Well, I had a real problem today. I just finished my snorkels and was looking forward to trying them out. We rode back roads to the bottom of the mountain, where the trails start. Just playing around, I stomped the gas and slung some gravel. I then backed up to where my brother was parked. He took off up the hill and I started to go behind him, but couldn't go. It made a rattling sound and just sat there. We had to pull it back home.
I still don't know what happened. My first guess is that the splines on the cam plate stripped because of my shim mod. The only thing puzzling about it, is that it hung in gear and I had trouble getting it into neutral.
I have to find out if I still have warranty and if the dealer will cover it if it was caused by one of my mods. If not, then I guess I start taking it apart and hope it's not too expensive.

Good luck on the repair. Hoping its something minor, just like you are I'm sure. Keep us up to date on the eventual issue/fix.

My dealer had one come in that was submerged and though obvious abuse cracked the block.  Even though the dealer noticed the obvious abuse, Cfmoto replaced ALL parts needed to fix that machine. So I'd say you have a pretty good shot of them repairing your ride.
Good luck!!

Well, my guess was right. The splines on the cam plate stripped. I don't think it was directly because of my shim though. The nut on the primary had loosened, allowing the cam plate and basically the whole primary move around. The cam plate shows signs of wearing against the nut and my shim, which was aluminum, was so thin that it was sharp and feel apart. I guess it's still my fault. I didn't use a torque wrench like I should have. The dealer may still cover it, because he told me I can do any mods I want as long as I don't submerge it and he'd still honor the warranty. I'll be driving right by the dealership tomorrow, so I'll stop by and talk to him. Since I already have it apart, I hope he'll just give me a plate to bring home.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

At least you know what it was and..it's not serious. Good luck tomorrow.

On things like these, I really make sure the threads are cleaned with solvent and then torqued and Loctited. I use Red on my Harleys. I would at least go with Blue.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

On things like these, I really make sure the threads are cleaned with solvent and then torqued and Loctited. I use Red on my Harleys. I would at least go with Blue.

And it's absolutely critical it be torqued to specs...if nothing else. I also think the manual does say something about using thread lock on top of that. I don't but I give it 5 extra ftlbs torque to a full 85.

Thanks for the tips. I didn't get to talk to the dealer today. Turned out he's closed on Mondays. I'll call tomorrow.

Dealer was supposed to call me back, but didn't. They said they thought the CVT only had a 90 day warranty, but they would try to get it fixed under warranty if they could. I just decided to fix it myself instead of calling back. The plate is only $24.60 plus shipping on alpha-sports.com. If I take it to the dealer, I have to put it back together, so they can pretend they didn't know I had it apart. Then barrow a trailer and haul it to the next county, where they'll fix it who knows when. Then I go back and pick it up. It would cost at least 25$ for fuel both ways. Then I have to take it back apart to put a shim back in. Better just to do it myself. It was my fault it tore up anyway. I have the part ordered. I hope it's here in time to ride next weekend.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

Probably the best thing to do.

I would avoid shimming at all cost.  I have seen nothing but problems from people shimming their sheaves.  Im not saying EVERYONE who has ever done it has had problems but its for sure not the best way to do it and on top of that you are only (as you now know) taking away the surface area of the splines to grip which is a bad idea.  Instead you should either go with OD weights OR machine the sheave.  Those are proven ways to get it to run better.

I would avoid shimming at all cost.  I have seen nothing but problems from people shimming their sheaves.  Im not saying EVERYONE who has ever done it has had problems but its for sure not the best way to do it and on top of that you are only (as you now know) taking away the surface area of the splines to grip which is a bad idea.  Instead you should either go with OD weights OR machine the sheave.  Those are proven ways to get it to run better.

+1. Have it machined, not worth cheaping out on it.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

I think his issue was more the torque not being enough and the nut backing off.. but with that said and knowing how little the plate actually gets the splines, it would seem prudent to go with either machining or even just the sliders which will get you the lowest and highest without changing where the plate sets on the splines. Now if we could just get this dirt/dust thing figured out...

It is actually a pretty common thing when shimming these and other SxS to have the splines strip.  Many companies have tried it and they have all backed off of suggesting it and gone to machining and or OD weights.  Manufacturers generally only put enough spline on there to go the thickness of the cam plate.  that is because the nut has to tighten it down to the shaft.  Pushing that cam plate out with a shim only runs a risk of stripping it and is just not a good idea in general.

I've had my new plate for more than a week now. I can't get enough splines to make it work with the shim now, for some reason. I'm working on a fix to do the same thing, but make it stronger instead of weaker, this time. If it works, I'll post it in a new thread.