everyone, everywhere, on every forum, every fakebook page, every water hole, at the bottom of ever sand dune, everybody you talk to hates the CVT and belt system. everyone is scared of them like its black magic and the devil inside their clutch cover. every forum you ready and fakebook page you see everyone is scared to death and clammering and bickering about the belts breaking and they hate the belt ect and were going to the YXZ as soon as it came out. BUT now that it came out and almost every one of the first 500 machines built chewed the wet clutch up withing 200-300 miles, everyone took a big gulp and chilled out.
but when you actually look at the desert racing, all of the serious teams, easily everyone in the top 10 overall at each race typically have a flawless race without belt issues. there are solutions for every rider, there are parts that will allow you to run your machine hard (to an extent) without blowing belts. regardless of what machine it is, XP900, XP1000, XPTurbo, and Maverick. there are solutions for each and every one that i have and other companies make that will fix the clutching issues and allow you to run pretty much problem free with the belt not having to be one of your worries. to keep the clutches maintained and perfect, you may not want to spend the money it requires, because to fix and prep the clutches in these machines its not a cheap venture, but i have found a way to make almost every single machine out there bullet proof. occasionally we get a hiccup, redlands clutch decided to spew out all the grease from the one-way bearing half way thru the mint400 causing their entire clutch to be covered in grease, which caused the belt to slip horribly and cost them their only belt they have blown. could it have been prevented? who knows there are always freak things that can happen. but for the most part, with the correct parts applied to the clutches, and a decent understanding of how they work and what you can and cant do, the CVT shouldnt be something to worry with. It was said when the yamaha was being released that it was going to be the biggest game changer ever and desert racing would change with a 6speed manual car and 90mph capable machine. but uhhh, news flash, the stock 27" tires that are 33lbs mounted on the wheels allow you to run WAYYYY faster top speeds than what happens when you bolt a set of 45lb per corner 30s on a machine. your magical 90mph will just have turned into 75mph. the gearing in the yamaha is honestly too tall to run a big tire effectively. once you take the 1300lb machine and outfit it to handle the desert it becomes a 1800lb machine and reflashed and piped and all it only has the power, with the super tall gearing, to pull about 80 at best in the desert with a big tire. they may be awesome at some things, their suspension layout makes them corner like a shifter cart. they load the outside rear tire and steer thru the corners faster than anything ever thats why they are killing it in the short course. with the gear reduction in the trans and the right shock setup they kick ass. you can carry so much more speed thru a turn than a polaris can dream of. but out in the desert the polaris suspension setup shines. i watched a yamaha out at plaster city earlier this year being tested and worked on to try to get the shocks right over the course of 2 days and nothing made it run smooth and jump flat like a polaris will do out of the box. the yamaha can probably be built into an awesome desert car with the right person at the helm with the suspension figuring it all out. but i dont think it will dethrone polaris for a good while in BITD and SCORE races.