Ryker Hot CVT Belt

I've seen posts where the OP is saying that their CVT drive belt was running hot. I believe at least 1 owner has had to replace their belt early due to overheating. Though in this case, I think it was due to off road riding which dirtied the CVT air filter, restricting air flow to the CVT drive belt.

I took a 300 mile ride in the mountains the other day on my Ryker. When I got home there was a burning oil or rubber smell that I had never noticed before. I've checked my Ryker for any oil leaks. It would have had to be dripping on the exhaust pipe or other hot surface for it to smell like that. I was not able to find anything at all. I got to thinking, maybe it's the CVT belt getting too hot? I checked both of my OEM paper air filters, and both looked clean. Though the CVT side did have some debris in it. Not sure why one side would be cleaner than the other. Unless the fan on the CVT side is sucking a good deal more volume of air.

I am not sure if this is going to be an issue with the Ryker or not. Really haven't heard a great deal along these lines so far. But certainly, it appears that the CVT belt cooling is important, and airflow has to be a key to this.

The engine and CVT systems both take the same air filter. Since I carry the K&N filters I am going to try replacing both of the OEM paper filters with the K&N equivalent. The CM9910. If nothing else, even the K&N detractors agree that this design flows more air than a paper filter. Especially as it gets dirtier. Paper filters flow rate will fall off fairly quickly if they get dirty. But the K&N and similar designs maintain a very high air flow even when dirty. This is why the standard service interval for the K&N is 50,000 miles. And, of course, they can be cleaned and recharged (good as new) pretty much indefinitely.

If anyone else out there has experienced what they think, or know, to be a hot running CVT drive belt. I would very much like to hear from you.

K&N has been creeping their pricing up so I've had to bump mine up a little. But I am offering 2 of these Ryker K&N filters at the previous pricing of $37.50 (1) for the engine air cleaner and (1) for the CVT air cleaner, if you purchase them at the same time.

The 2010-2013 RT and the 2013-2016 RS, RSS & ST also take this same CM9910 K&N air filter for the engine.

I can't speak for the Ryker. I own one but have not had belt issues.

I can say that Ski-Doo has had belt issues on their sleds on and off over the years. Used to be the manufactures would put a steel guard around the primary and secondary clutch so if a belt blew it would hit the steel guard and be a non issue. Typically when a belt blows it doesn't really break but shreds or peels like an onion so the metal guard was more than sufficient. But back in 2005 or so Ski-Doo started completely encasing the clutches in a plastic housing and that's when people started having more and more belt over heating issues. I don't know why they did this? Owners used to remove the plastic guard altogether or drill 1" holes in it so it could get more airflow. Then Ski-Doo started molding in air management channels to try and help better control the heat around the belt.

Perhaps their first attempt at belt temp / air management on the Ryker is a bit flawed under some conditions?

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Originally Posted by Rob Rodriguez

I can't speak for the Ryker. I own one but have not had belt issues.

I can say that Ski-Doo has had belt issues on their sleds on and off over the years. Used to be the manufactures would put a steel guard around the primary and secondary clutch so if a belt blew it would hit the steel guard and be a non issue. Typically when a belt blows it doesn't really break but shreds or peels like an onion so the metal guard was more than sufficient. But back in 2005 or so Ski-Doo started completely encasing the clutches in a plastic housing and that's when people started having more and more belt over heating issues. I don't know why they did this? Owners used to remove the plastic guard altogether or drill 1" holes in it so it could get more airflow. Then Ski-Doo started molding in air management channels to try and help better control the heat around the belt.

Perhaps their first attempt at belt temp / air management on the Ryker is a bit flawed under some conditions?

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I found more debris in the CVT side. Maybe it was enough to restrict air flow and heat up my belt. It didn't smell like it was on fire. Just hotter than it should have been. I have never noticed any smell before. So something definitely changed. If the smell isn't there on my next ride. I think it will lend credence to the restricted air flow theory.

