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Gates CVT belts?????????

33K views 41 replies 17 participants last post by  2nd two none 
#1 ·
Does anyone have a review or any experience on Gates CVT belts?


They asked me to be a distributor of them and I only know a little bit about them and hear very little about them.

I know of Gates of course and they are a high quality company.

I think the uphill battle is the price, the two good belts are like $59 and $89 retail G Force and the new C12 I'm thinking the lower price is gonna scare people away think if it is cheaper it must be for a reason


I know aftermarket belts have gotten a bad name in past, we have been promoting and using the EPI severe duty belt and said unless you buy a stock one or the EPI severe don't buy one.

Need someone with experience
 
#3 ·
I have the g force on my 800 S (don't think they have the carbon belt for the 800's yet) and so far so good BUT it has only been on for a month. I put it on to replace the EPI that I shredded. Had less than 1000 miles on the EPI.
The price difference between the two seems reasonable. If I was ordering belts from you and asked why one was cheaper and you told me that the other one was carbon fiber then that would explain it. I wouldn't think any less of the less expensive belt. Anyway, hopefully you'll get some more feedback from others that have a little more time on their belts than I do.
 
#8 ·
let us know when you have them . I know I will buy a couple. at that price I will replace my belt way before failure . I have ?'s into gates about the full differences between the 2 and the effects of wear on the sheaves.
 
#12 ·
On my race sled I use Gates Extreme belts, have had good luck with them. The biggest issue is what the compound is, if its harder than stock belt then more than likely going to slip, causing heat. if its softer than it grabs good but belt will heat up and eventually self destruct. Also need to make sure OL and OW are exactly the same, otherwise your deflection and belt to sheave clearance will be off, throwing the whole shift characteristics off.
Pretty much if you swap to a different belt, in a competition scene like me, clutch changes are needed. For example, if my sled were stock, and I threw on a Gates Extreme belt, I would see a 200-300rpm loss on top end, due to the stickier compound. To bring these rpms back I need to go lighter on the weights.
 
#19 ·
i have an 11 s that i put the g force on about 9 months ago. last weekend while heading home from a days ride it flew apart on me coming down the road. All stock rzr. And i have not road much all winter. The belts do have a 2 year warranty though. So im going to send it in and see what happens
 
#21 ·
yea i agree with it being acceptable. and your right the c12 might last longer. Plus during that time i have had trouble with my rzr overheating so the belt got hotter than normal a few times which could have hurt also. I've got that fixed now and im gonna install a snorkle with a bilge blower to force more air down in the clutch box :D
 
#23 ·
i did notice one other thing. though it could be a clutch issue but idk yet. I just stuck my new gates belt on and for the first while it is almost like the belt is too wide and grabs. its hard to get into gear and grinds. but after it wears down its fine. my last gates did this too
 
#28 · (Edited)
I have two rides on my Gates Carbon belt and I am about to pull it. Going back to the stock Polaris belt. I had issues with it fatiguing near the end of the first weekend ride. It was becoming very jumpy when engaging. Didnt like it all. On the 2nd ride I just had the gear reduction installed on my 900. I also took the belt and washed it. It did great at the beginning of the ride and it did the same thing near the end. It started to become very jumpy when the clutches were engaging from a idle. Never had that issue with the stock belt.

I also took pictures of the Gates and old Polaris belts when I was clean the Gates. Not sure if it was superficial or not. But it look like the Gates was starting to separate a little in a few places. I just need to find them.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 3 HD
 
#29 ·
I have two rides on my Gates Carbon belt and I am about to pull it. Going back to the stock Polaris belt. I had issues with it fatiguing near the end of the first weekend ride. It was becoming very jumpy when engaging. Didnt like it all. On the 2nd ride I just had the gear reduction installed on my 900. I also took the belt and washed it. It did great at the beginning of the ride and it did the same thing near the end. It started to become very jumpy when the clutches were engaging from a idle. Never had that issue with the stock belt.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 3 HD
Did you clean your clutches with a scotch brite pad and brake clean and break in the new belt? Washed the belt, you don't wash a new gates belt. What did you wash it with?
 
#33 ·
I have had great luck With the gates belt also. It still measures out exactly like a polaris belt after 323 miles. I just measured it the other night with a micrometer and caliper.
I also have been doing just as service manual says with allowing it to warm up in neutral and all the other pre ride clutch warm up stuff


Sent from my SCH-I545 using RZRForums.net mobile app
 
#34 ·
Thanks for putting this here.

I preach all the time, as long as you start off with a quality product how you use it or abuse it determines it's lifespan at that point instead of it being the products fault.

We have over 600 of these in the field now since April, and only one time has there been a manufacturing flaw.

Todd
 
#35 ·
I bought the carbon fiber belt and Dalton clutch kit from u first part of summer for my 900,u highly reccomened both,have had no problem,s at all out of either.Before I had the efi belt on which I smoked,i run in high gear hardly low any time since belt and clutch set up was bought from ur receomindations,also just ordered gates belt for my 800,don,t understand if ur ouestions the belts u sold.To answer ur question the carbon fiber belt has been fawless for me would not buy anything else,if something else is wrong in clutching u are sure to have problem out of any belt,but for me I am sold on them.
 
#37 ·
I have bought 2 gates belt,s from u a800 and 900 with Dalton clutch kit for 900 no problems at all good belts,i run high gear only with 900 I set clutch where it hit,s 8300-8400 RPM so fast I don,t use high,best investment so for rzr.if u got all ur set up,s right u will not have a problem.Keep selling them they r a good belt,don,t know why u would ask this question u know they r good u tested them.If I had a problem tearing up belts,then I won,t expect a gate,s carbon belt to fix my problem with out fixing what was causing it first.If it was a steel ball some could beak it,i will keep running them they r a good belt, ur first popo belt will last a long time because u bought every thing new but break one then u will break what u put back on because u didn,t fix problem that caused first one to break. THANKS for my thought,s.
 
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