Hey my 4-wheeler is a 2005 Yamaha Kodiak 450. I bought it for $800 after it sat for a year and it has 920 milles with 360 hours. Came with a winch, 27" Mud Bug tires, and a snorkel. I just rebuilt the carbuerator and it runs great, but too great. I mean it has power. I was wondering if this could be cause it is bored over, and if it is, is that bad for it? These are some fat mud tires and and i can punch the gas at 20mph on a packed dirt road and kick up dirt, and when I can climb hills it shoots quite a rooster, on accident! I just would like to know if this was a deal and how to tell if it's been modified. the jets are brand new, but stock, and this thing will haul a$$. Any help is greatly appreciated!

P.S. I know this is off topic but when I bought it the airbox was FULL of dog food from rats stealing it from the guard dog! hahaha.

 

It's possible that an after market clutch kit was added to it. I have 27" ITP 589's on my 06 Kodiak 450 and though after purcahsing the wheels and tire package brand new and putting them on I noticed how much better my atv is with traction and not having to use 4wd where I had to previously with the crap stock wheels and tires. I did however notice that after putting this huge tires on I felt that I lost low end torque. These tires are real aggressive and basically will only fling mud when going through a real muddy area if I get on the throttle enough. They wont spin out like the stock tires due to the very aggressive traction on the tires. I had a moosel clutch kit installed and all is good now. When I go through a mud bog like out in PA where there is alot of coal dust mixed with the mud in many areas, it rode through it without any power loss issues. I did loose top end and how fast I can travel after adding these tires on, I think my best top speed is 46-48 mph with them on. I'm also over 200 lbs so my weight also plays a role on top of that.

A little heads up, beaware of mud collecting on the drive shaft where the drive shaft meets the engine. There is a rubber seal there, and if you don't clean that area off really well with a hose, the dried up mud can screw up the seal and cause an oil leak. It was a $400 fix at the dealer for me. Now everytime after I ride no matter what, i hose the atv down and get all the mud off (especially in that are). I also added some red grease and spray this chain lube that dries to a waxy finish, to give it some protection from the mud. Yamaha recently revised this issue with 12 models and added a one peice drive shaft without a yolk like our machines have. I also like how they went to a wet brake instead of open disc, cause the pads wear out way to fast when you ride through mud and water.

 

Thanks man, greatly appreciated. I don't think I have a clutch kit, but if I wanted one, how much would it cost and how much trouble would it be? I'm 15 and weigh 160lbs or so, so I don't think I make a difference. And also, It has one snorkel that goes to the transmission, and then a bunch of tubes strapped beside, I know it doesn't have a airbox snorkel, but you got any idea what these could be for? Plus my radiator fan is out (I think). The red overheat light comes on when I go through thick mud or climb hills, but when I'm driving around it cools off. So I knew it was the fan. We ran its power cables straight to the battery and nothing haappened, but the manual says theres a circuit breaker switch. Could that be the reason? Or even the thermostat? Once again, any help is greatly appreciated.

 

The tubes coming from the belt cover are vents for your clutches. They are extended so you dont get any water in there to make your clutches slip wen you are submarineing your wheeler.

 

I had that happen to my quad @ 550 miles - thankfully it was under warranty.. It happened again in the Spring of this year. I spent $70 on parts and about 2 hours of my time to fix it. The seal will also wear a groove in the Yoke - also causing the oil to leak out! So I fixed it, torqued it to the 70 ft-lbs as the manual states... Well sure enough 1 ride (40 miles) later - it was leaking again! Well this time it was because the Nut loosened up! and yes I put a new nut on... Well this time, when I fixed it I used RED loctite - generously applied it. I then torqued it to 75 ft-lbs, 100 ft-lbs and finally 125 ft-lbs

I have since put another 150 miles on it no leaks! Also when I get a chance - I am going to take the Yoke (only a $35 part) to a machine shop and see if they can turn it down and put a piece of stainless steel sleeving on it.. because we all know that stainless steel is much harder than whimpy cast metal