I was hoping to get a King Quad earlier this year when I found out they quit making them I was pissed! Why did they do this? Are the Vinson or Eiger as good for real tough offroad riding? I use them for hunting machines, 9000ft and up, and the King Quads that belong to my friends are awesome for this because of the diff lock, and low gearing.

 

i'm no expert on this, but when i was walking around the show room the other day, i noticed the bigger 4x4s had the levers like the old king quad did.

Maybe they just changed the name?

I never was a fan of the levers and such to change the lock and 4x4.....

 

I've owned a King Quad and I now own an Eiger. Simply put, the Eiger (and of course the Vinson) can do everything and more than the King Quad could. While the mulit-level transmission on the KQ was great, it was only there to compensate for the small side 282cc engine. Drop in the 376cc's of the Eiger, or the 493cc's of the Vinson, and you don't need the multi-levels of gearing to get the same or even more power.

The King Quad was a fine bike for it's time but basically has been by-passed by new technology. The heavier weight of the KQ will still give it a slight advantage in a hard work situation but in all other areas, both the Eiger and the Vinson will out work the King. Then, when you look at just-for-fun trail riding, there is just no comparison.

A manual shift King Quad was selling for about $5,500. A manual shift Eiger is $300 less.

That's why the King is dead.

Jaybee

 

I think that Suzuki simplified their quads a little. Suzuki also put their quads on a major diet. The King Quad 280cc weighed 599lbs. (The new Rincon weighs 1lb. more at 600lbs.) The Suzuki Vinson 493cc weighs in at 604lbs. The Vinson has 213cc's more than the KQ but only weighs 5lbs. more.


Hossblur, You could buy a used KQ or just maybe there might be a leftover KQ floating around out there. Maybe you could have a dealership do a search for you. There might be some KQ's that they couldn't sell so you might be able to get a good deal.
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The new "King Quad" will reappear from suzuki as a 2005 model, maybe late 04', I will be their big bore that everyone has been waiting for, expect a 650 or bigger motor with 4x4 and other feature's to match the other's out there today. probably won't be called the King though, maybe Vinson 650, 700 or something like that.......

 

Does the Eiger or Vinson have the diff lock (important for the ridding I do). The Grizzly seems to be the leader.

 

Both the Griz and the prairie 650 (and P360) have a switch activated front diff. lock. Neither the Eiger nor Vinson have a separate front diff locking device, however, the torque sensing limited slip set-up on my Eiger always puts power to both front wheels. There have been many times when I've been able to watch all four wheels churning away - even if one front is raised up off the ground. To get back to KQ comparison, the Eiger with stock tires will out-mud the KQ with the same - most likely due to higher ground clearance and full length skid plate.

Jaybee

 

Greetings fellow mud beings
Hossblur, I agree with Stakk that they are bringing the King Quad back soon. Suzuki had a lot of people wanting to still buy the tough old beast and they are redesigning it and bringing it back. Like the 1986 Suzuki LT50, the 1986 to 1990 models of the Honda TRX350 and all other tough machinery the companies get worried that they are too tough and that they might last for ever. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]