I have a 1998 Yamaha Venture 500 and I'm trying to get to the bottom of a clutch issue. The original drive belt had a chunk missing and was replaced by the spare belt. Ever since the spare belt was installed when the sled runs for a while then comes to a stop, it starts squealing like crazy. The squeal goes away after acceleration. Sometimes when coming to a stop the sled will start to lurch forward all by itself with no throttle input. After some research I have found that the original belt with the chunk missing is not the same part number as the squealing belt. I have determined that the squealing belt is the correct part number as I have purchased a second brand new belt with matching number from a Yamaha dealer and installed this with the same results. Any ideas, thanks for the help.
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Clutch Experts
- Thread starter CAVU
- Start date
You need to adjust your belt deflection (your new belt is tighter than the old one). You adjust the deflection by opening or closing your secondary clutch. Typically with a new belt you will need to adjust your secondary to a more open position to accomodate a wider, unworn belt. As your belt wears, you adjust your secondary to close farther to match a belt that is getting thinner. On newer sleds, there are set screws with locking nuts to accomplish this. If you don't have any adjustment screws, you may need to get some spacers from your dealer, and remove your secondary, split the clutch and install a spacer to prevent the clutch from closing as far as it does now. Hope that makes sense, I haven't looked at a Yamaha clutch for a long time.
700classic
New member
I don't know if it is the same set-up but I have a 2000 Yamaha V-Max 500 that did the same thing. On the backside of the secondary there are 3 bolts that had a small washer on them, remove the bolt remove the washer and reinstall the bolt. That should open the secondary enough to fix the problem. Make sure you save the washers for future use if needed.