Hamilton Polaris 2013/2014 PRO RMK gear down kit

[IndoubtGASIT]

I recently have the opportunity to product test the Ronan Power Products/Hamilton Polaris 2013/2014 Belt Drive Conversion Kit. This kit is designed, machined, and tested here in Montana by a first class company. Built by TKI, who has more than fifteen years’ experience working with plastic injection molds and all aspects of machining. They have completed projects for such companies as Weatherby, Knight Muzzleloader, Springfield Armory, Kahr Arms, Pfizer, 3M, and Johnson & Johnson.
Resulting from the superior design of this Polaris 2013/2014 Belt Drive Conversion Kit, you are able to gear your sled down to three different ratios; 2.25, 2.33, and 2.42. Meaning you are able to install the correct ratio for your specific terrain and riding style. This kit is designed with a tensioner to give different gearing options, and to ensure belt tension is consistently correct with each ratio.
Another advantage of the belt tensioner is in the rare case that a belt may break, you are able to simply loosen up the tensioner with one standard wrench, instal a spare belt, and be back riding within five minutes. No special tools needed.
I currently am testing the 2.33 ratio on a stock 2014 PRO 163. To date, I have put 70 back country miles on this kit and all I can say is WOW!! It continues to impress me the more and more time I ride with it installed. Before this kit, the sled worked good, but would loose track speed on long climbs. But now, it carries track speed throughout the whole climb. On long (40 second or more) climbs the RMP's do not drop at all. We preformed tested downhill turns. I was along side someone doing the same downhill turn on a stock PRO 163, on the way back up the hill the stock sled would loose momentum about 75% of the way up the hill and would have to turn out. I would continue to climb to the top. When I would have to quickly get into the throttle climbing up through the trees, the track speed would be up a lot faster than before I had this kit installed. I would describe it as if the sled is piped, and has a lot more torque. The sled just flat out works a lot better in all situations.
We are going to continue to put on miles and test this kit a little longer to ensure they are reliable, and ready to be installed for everyone.

Here is a picture of the 2013/2014 Belt Drive Conversion Kit

 

[Scott]

Gearing down the Pro is such a good idea.

I saw one sitting on Mike's desk on Friday. They are such good looking kits.

I've ridden a Pro RMK geared at 2.41. Loved that.
Mine is now geared at 2.27. I've got VERY few miles on that, but the initial impression is GOOOD!!!

 

[Scott]

Bryce, do you know if there is a way to re-calibrate speedo pick-up when these Pros are regeared?

 

[IndoubtGASIT]

Scott,
I am not positive on re-calibrating the speedometer with them geared down. It seems like a simple concept. There should be a way to plug them in, insert your ratio, and it should re-calibrate. Similar to what they do for larger tires on pickups.

 

[sledneck_03]

Hopefully summer mod for sure.

What should i do to my 2014 163? was thinking 2.42 for the hills and order and extra gear to have 2.25 at home.

or maybe just the 2.33 and leave it?

 

[burndown]

So far, we've been super happy with the 2.33 ratio for all around riding. To put these gear ratios into terms that would apply to the old chaincase models: 2.25 would be a little bit higher than 19/43, 2.33 is a little lower than a 19/44, and the 2.42 is like a 19/46. Most guys in the old Dragons and Pros with chaincases were most happy with 19/43 gearing, so the 2.33 is going to work best in most situations for most people. The cool thing about this kit is that you can change your ratio in under 5 minutes, so the option is there to take the extra top pulleys with you on your ride and gear accordingly to different conditions if you so desire. The TKI kit has a stellar reputation for reliability, and they've been great for us to work with. We have a few of these kits out there being tested by a variety of our well known customers and ourselves on our demo sleds, and once we are 100% CONFIDENT in the RELIABILITY of the kit, and that there are not going to be belt breakage issues associated with some other kits, we will go into full swing with selling the kits. (We're at 99.999999% satisfied with 0 failures so far, we just want to get a few more miles, and we'll be at 100%). We do not want to sell something where our regular consumers are our test pilots and R&D. If anybody has ridden with Bryce before (IndoubtGASIT), you know the guy rides hard and aggressively. If you have ridden with me, well, I don't know what to say, but you know I'd probably be able to break an anvil haha. If you have any questions about these kits, give myself or Mike a call here at the shop..... 406-375-9903. I, sadly, will only be here for the rest of this week before moving on to a new career opportunity, but feel free to call me in the next day or two if you want more info. Thanks for your time,

Lucas

 

[burndown]

Bryce, do you know if there is a way to re-calibrate speedo pick-up when these Pros are regeared?

