Seeing as how i got my Kodiak 450 in may, I was wondering if any other owners bought theirs in the winter months or have ridden them in snow. Does it start fairly well in cold temperatures? I live in Alberta Canada and it can get fairly chilly in the winter ( 0 degrees celcius to - 25 degrees celcius...... it can get colder but who would want to be out there unless there on a sled?) but i wanted to know how well it started in the cold.

 

I was on a poker run this winter. It was mius -15 the day it was held. Out of the 350 machines that were there I saw about half a dozen Kodiak 450's. 2 of them had rode through a wet patch on one of the rivers we rode and after that that had problems with the 2wd/4wd not wanting to switch. There a few of them around my area and that has been the ONLY problem I've heard any of the guys haveing with them. I guess though when you mix water and -15 temps your bound to have something freeze on you.

 

I hope those guys didnt mean to go in the water. I think any bike would freeze up after that. but then again stuff happens right? thanks for the reply

 

It was a spot that was about 6" deep. It never freezes there. It's a real narrow part and everyone uses it as a cross point. I think the little bit of current there is keeps it open. I went through and my rear brakes froze.

 

Hello. I don't know how the 450's will be but my 02 Kodiak is terrible when it cold. Once its warmed up I'm fine. The problem is to get it warmed up. You pretty much have to stay with the atv the whole time. The choke is pretty much useless. Will not idle with or without it. The whole headache last about 15-20 minutes then you are good to go. Even if you stop at a camp the atv is fine when you get out. Its just the first 15 minutes. My 93 worked great on the cold (it wasn't liquid cooled). I've see a product made my Kimpex that acts like a block heater. I'm going to give that a try this year.

 

How much for this block heater, and is it made for yamaha specificaly?

 

Try running a hotter plug in the winter time. We do that here once the temps start getting down close to freezeing and it cuts our warm up time almost in half.

 

KodiakOwner if I remember correctly the heater was around 35 canadian. It actually will work on any liquid cooled atv. It does not mount to the engine but the coolant line.


TReX300 when you say a hotter plug. Is there any special plug type or manufacturer I should be looking for? Please let me know I'll try any thing right about now.