I need to get into my CVT and see if I can tell if anything is going wrong there. Putting the K&N in should solve the problem if it was restricted air flow. I am going to check that filter regularly from now on. Had no idea that the CVT might be so sensitive. And to be honest. I don't even know if it is the belt. But I must say I am definitely leaning that way.

I put K&N on the CVT side. No problems.

BajaRon and RykerUSA, how many miles are you guys pushing? :cheers: cueman

I replaced my CVT filter at 3000 miles and didn't expect to but had 2 replacements ready.

I'm close to 13,000 miles have not noticed any issues with the belt. I replaced both filters I got from Amazon, I did not put oil on the filter as the manual says. I wonder if the issue could just be with certain belts not up to snuff. I hope it does not become a big issue, I am going to change mine in spring, hope it lasts till then.

Out about 11000 miles, I was the guy who reported an overheating belt that began to slip at speeds above 50 miles an hour. To get home, I basically took the CVT air filter off as I did not have a replacement filter on the road. That's solve the problem completely. Indicating to me that air flow was the problem. The CVT must crank through a much greater volume of air than the Engine filter as I'm on my third filter. Since then I have put us K & N filter on the CVT side with no issues.

At this point, I am not sure it is my belt that was producing the smell. So I don't want to say that is what it is. Just that I highly suspect it. Once it stops raining I may have a chance to ride again and see if the smell comes back (having replaced the paper filter with the higher flowing K&N). I'm thinking that when the weather gets hot, air flow is going to be very important to longevity on this belt.

I found this 3rd party air flow rate information on a high performance engine building site. They used this data to build a formula for how many square inches of filter medium were needed for high performance applications. Because they used different filtration elements, depending on the situation, this was valuable information. Since we are not changing our filter size, this is pretty interesting data.

Pleated K&N filter material will flow 6.03 cfm of air per square inch. By comparison, a single square inch of the highest flowing paper will allow 4.95 cfm of air to pass, and the freest flowing foam will flow 4.38 cfm.

They also stated that in their testing, a very dirty K&N filter flowed and average of 4.63 cfm per sq. in. Which is not that much less than a brand new paper filter. And they were testing the freest flowing paper elements. Air flow on paper elements can vary greatly depending on the quality of paper medium used.

The air filters on our Ryker are 7.25 x 5 inches with 24 square inches of filter medium. So in the stock configuration, with a brand new paper filter (assuming that it is the highest flowing paper available, which is frankly doubt), we might get a flow rate of as much as 118.8 cfm using the parameters given. Under the same conditions, the K&N will flow 144.7 cfm. And the freest flowing foam, 105.1 cfm.

BajaRon, I very much appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. Thank you my friend. :cheers: cueman

My Rally model has had the hot rubber smell from day 1. I am coming up on 5,000 miles with no slippage. I do check both filters on a frequent basis and neither is particularly dirty. I have noticed that the smell is more pronounced during humid weather.

Yeah I have that smell too from day 1. Worse in the rain. No leaks, no overheating or anything. May be just the way it is with the Ryker but I will also keep tabs on it and let ya know. Haven’t had it that long but I took it out yesterday for a quick ride no problems so far

I have no smell on Rally about 4,000 miles. Is there a belt adjustment or something? I have not had one apart yet. :dontknow: cueman

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Originally Posted by snayl135

Yeah I have that smell too from day 1. Worse in the rain. No leaks, no overheating or anything. May be just the way it is with the Ryker but I will also keep tabs on it and let ya know. Haven’t had it that long but I took it out yesterday for a quick ride no problems so far

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Have you checked your CVT filter? I was surprised at how much debris mine had picked up.

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Originally Posted by BajaRon

I've seen posts where the OP is saying that their CVT drive belt was running hot. I believe at least 1 owner has had to replace their belt early due to overheating. Though in this case, I think it was due to off road riding which dirtied the CVT air filter, restricting air flow to the CVT drive belt.

