I hear similar comments about srarting the quadzilla and its poor handling in the trails from numerous people all over these fourms. Im no super ATV expert im just a rider and here is my 2 cents on it. Whether or not the zilla appeals to the new generation of rider is not somthing i know or am looking to discuss.

So often I hear how the quadzilla is so dificult to start/cold crank, and it handles so poorly in the woods. Im not an extremely large person, I wieght in at a whopping 176 lbs as of this afternoon and a height of 6 foot even. I have absolutly no trouble kicking or starting my Quadzilla. My leg hurts way more when i go back to kicking my dirtbike with a much lower compression because my leg hurts when the kickstarter maxes out at the bottom of the stroke and hits metal. If you use the right technique it really is no different then kick starting any other vehicle. When it comes to not having electric start, yea I guess a good number of people like electric start, I like it on my Wolverine but the market that it goes after is not an electric start market anyways. the new 450r comes only kick and the YFZ has a kickstart option available for it through Yamaha. All the dirtbikes are kick start and people seem to do fine starting them. Yes reverse would be nice but many 4 strokes dont have reverse either. As to riding in the woods.

I agree it is wider then the 250s of it's day and many of todays modern 4 strokes but It really isnt "soo bad" in the woods. I ride mine in the woods often with no trouble. the only thing about it is because i dont get to ride enough my hand cramps up from clutchwork, which is part of any manual ATV in the woods. Once and a while when a spot is real tight yes it does slow you down but i would bet you make that time up not having to clutch as much as on a 250. because the power range is so much wider. When i ride woods trails i can just leave it in first most of the time and sometimes switch up to second on strait-aways. Its nice having such a broat range of power but still having a good level of 2stroke SNAP at your finger/thumb tip. I agree the frame is big but the geometry of the frame was ahead of its time and if you have good spacial relations most woods and trails are not especially more work because of the Zilla's size and width. Thats just my two cents

 

I've always heard too many people were getting killed/injured and that's why they stopped making the 500. That rumor just makes them more sought after, I think.

I did read somewhere that DEC 31st of 2005 is the last day for new model 2-strokes. I'll try to find where I got that so you can quote me on it.

And you need a license to ride a 150hp street bike, and to get that endorsement you need to take a special class. Anyone can get a too fast ATV and kill themselves, and blame the manufacturer, but if your smeared down the road from a 180 mph crash on a bike, that's the riders fault, not the company that made the bike. Oh, anyone see the 205 mph speeding ticket in the midwest? That was cool.

 

Special license for a 150 plus hp street bike? I have never heard of that. That would mean that anyone with a mod liter bike has to have it. I don't know anyone with one (I am in the navy, I lived in the midwest up till 2 years ago.) Also anyone stupid enough to pull over after passing a cop at that speed or not just leaving the bike, running like hell, and then reporting the bike stolen is a stupid *sshole.
Also this post is old, stop reviving it. NO don't even thing about it. NO....

 

zill'as arent hard to start, im 16 and only 130 pounds and start my zilla in 2 kicks, and 3 or 4 if i stall or shut it off

 

Cripes, who brought this dead horse back to life?, someone put a bullet in the head of this thread already.

 

No, I meant if you want to ride a bike, you need to have a motorcycle endorsement on your drivers license. It doesn't matter if the bike has 2 hp or 200hp, with out the endorsement, you can't LEGALLY ride it.

 

yup, have to take the test if you want to ride.

Just because one zilla kicks over easier then another doesnt mean they are all easy to kick. Mine wasnt and i start 500cc alk 250r's.

 

Enough beating of the dead horse. There is only one reason they quit making them. It wasn't economically feasable. The profit they brought in wasn't enough to justify making them. Production costs, retooling, and liability would have driven the price up above a market that wasn't really there in the first place.

 

same reason they slowed down production or stopped production on 500cc dirtbikes,not selling enough

 

yea, whoever put this BS in your heads that they stopped making it becuase people got killed on it, should be slapped. thats wasnt the reason, if anything, they'd try to ban all quads like they did 3 wheelers. it was all about sales