How are the Arctic Cat 650s holding up thus far? Are there any common problems, glitches, or issues? Do they use the same CVT transmission as the Kawasaki P650/P700? And if so, have the CVT transmissions been improved since the 2002 model Kawasaki CVT transmissions. I had an '02 Prairie 650, and you could make the drive belt squeal and slip entirely too easily for my liking.

I now have an '04 Grizzly, and although it works very good for the rock crawling I do, it is getting beat up quite badly. Whoever designed PLASTIC floorboards for a 4x4 ATV must have been a dope, because getting hung up badly in the rocks can almost tear the floorboards clear off. I need to replace both floorboard supports on both sides of my Grizzly. The CVT transmission on a Grizzly is bulletproof though, and you can't make it slip or squeal no matter how badly you abuse it. You can have the Grizzly in low lock, and apply enough throttle to break an axle shaft right in half without slipping the belt (don't ask how I know that [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] ).

Looking at the AC 650, it is built more ruggedly than the Grizzly, on the underside at least. I like the STEEL nerf bar style floorboards, and the totally smooth underbelly with a heavy steel bumper up front.

So how are the AC 650s holding up? If I purchase a 650 Cat to replace my Grizzly will I be replacing weaker floorboards for a weaker CVT transmission, or will I be facing any other common problems? My Grizzly has been flawless (except for that one broken axle); can I expect the same nearly perfect reliability from a 650 Cat?

Thanks,

Phil.

 

I only have 100 miles on my 650. I did however smoke the belt on my 04 650. I got in a bind trying to climb a creek bank and the front end was sliding so I was very easy on the throttle in 4x4 resulting in flat spots burnt on the belt. The dealership fixed it under warranty. I am new to the belt driven world so I was unaware of how much stain I put on the belt. The mechanic said "with a belt you either go or don't "not to just be easy on the throttle, but that is not so easily done in some situations had I have rushed it it would have rolled over on me. Now I use low range in those situations. I also had a simple brake switch/wire go bad not dissabling the beast but the part is backordered until april 15th. Other than that I love it, it is a blast and plenty of umphage!

 

Thanks for the reply Arcticcop. Just after posting this thread last night I sold our '03 Rincon (good riddence) to one of our local "hard core group" that always have to do the most difficult rock crawling trails we have. The person that bought my Rincon told me that another person in their group had just purchased a new AC650 a week ago, and had taken it up to a trail they have been building up on to the mountain. I have done the trail on my Grizzly, and it is nuts, with a couple of areas where I just use the winch instead of risking killing myself. Anyway, this person that bought my Rincon told me they had to drag the AC650 back out of the trail because something went bad enough wrong with it that it could not come out under its own power. He didn't know exactly what had happened, other than "one of those belt drive quads coudn't make it" [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]. I'm going to try and track down the actual AC650 owner and ask him what happened. And hopefully I can get a few more post on here to help me with my decision.

Thanks,
Phil

 

The ac650 seems to be holding up very well from what I have heard on these forums. There have been some problems with the "limp mode" that doesnt allow more than a little power to the wheels when the computer thinks the belt is bad. This problem was on a lot of the p650's and some p700's. Apparently it has since been fixed on the p700 models, but I do not know if the changes in belt, springs, and limp mode were addressed on the cat.

I have always hated the idea of a belt drive. I have owned honda and arctic cat utilities all my life. My step father purchased 2 polaris belt drives and the transmissions just robbed so much power from them. It took a friend of mine with a suzuki eiger going through mud that left my honda rancher winching out to actually think about converting. A friend of mine has an 03 rincon and he loves the ride, but hates the gearing and power distribution. Everyone who has gotten on my new prairie has been drooling and talking about it every since.

My uncles in wyoming buy arctic cats. They have a large cattle and horse ranch and also elk hunt high in the mountains. They have been through every different type of utility made, but they have settled on the cats. I believe none of them own the 650, however, so I do not have any first hand knowledge about that. Hopefully somewhere in my ramblings you found something useful and informative, good luck on your search.

