My step dad went yesterday to get a new quad for winter. He wanted a 4x4 but nothing huge. Well needless to say he came home with a new rancher 350 4x4. It sucks. Week and way to stiff. he found this out after riding it for a hour or so, the thing is so stiff that it always has one tire off the ground. The local dealer was advertising them for 4100 out the door includ. taxes and everything. No down payment and 4.9% for 48 months. I have never ridden the comparable Arctic cat how does it compare to the rancher?

 

give it some time swampy. I had a rancher and rode it everywhere and never had a problem. one way it compares favorably with the artic cat is that a rancher wont fall apart. i went everywhere my friends did on biggger quads with no problems. the only limit is the power. i sold mine to buy an eiger because i wanted auto. and a little bigger quad.

 

It sounds like he really got a good price on it.

 

thats the sole reason he bought it was because it was so cheep. It was on sale because of the last year before the 400at replaces it. It's an ok quad but it's definately not the machine my 454 is. My 454 only cost 4700 in 1998 on clearance because of last year before they stoped makeing it. Other than a bad voltage regulator it has been a great machine. I have prob. spent only $600 on it since 1998 including tires and brakes and oil changes. It is time for me to get another AC because I have roughly 7000 miles on the 454 and It still does fine but I am worried about the reliability on long rides. I will wait untill spring and see how the 650 is holding up and if all is ok then I'll prob. go that route.

 

I'll let you know how the 650 holds up because I plan on riding the hell out of mine. It seems built like a tank and it rides like a Cadillac. The only question mark for me is the engine/tranny, but I've heard good things about them, except that they might wear belts a bit early. So what? The power is worth it and the engine braking is as good as any. It gets the power down nicely.

 

I think the 650 has an auto-tensioner on the belt, so that should really help. I know every time I turn off the key there is a servo in the belt case doing something. I'm guessing it auto tensions (since the manual doesn't say anything about tightening the belt). WOuld explain that "worn belt" light in the pod. All the bitching about the P650 was constant tightening of the drive belt. If it slips and you don't tighten it, it'll burn up in no time.

 

Wires, The noise you hear when turning the key on/off is the Engine Brake solenoid. It does not have a auto belt tensioner. If you want to prolong the belt you can replace the driven pulley spring with a black spring.

 

Ahhhh... Thanks for the info.

The AC manual for the 650 has to be the worst P.O.S. ever written. They don't tell you anything, and they don't want you to do anything. Even simple things like adjusting the free play in the brake levers isn't documented there..... That's a dealer serviceable item apparently. With a shop rate of $70 CND/hour, there is a lot of things that won't be "dealer serviced".....

Even simple things like oil changes are barely covered. It says to drain the oil and change the filter. They have a picture for the bung, but I had to search around with a trouble light to find the filter.... Oh well, the bike was worth it!