davefrombc

With a CVT there is no "low gear" or "high gear" the clutches act as gears by constantly varying the ratio between them depending on rpm and torque load.

The belt driven CVT transmissions on some quads is the same as the ones used on snowmobiles. A friend had a similar problem on his machine years ago.. I don't know if you've had a look at how those CVT transmissions work, but basically they work by varying the effective sizes of pulleys .. At idle and low rpm the motor clutch opens to left the belt drop into the pulley creating a small diameter for it to drive on. At the same time the driven pulley closes up to create an effectively large pulley. The difference in pulley diameters small driver on the motor to large driven gives you "low" gear .. as the motor revs up , the motor pulley closes, making the belt ride up to a larger diameter , at the same time the driven pulley opens up to create a smaller pulley diameter, in effect giving a second or higher gear .. At full motor speed , the motor pulley closes to the largest effective diameter for the motor and driven opens to its smallest effective diameter , so that becomes your high gear .. If the load pulls the motor down , the dropping rpm opens the clutch on the motor while the other clutch opens, effectively lowering the gear so the motor can rev up to produce its full power again. Not, if the motor pulley is sticky so it can't open properly to allow the motor to rev up , it will lug on you as though it was a vehicle tying to pull in too high a gear. You wouldn't notice the clutches not opening and closing properly as much on level ground or going downhill because in those cases the motor isn't loaded as heavy to move the quad so the clutches would be staying in higher effective gears. Its like a manual transmission car. You can start out fairly easily on the flat or downhill ind second or high gear, but would have to rev the motor and slip the clutch much more to staret out in the same gear heading uphill. Since the clutches are spring loaded and work on a centrifugal system to open and close against those loading springs, you need to be cautious when you go to disassemble them. Those springs could be under a lot of tension. You'd need the manual to see just how to service those clutches . . I can't help you on that since although the CVT clutches all work on the same principle , there are differences in how the various manufacturers and models are all disassembled and assembled.

Just searched on your Cat... In see it is a CVT transmission; and that may be your problem . If it runs fine everywhere except on the steeper uphill runs , it may be the clutches are not shifting down properly . If the motor clutch doesn't open and the driven one close to effectively give you a shift down, the motor cannot rev up to develop its full power .. Check to make sure both clutches open and close properly without binding or sticking.

If there is no air in the system and no fluid leaks, then if you cannot build pressure in the system there is a problem with the master cylinder bypassing and it needs to be rebuilt.

All I can suggest is to trace the ground wire back, as well as the positive wire between the fuse and alternator (stator) the short could be on either side of the circuit, but most likely on the positive side. If a fuse is blowing power is flowing from battery on positive side.. Negative side is normally connected directly to ground

It would be nice to have GPS and communication ability built into a machine; but that all can be accomplished at far less cost to those of us not exactly bucks up enough to buy a high end machine like that .. There's lots of reasonably priced GPS units out there, as well as good FRS, CB and Ham radios for communication. FRS and CB radio have far more range than bluetooth, and Hams can literally talk around the world on low power when the bands are open. There are action cams available very inexpensively that will also link to phones through blue tooth.

Bluetooth or any other connectivity wouldn't do much good most places I ride. Kinda useless when there is no cell service available .

Yup . Full time 4x4. When I lived in the north , I had a snowmobile that was a blast to ride; but down here we just don't normally get enough snow for a sled; so the quad gets used year round. I've got "Bear Claw" tires front and rear so it gets a pretty fair grip on all terrain.. Have gotten stopped a couple of times high centering it , but getting off and lifting front or rear and it'll pull itself off the high center ok. I generally run second in line or tail end when out with the buds.. I let them break the trail and if they get bogged down , out come the winch cable to pull them back. I use my 4x4 truck the same way .. LOL.. go in with it in 2wd and when it gets sticky then into 4x4 to turn around and try a different route.. A lot easier on the machines and my pocket book that way. The winch is to pull the other guys out of the muck.. LOL... I learned not to be one of those that says "Wow, had fun on the ride .... only cost a couple of grand to fix the rig".. I prefer to spend what cash I have on toys, not repairs.

Happy New Year.. If you have "one for the road" tonight , make it a taxi. Keep those ATVs tuned up . I think this year's going to be quite the ride.

One neighbour had a trike ( Honda 200cc) and another had an older Honda quad.. I saw a 1991 Honda Fourtrax TRX 300FW with a winch come up for sale at a decent price and in very good condition for the age, so I bought it. I've ridden it 4 years now , and the only work it needs now is the rear axle and hubs replaced because the splines are worn out allowing the wheels to wobble some on the shaft. Got a new axle and hubs for it , but need to install them. Newer models would come with more bells and whistles but so far this one has done everything I want it to and the winch has pulled my neighbours 2 wheel drive quads out of sticky situations several times. I added 2 accessory sockets so I can power 12 volt accessories on either the front or rear racks (or both) . I don't see myself replacing it anytime soon. It goes as fast as I want it to on the trails here, and I've never had any problem pulling anything with it. As long as it has traction, it'll pull so I'm not needing any bigger power ...so far; and at 73 I'm not really into racing machines myself . The old Honda goes fast enough to get into trouble as it is.

If you survived with all your limbs intact after much riding of trikes, you'll have no problem handling an 800 quad.

