Over time when you are selling as many belts as we do, in our case the Gates C12 Carbon Fiber, you are constantly reading about belt issues related to OEM, Gates other brands etc plus the fact that I get to talk to hundreds of people about this subject, information starts to roll in over time.
No one can quantify this but this one common thing seems to be showing up before a belt failure of any brand.
If you are out riding hard and you are really heating up your vehicle engine and clutches then you decide to turn it off and sit a little while you get heat soak and temps rise sharply due to the coolant and air not flowing.
So not only does the engine heat up so does the clutches since they are connected. The parts of the belt that are touching the clutches are also heating up. Then you get back on it and hit it hard again and the belt may blow on you. Why? The heat caused damage and made it weak.
Now before anyone says I do that all the time and do not have problems. I assure you it is not 100% of the time it is a set of conditions that happens every now and then that does this. Exceptions to the rule do not change the rule!!
Is this preventable? Sure when you think you are in this situation, and you stop, let your engine idle in neutral letting the primary turn and move air through the CVT for say a minute. Another way is to slow down your driving for a little bit before you stop or lastly install one of those inline blowers and turn it on after you turn the engine off to move air through it.
Also I would not go right straight to wide open again either and heavy loads, I would ride slowly to get temps normal then go again.
When you know you have a known quality belt OE or Gates C12 and it fails then I can promise you something is not right and it is not the belt.
Clutch calibration is the highest on the list needing to be right, having worn clutch parts especially in the secondary are a leading cause of belt failure. Primary worn parts next, the use of air restricting snorkels and lastly riding style.
I can't stress it enough, heat is always the cause of belt failure, you simply have to find out what is causing the heat and I don't mean lack of air only.
Todd
No one can quantify this but this one common thing seems to be showing up before a belt failure of any brand.
If you are out riding hard and you are really heating up your vehicle engine and clutches then you decide to turn it off and sit a little while you get heat soak and temps rise sharply due to the coolant and air not flowing.
So not only does the engine heat up so does the clutches since they are connected. The parts of the belt that are touching the clutches are also heating up. Then you get back on it and hit it hard again and the belt may blow on you. Why? The heat caused damage and made it weak.
Now before anyone says I do that all the time and do not have problems. I assure you it is not 100% of the time it is a set of conditions that happens every now and then that does this. Exceptions to the rule do not change the rule!!
Is this preventable? Sure when you think you are in this situation, and you stop, let your engine idle in neutral letting the primary turn and move air through the CVT for say a minute. Another way is to slow down your driving for a little bit before you stop or lastly install one of those inline blowers and turn it on after you turn the engine off to move air through it.
Also I would not go right straight to wide open again either and heavy loads, I would ride slowly to get temps normal then go again.
When you know you have a known quality belt OE or Gates C12 and it fails then I can promise you something is not right and it is not the belt.
Clutch calibration is the highest on the list needing to be right, having worn clutch parts especially in the secondary are a leading cause of belt failure. Primary worn parts next, the use of air restricting snorkels and lastly riding style.
I can't stress it enough, heat is always the cause of belt failure, you simply have to find out what is causing the heat and I don't mean lack of air only.
Todd