I have had a couple people ask or tell me they heard the Gates carbon fiber belt wears the primary clutch faster than a stock one in the last couple days.
I have no idea who is saying this or starting this rumor but not true!!!
That is 100% incorrect, it actually wears less and has been tested thoroughly
Any cord a belt might use like Kevlar or nylon does not wear away at the same rate as the rubber does, so if you were able to look at a belt extremely close you would see the cord sticking out further than the rubber and those hard fibers wear belts fast.
Also, on some of the Polaris belts like the 2015 and 16 1000 belts the compound is so hard to hold the heat it wears the primary clutches away much faster.
I first learned of that from a person inside Polaris in the clutch engineering department and he suggested using the 14 belt on the 1000 and we did until the new gates 15 belt came out, same dimension as 15 Polaris belt but softer compound
Now the carbon fiber cord in the Gates C12 belts wears away at same rate as the rubber so it does NOT leave anything exposed and sticking out therefore it wears the clutches away at a slower rate than the stock ones.
Belts will always be a debate for sure but here is what I stand on, we are now over 4000 Gates C12 belts sold through us and the overwhelming majority is nothing but positive reviews
This does not mean you won’t break or burn one, I will go as far as to say in some isolated cases there are some conditions people use their RZR that the OEM belt performs better but those are few and far between.
I will also state exceptions to the rule do not change the rule, anything can happen once in a while but if it is not a common occurrence, you move on.
I will also stand on this, if you are having belt issues whether it is OEM or Gates C12 belt the least likely reason is the belt, something is wrong somewhere
Todd