Scott, I am unaware of anybody making a product or who is able to recalibrate the speedometer to compensate for the different ratios yet. Once they moved the hall effect sensor onto the jackshaft instead of the driveshaft, we haven't been able to change our speedo readings to reflect actual speed. Was always accurate back in the days when the pickup was on the driveshaft no matter what you did to the ratio, but I'm sure mother Polaris wasn't expecting guys to be gearing down the new belt drives when they came out in '13. So they probably didn't take the fact that they were getting speed picked up from the jackshaft into consideration.

As a side note: We haven't had a single belt failure on a 2014 Pro with the factory Quickdrive set-up (we had one in 2013, but we attributed that to the fact that the machine in question had the top pulley come loose, which was addressed in the bolt replacement service bulletin later in the year). We are selling this kit as a performance enhancement, not something to fix an issue that doesn't exist except for in a small percentage of machines.....and as I said, I will no longer be working here after this week, so I have no reason to sing the praises of Polaris over any other brand. Just wanted to be clear that we are not saying "get rid of your Quickdrive"....unless you want the performance improvement provided by gearing down, that is

Lucas

 

[rrjames]

Edit: Nevermind, question was answered.

 

[damx]

Price ?

 

[burndown]

Price ?

Give Mike a call at the shop (406-375-9903) to get a quote....there's different options and different prices depending on the pulleys and how many different ratios you'd like, plus he can help you figure out what's going to be best for your machine.

Lucas

 

[likkerpig]

Understand there are options, how about throwing a price out there for a basic 2.33 kit?

 

[rmscustom]

Understand there are options, how about throwing a price out there for a basic 2.33 kit?

I don't think he can give a price on here but seeing how its a TKI kit one would think its around $699 with one ratio.

 

[IndoubtGASIT]

I've put almost 200 miles on this kit. It has continued to perform very well. I have continued with the 2.33 ratio and it seems to be a great ratio for terrain that you are constantly off and on the throttle playing in trees and cutting steep sidehills. It provides amazing torque to get your track speed up quickly when you need back in the throttle. I would highly recommend considering this kit if you are looking to gear down.

 

[Hopfarmer]

There might be an obvious answer to this question, but I'm gonna ask anyways. Do you have to re-clutch with the 2.33 kit?

 

[Scott]

Well you'll hit your RPMs a lot faster...you have an easier change of over-rev. I can't say for sure if you need to re-clutch.

It is a good question.

 

[Hopfarmer]

Well I'm very interested........snow checked a 15' PRO 163. And I decided to try out the TKI gear down kit, instead of the 3" track option my dealer offered. Just want to have my ducks in a row come Nov. Plus I 13' PRO 155 I might also gear down if it works out.

 

[itchy06RMK]

I am definitely interested in one of these kits. Sounds like what I have been looking for to upgrade my pro.

2 questions tho:

Will you ship kits to Canada?
With the current gearing options, what kind of riding is recommended for each ratio?

 

[Ephratafarmer]

I have 600 plus miles on Toms belt drive system, running a 2014 pro turbo with a 162 3" track, geared 2.27 ( 7 tooth drivers, and one tooth on top pulley ). This system works great. Planning on putting one on new 2015 geared 2.33 with a different track.

 

[IndoubtGASIT]

I have not had to re-clutch my sled with the 2.33 ratio. Like Scott said, when you get into the throttle my sled is able to hit RPM's a lot faster than before. However it doesn't over rev, it holds 8250-8350 all day no matter what the snow conditions are like. This kit is very consistent and it would absolutely be my first mod on a stock sled. Anyone would be impressed with the performance of these sleds with this gear down kit.
As far as choosing the right ratio, that is the beauty of this kit. I would start with the 2.33 ratio. If you think you need get a higher or lower ratio, you have that option with TKI.
I'm not sure if they ship up to Canada. Give Mike a call at (406) 375-9903.

 

[phatty]

I have not had to re-clutch my sled with the 2.33 ratio. Like Scott said, when you get into the throttle my sled is able to hit RPM's a lot faster than before. However it doesn't over rev, it holds 8250-8350 all day no matter what the snow conditions are like. This kit is very consistent and it would absolutely be my first mod on a stock sled. Anyone would be impressed with the performance of these sleds with this gear down kit.
As far as choosing the right ratio, that is the beauty of this kit. I would start with the 2.33 ratio. If you think you need get a higher or lower ratio, you have that option with TKI.
I'm not sure if they ship up to Canada. Give Mike a call at (406) 375-9903.

can this kit be put in place of a chaincase or do you have to start with the stock quickdrive?