 

OuterLimit;
That Cat 650 that had to be pulled out may have had the limp(home)mode engage due to a voltage spike. Very easy to fix while on the trail if you have the Cat reset plug for the limp-mode, takes less than 10 minutes to be back to normal. Cat is aware of the problem & my dealer has told me that Arctic Cat now knows what, why & where the Spike is occuring & a once & all fix is very near.
Kawie '02 P650 trans clutches were updated with the '03 P650, I know this 1st hand, since I owned both model years of the Prairie 650. A little belt squeal is a good thing if the squeal is being heard at the right moment. A squeal in the P650/700 belt means the belt is tight if the belt hasbeen adjusted correctly to the specs. The belt doesn't squeal all the time, even on my Cat 650 my adjusted belt has a light squeal at idle while in gear, give it gas & the squeal is gone, hook up is excellent as the Radial tires (I have the Badlands) hook up with no tire spin & lift the front tires off the ground with ease.
The Cat 650s are also using the Prairie 700 belt, another plus over the P650s.
A buddy of mine went from a Grizz 660 to the Cat 650 & he says he would never give up that torque producing VTwin power & the HD frame/ suspension/floorboards on the Cat 650s.
Fit & finish is excellent on my 650LE, much tighter fitting plastic joints vs either of my Prairies.
I have no complaints with my Cat 650LE, love the color b/c it is different (Cat race color Lime Green) & I have never owned such a bright color 4wheeler, it came w/the Warn 2500# winch & HD bumpers/chrome wheels/hand guards/ lime green color matching frt & rear racks. I didn't care for the Goodyear MT Radial tires but am now using the Carlise Badlands Radials & I am 100% happy with the Badlands. (I use a set of Goodyear Mudrunners for my snow riding winter tire)
Other than the excellent power sliding that the Prairie 650/700 is so good at (rear straight axle), I still do not miss my Prairie 650s, I can get my Cat to powerslide but b/c of the IRS the rear fights the rider in sliding as the tires want to grip more than sliding. For my riding, the extra ground clearance that the Cat offers (5 + more inches than my Prairie 650s), I'll give up a little bit of power sliding anyday.

 

Thanks for the great reply bearcat. Sounds like the belt problems I had with the '02 Prairie have been addressed long ago. Except now I have an even tougher decision to make; there is a thread over on the Kawi forum that says Kawi is coming out with a 750cc sport utility with IRS, EFI, front shocks instead of struts, and Team Green plastic for '05. That might be too good to be true though. Kawasaki can't really know what we want, ... or can they? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

OuterLimit:
I've too heard rumors of the '05 Kawies but nothing of a P750 with IRS, EFI yes.
I did read of a rumored VTwin Kawie 500 w/IRS, EFI, Front shocks & the racing green color.
With Polaris ('04), Suzukis new 700 King Quad & a Cat 500 all offering EFI for '05, I wouldn't put it pass Kawaski to offer EFI too on their rumored P750.
IRS does add the weight, it would interesting to see how the Kawie folks keep the max weight of 604#s on a VTwin P700/P750 w/IRS.
This weight issue may be the reason why Suzuki went with a big-bore single instead of the high torque Vtwin motor in their upcoming '05 KQ 700.
This Kawie 700/750? may just be a carbon copy of the not yet released '05 King Quad, being that it does have the EFI, shocks instead of struts & IRS. Being that Kawie/Suzy do share their ATV motors. Time will tell.
I'm happy with my Cat 650, & plan on keeping it for many, many, many years to come.

 

I've got 200 miles on mine and have had no problems. I ran it very hard for two days at Coal Creek, too. I did have a shim removed to tighten the belt at 50 miles, but it was only chirping slightly on acceleration in high range. Its perfect now. That story about burning up the belt gives me pause. I have a 375 with many HARD miles on it and have never had a belt issue of any kind. I've run this 650 in extreme conditions as well and havn't held back and I've not had even a hint of a problem, even when going through really tough terrain and modulating the throttle. There isn't any riding condition that should cause a belt to flat spot like that if the tranny is adjusted right. I've towed heavy loads, too.

One note: I bought mine from a dealer that has sold Kawasaki's ever since the P650 came out, and these guys know how to set up the tranny properly. That may be the problem with some of them.

 

Why do they have to keep the weight under 604??

 

bfb650bearcat
I checked out tour pics., that rock overhang in Silverton is awesome. You should try the Paiute Trail in Utah if you get a chance, they have a great trail system. We made a 250 mile loop in 3 days staying in motels every night. You can ride in the towns opn the whole loop. The people were great and so was the food. Check out marysvale.org. IT,s one of the web sites for the trail system. Keep the shiney side up and have a ball.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]