I replaced the belt on my 2017 800 Trail today. It was my chance to see whether a trailside belt swap would be do-able .
I have often wondered because plenty of the rides we do would be considered long and expecting a tow from some fellow rider for 80 miles over mountain and river and valley, is pretty much out of the question. Any fellow machine trying it would itself be damaged.
At spitting distance to 6000 kilometers I though it was prudent to go inside and see if the spare belt I bought some time back, was urgently needed. (I wish there was a plug on top of the CVT case you could pop out and measure the belt width!)
I did take the aluminum CVT cover off without removing any more plastics than the battery cover. 1/4" drive 8 MM socket and ratchet on 6" extension for most of the cover bolts, 8 MM socket and ratchet alone for 4 of the forward ones and an 8 MM box end was needed for the most forward of the cover bolts.
I was blessed more than NMKawi apparently as the CVT nuts came off pretty much as expected. (No rust apparent in the whole project). Maybe they saw that 1000 Ft Lb. air impact and they just surrendered.
So I looked with an eye to seeing if a trailside belt swap could really be done on an 800.
I made careful measurements with a top quality vernier caliper and found that the belt is on average 16.94 MM thick when measured from the top of a corrugation to the bottom peak of a corrugation. The space between the outer flange of the secondary clutch plate and the gasket surface of the CVT compartment varies a bit as you go round but the closest is 16.14 MM space.
This means that in the tightest spots (top and bottom) the belt is thicker by 9/10 of a millimeter than than the space it must pass. That's IF it were at the optimal alignment to fit in that space, which it is not. It would need to twist a good 45 degrees to achieve that and it is very stiff and not compliant at all. An attempt to twist it the needed degree with a wrench was not successful, something would have been damaged. Here's where it has to go to come out with the rear clutch intact. The sheaves turn freely CCW only.
The belt material is very stiff and does not 'give' much at all to pressure.
My conclusion? A field belt change would not be possible unless the rider carries a 1/2" impact gun (maybe a battery electric one like Milwaukee) and sockets. You'd need:
-A jack for the back axle.
-17 MM socket and 6" extension and impact gun
-10 MM socket and 6" extension and ratchet for the battery cover
-13 MM box wrench for the battery hold down
the 10 MM will do for the battery posts
-8 MM socket and the 1/4 drive stuff for the CVT cover
-8 MM box end wrench for the forward cover bolt
-clutch spanners for front and rear clutches to hold them against torque
-1/2 drive 36 MM socket, short for the secondary clutch
-1/2 drive 32 MM deep socket for the primary nut (in lieu, a 3/4 drive 1 1/4" short socket with
1/2"-3/4" adapter is a perfect fit! You'll make that nut your bitch)
-A 1/2" torque wrench at 85 Ft Lb. for final reassembly
A tube of red loc-tite and the spare belt and you're laughing. You can do a trailside belt swap on a CF Moto 800.
Otherwise without all that stuff forget it. Ain't gon happen.
I found that my belt at 6000 Km. my stock belt still measured 34.7 MM against a recommended replacement spec of 33 MM. It was only 1/3 worn out! No cracking or deterioration seen. Amazing.
Replaced it anyway on the advice of my dealer, a very savvy man with CVT's in many applications.
It was very clean in there, considering.
https://imgur.com/JNk3ynjBlew a lot of toxic dust out of the primary. I was very happy to see that for all the dusty environs I have traveled, the secondary showed very little sign of wear.
https://imgur.com/kFGtrVbStill I am measuring and planning furiously, toward the vision of installing a particle separator for both CVT and motor. Chuck that dust right back where it came from.
Doesn't the statue of liberty bear the caption: "Bring us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"? My 800 wants to breathe free.