01/09/2026
Tech tip: Sidewinder Clutch Offset
There is a lot of information floating around with regard to Sidewinder clutch offset and belt life. In our experience, belt failures are usually a result of malfunctioning, poorly maintained, clutches or incorrect offset. This post is about offset.
An easy way to set offset on stock Yamaha clutches is to simply get the Hurricane Alignment Tool and away you go. If you want to get further into it or have aftermarket clutches, read on.
The diagram is from the Yamaha manuals and shows how the offset is measured. Notice the factory tolerance is wide at 3mm. That's probably too large a range. Our experience is that 59mm has worked well even at HIGH horsepower levels.
The measurement is different for aftermarket clutches as their measurements are different. For example, a TAPP primary clutch has the same inner sheave outer edge thickness as a OEM Sidewinder clutch (about 6mm). However, a TAPP secondary clutch has a thicker fixed sheave than the OEM Yamaha secondary (8mm vs 5.5mm). The thicker sheave has to be taken into account in the offset measurement as the measurement is taken from the outer edges of the sheaves. Additionally, any difference in the belt width must be accounted for as well. Wider belts and/or thicker sheaves mean increased offset measurement.
These measurements do NOT apply for Arctic Cat sleds with factory clutches. However, they can be used if using aftermarket clutches on your ZR9000/Thundercat. The 59mm offset is correct if the primary inner sheave thickness is 6mm, secondary outer sheave thickness is 5.5mm and the belt has a top width of 35.72mm (XS825). If your clutches or belt used have different measurements, adjust the 59mm spec accordingly. As an example, a TAPP primary and TAPP secondary with the XS827 belt should use an offset of 64mm.
This post might start a bunch of arguments, similar to which type of oil is best, but we are just sharing the information based on our experience and results. Hopefully it helps some of you out.
