Well, I did it. Went and bought the 2012 Can Am Outlander 1000 XT in yellow. Interesting getting used to the CVT trans belt drive versus my Honda Foreman 400 manual transmission. Feels kind of like a rubber band winding up... a big rubber band. Never really shifts it seems, just the engine RPMs seem to keep increasing the faster you go. Is this normal?
I put on 5 hours this weekend of the 10 hour factory-recommended break-in period. Anyone have an idea of the cost for the 10 hour break-in service?
I plan on using it around my place in northern NM and up in the San Juans of southern Colorado at high altitude.
Doesn't seem to want to let me attach an image.

 

you have to have a certain number of posts before you can attach a pic you can put it on photobucket or a place like that and put a link to it though

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, this is exactly how a CVT is supposed to operate.

 

Is the relationship between engine RPM and speed linear? In other words, if the engine RPMs are 4,000 and I'm going 25MPH, then at 50MPH is my engine turning 8,000 RPM? I hope not!

 

That's the whole point of a CVT. It's not linear... It constantly changes the gear ratio as you go faster.

Don't even think about it... There's no need to worry about it at all. Put the hammer down until you're going fast enough... It's that simple

 

I know I'm thinking this to death. That's the engineer in me. Besides the "high" range and the "low" range, are there gears to even change iin order to "change the gear ratio as you go faster" as you say? Have you ever looked inside one of these CVT transmissions?

I'm going to get inside mine as soon as I get a chance. I'm assuming if I get into where the belt is located, most everything will become more apparent.

 

Yes, MR. Engineer, for somebody with your credentials looking in the belt housing should be fairly self explanatory

I'm speaking about details I'm not all that experienced in but my understanding of this whole thing is that there are spring loaded clutch/sheave assemblies which allow the belt to run higher or lower on the pulley thereby changing the gear ratio on the fly. I believe you could buy aftermarket kits with an inherently different gear ratio range... So while there aren't any actual gears to change I believe you could change the overall gear ratio if you came into a situation like... oh maybe... putting 30" tires on it

 

I'm not an engineer... should have said the "inner engineer".

Your explanation makes sense. I have an ancient John Deere ATM (1 front wheel and four rear drive wheels on two axles) that uses the same belt/pulley mechanism although it's probably 25 years old.

 

Congratulations on the purchase. You'll certainly never need more power, unless you're trying to break some land speed record. The way the "rubber band" CVT works is pretty simple. There are two pulleys that make a V that the belt rides in. The more RPM the front pulley receives the more it squeezes the belt, essentially creating a larger diameter pulley for the belt to ride in. The rear pulley opens up making a smaller diameter pulley. shows it in action. These CVT transmissions have been around for decades on snowmobiles and a couple decades on quads. The big thing is to put the transmission in low for slow going and deep snow or mud. This will allow the belt to last a long time. I had over 3000 miles on my belt and it was still strong. It had a few weather cracks in it so I replaced it just to be on the safe side.