I took a 300 mile ride in the mountains the other day on my Ryker. When I got home there was a burning oil or rubber smell that I had never noticed before. I've checked my Ryker for any oil leaks. It would have had to be dripping on the exhaust pipe or other hot surface for it to smell like that. I was not able to find anything at all. I got to thinking, maybe it's the CVT belt getting too hot? I checked both of my OEM paper air filters, and both looked clean. Though the CVT side did have some debris in it. Not sure why one side would be cleaner than the other. Unless the fan on the CVT side is sucking a good deal more volume of air.

I am not sure if this is going to be an issue with the Ryker or not. Really haven't heard a great deal along these lines so far. But certainly, it appears that the CVT belt cooling is important, and airflow has to be a key to this.

The engine and CVT systems both take the same air filter. Since I carry the K&N filters I am going to try replacing both of the OEM paper filters with the K&N equivalent. The CM9910. If nothing else, even the K&N detractors agree that this design flows more air than a paper filter. Especially as it gets dirtier. Paper filters flow rate will fall off fairly quickly if they get dirty. But the K&N and similar designs maintain a very high air flow even when dirty. This is why the standard service interval for the K&N is 50,000 miles. And, of course, they can be cleaned and recharged (good as new) pretty much indefinitely.

If anyone else out there has experienced what they think, or know, to be a hot running CVT drive belt. I would very much like to hear from you.

K&N has been creeping their pricing up so I've had to bump mine up a little. But I am offering 2 of these Ryker K&N filters at the previous pricing of $37.50 (1) for the engine air cleaner and (1) for the CVT air cleaner, if you purchase them at the same time.

The 2010-2013 RT and the 2013-2016 RS, RSS & ST also take this same CM9910 K&N air filter for the engine.

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After you posted this I took a look at my filters on the Rally. I was surprised that the engine filter still looked new and the belt filter was getting dirty at 2,500 miles.

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Originally Posted by Highwayman2013

After you posted this I took a look at my filters on the Rally. I was surprised that the engine filter still looked new and the belt filter was getting dirty at 2,500 miles.

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This is exactly my experience. I was quite surprised at how much junk my CVT filter had collected. While my engine intake looked like it had just been installed. I am glad I smelled something hot when I got back from my 6 hour ride. Otherwise, I'd probably not have checked these filters for quite some time.

The only thing that makes sense is that the CVT system is flowing a great deal more air, and at a higher velocity than the engine side. I did change out both to the K&N. But it's been too cold to really do much riding. So the jury is still out. Though knowing that the K&N flows at least 50% more air, I have to believe the results will be positive.

I would definitely recommend all Ryker owners to inspect their CVT air filter on a regular basis. I know that I will be doing just that. Filters are a lot cheaper than drive belts!:yikes:

Absolutely agree!!

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. There are those who say that oil from the K&N filter will migrate to the CVT drive belt and shorten its life. The same thing has been said, (and still is said) about MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensors that sit behind the air filter in the middle of the air intake. This is a very sensitive meter which sends information to the ECU (Computer) so that adjustments can be made for density, humidity, temperature, etc. Any kind of contamination can adversely affect how the engine runs. So, getting oil on it would be a very bad thing. As would oil on the CVT drive belt.

First, K&N did a great deal of research on whether or not oil was leaving their air filters and migrating down stream. Specifically to address the MAF accusations. However, this research is just as valuable and applicable to our CVT drive belt question. Because it requires the same migration of oil from the filter to a down stream component to create the alleged problem in either case.

Because I am recommending and selling the K&N filter for both the engine intake and CVT air cooled systems, I contacted K&N today to get their response to all of this. Here is a link that they sent me. http://www.knfilters.com/maf/massair.htm

Second. K&N has been selling 'Clutch Filter Kits' for vehicles with air cooled, rubber belt driven CVT transmissions, similar to the one on our Ryker, for well over 10 years. The link below is one example.
https://www.knfilters.com/blog/yamah...er-filter-kit/

So, unless I can find some credible evidence to the contrary. I'm going to continue to run the K&N air filter on my Ryker CVT. There is no question that the added air flow will do a better job of cooling the drive belt. And that is what I am after.