2011 Sportsman 500 belt replacement Polaris

[technofarmer]

   Well its finally happened, its time to replace the belt on my 2011 Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O.   Is there anything specific i need to know before getting into it? Is there one brand of belt i should get over another?   I'm still on my first Polaris and plan to keep it at least another 8 years.   

[Ajmboy]

Did you replace it yet?

You can go OEM or aftermarket like Gates:

 

 

Gates aftermarket:

 

 

[technofarmer]

   Thank you kindly for the help. I did go to my nearest Polaris dealer and got the one used by the factory. It was $87 and maybe i could have saved some money?     

[Frank Angerano]

Cant put a price on quality. Oem way to go and the price was good.  
Smart man!   
let us know how the bike runs.   

[technofarmer]

With the new belt all i can say is so far so good. I've put around 15 or 20 miles with the new one and yesterday i certainly felt the moment it started to break in. It felt and sounded just like when it was brand new when i could hear it going down hill with no throttle.   I've yet to run high range as to try following the rules of breaking it in.  If anything i should've replaced it a couple years sooner. Though my four wheeler isn't used all that rough compared to many or most people?  

[Frank Angerano]

Good stuff and nice work! 
Ride safe!

[JacobSlabach]

That's one of the best looking used belts I've eve seen!  As far as replacing them, I blow my belts before i change them.  I tried changing the belt in my 04 sportsman 500 once and couldn't tell any difference.  Sense, I blew the belt on my 07 sportsman 800 and put the 15 yr old belt off the 500 in the 700 been running great ever since.

I see no need to replace belts till they're in little chucks(it blew).  As for which belt to get, it just needs to be for your model and year.  I bought a $40 belt off Amazon and it works as well or better than oem.

The big no-ons to avoid are letting water into the clutches (gets wet and slips) and sitting the atv for years (belt dry rots)

[technofarmer]

    What amazed me is that there wasn't any chunks. However the belt did get to the point that it would just smoke and the four wheeler would barely move on level ground.  In fact i had to toss the old one on the ground a few feet away to make sure i didn't put it back on. i was in shock that the old one was worn out but it must have been as the new one made a huge difference.   my best guess is that it had stretched quite a bit.   thanks for the help everyone.