I think it would depend on the state ( or province) what modifications to a quad or snowmobile would be necessary to make them road legal; or even if they could be made road legal. Every state and province has its own traffic laws so anyone contemplating such a project would be wise to check the legality of it out first. Here, in BC some rules governing ATVs on secondary roads vary between the much less populated and developed north, the rural southern areas and the cities / primary roads and highways. The ATV shown may have been street legal as a trike ( trikes are considered motorcycles in BC) in the lower mainland of BC if it had a speedometer; but I wouldn't guarantee it.

I posted up the wire chart and the battery groups information to the " Other files" section of the Downloads folder.

I have a folder with all the manuals I've posted links to on the forum plus a couple of others. I also have a file listing all the BCI battery groups and their specs for anyone wanting to install a second battery or update their existing battery and want to know what battery will fit the battery box or space available. Another file that is useful if you want to wire in an accessory or other 12 volt wiring is one listing the current handling capacity of the different wire gauges over the length needed for the application. When you have the library set up I can upload them all to it; although the Suzuki LTF-500 manual is over 150MB so it exceeds the max attachment size. All the others are under the limit.

Everyone can download and save the manuals from those sites I listed. Rather than download the manuals and then re-post them on the site, I just gave the link so those interested can download the manuals themselves. I know those manual downloads are legit and safe because I did open them in my browser to check before posting the links.

Here's a "heads up" for everyone searching for owners or service manuals for your quad. While searching for service manuals to help others posting in the forum, I've come across a couple of sites early in each search that claim to offer the service manual needed. When clicking the link for the manual pdf, it opens a download link showing an .exe file. DO NOT CLICK ON ANY DOWNLOAD LINK THAT SHOWS AN EXE FILE TO GET A PDF OF ANY MANUAL ! I am running Windows 10 Pro and it is set to show the full address and type of any file. It also prevents automatic downloads unless I specifically allow them. Those fake manual pdf downloads try to automatically install the file downloader it actually contains rather than a true pdf. Had it actually been able to run automatically, it would have downloaded a load of hurt on my PC. The downloader link was able to install into the temp folder in my Windows but was not able to execute because I did not click to allow it . Afterwards, my A/V program detected the malware in the temp folder and quarantined it for removal. Had my PC not been set to show the complete address and type of file and to not automatically download files I'd have one very compromised computer. Everyone , make sure your anti-virus program is kept up to date with the latest definitions for it. Set your computer to show the complete address and type of file rather than allowing it to auto - hide known Windows file types so a program such as xxx.pdf.exe shows as such and not as just xxx.pdf with the known file type .exe hidden.

Found this: http://www.maultechatv.com/techguides/Service Manuals/YAMAHA/Kodiak 400 2000-2001.pdf Exploded view of the differential is on page 233.

There is a coupling between the drive shaft for the rear differential and the pinion gear. I suspect that is broken, or splines stripped out. I found the link for the service manual. There is an exploded view of the assembly in it . You can download the pdf of the service manual for your quad here: https://www.hightail.com/download/elNLQk05bThUWUFLSk1UQw

US ATV regulations : https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Centers/ATV-Safety-Information-Center/State-ATV-Information/ Canadian ATV regulations : http://www.parachutecanada.org/downloads/policy/All_Terrain_Vehicle_Legislation_Chart_May_2012.pdf

Page 33 of that manual shows the shift pattern

I believe the Big Bear clutch is centrifugal. The levers on the hand grips both operate the brakes if I am not mistaken. Try rocking the quad back and forth while pressing down on the shift lever to see if it will shift down and into neutral. Most foot operated gear shifts have neutral as the first position and to get reverse, you press a button or pull a button / lever to press the gear shift into reverse, below neutral. I found a pdf for the 350 Big Bear... neutral is at the bottom, reverse is below that after you activate the reverse knob. This manual shows for the 1999 model , but it should be the same trans and shift pattern for the '87 http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/service/manuals/1999/Lit-11626-12-49_325.pdf

Unless they have recently improved quality control I'd be very wary of the Chinese quads. Nearly al I've heard of locally have developed electrical / ignition problems before they had a lot of use. Of the Japanese / American made quads, I'd say only the older Polaris 2 stroke ones I know of have had any problems more than the others. Honda , Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki all fall into personal preference choices .. I bought my '94 Honda Fourtrax 300 full time 4x4 used, have ridden it 4 years since purchase and all I have had to do is replace the rear axle and hubs because the splines have worn out on them. That is a pretty common problem with 22 year old Hondas. A friend bought a very hard run 1984 Honda trx 200. It still runs fin , but the framework for the rear axle was all cracked and broken.. My little wirefeed welder and some gussets have taken care of that problem. My other riding friend's 1994 Suzuki Quadrunner needs wheel bearings replaced.. All have no problems with their motors or transmissions. I prefer the shaft drive quads, others may prefer the chain driven ones for their simplicity and ease of modifying for racing, but at 73, my racing days are pretty much done. Others may have much different opinions , but I feel any of the older four stroke Japanese quads will serve you well if their previous owners have taken reasonably good care of them. If you did any wrenching of the cars you raced , you should have no problems maintaining a quad . If it is running well and all the gears work, all you should be faced with is routine maintenance to keep them that way . The one old Polaris 2 stroke quad was a disaster with multiple problems , the least of which was the broken reeds that shut it down.