, 2018

Venting on the Axys is a huge benefit, you have a 1,000 degree oven tucked away in a very limited space with minimal air flow. My clutches used to color up (as in get brown) from overheating the belt until I vented it up a bit. The 1183 is a solid belt, but the gates carbon series works good also. I've put approximately 3,500 miles on Gates carbon series belts and have found the belt life is about as good as OEM and 1/2 the price and come with a warranty. I always make sure I warm up the Gates real well prior to laying the power to them, they kind of take a set when could and may generate a lot of internal frictional heat and damage by wrapping around a tight radius until limber. I have never had a Gates blow up. It could also be your riding style, I used to blow up OEM belts all day long because I really like to ride and rarely gave belts any cool down time. Nowadays I am getting better at making a big pull and then giving things time to cool a bit.

Dazzler · Feb 18, 2018

Maybe check your rollers in the drive clutch, make sure they're in good shape. I've not had issues with them but have read others have had around that 500-600 mile mark.

SRXSRULE · Feb 18, 2018

ktm131rob said:
Thanks for the help. I did a couple things wrong here and I knew that after I had the couple issues I did. So do you recommend sticking with OEM belts or Gates, I can get a pretty sweet deal on Gates belts so that would be cool but I don’t like to skip corners.

I like the performance of the Gates belt, I get more consistent rpm with that belt. The gates belt also measures closer to the oem specs then a new Polaris belt does.

If you do explode a gates belt they will replace it for free.

I’m also a fan of the Blow Hole. Keeps the clutches cooler and cleaner!

ktm131rob · Feb 18, 2018

Dazzler said:
Maybe check your rollers in the drive clutch, make sure they're in good shape. I've not had issues with them but have read others have had around that 500-600 mile mark.

What should I look for on my rollers?

Dazzler · Feb 18, 2018

ktm131rob said:
What should I look for on my rollers?

Look for flat spots, sticky when rolling them or lose on the pin ( worn out pin and roller internally )

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Belt Drama. Please Help

ktm131rob

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SRXSRULE

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ktm131rob

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AdrenalineAddict

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Dazzler

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SRXSRULE

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ktm131rob

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Dazzler

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